Deborah Pilgrim survives three days in bush near Sedan, left calling cards and lit fires
Deborah Pilgrim has described how she survived three days in remote, dense bushland — and how she “dropped to the ground” in relief at finally being found.
Law and Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law and Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- How SOS message helped find missing woman
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
A woman left “calling cards” and lit fires for three days in the hope someone would find her after she got lost in dense scrubland.
Deborah Pilgrim, 55, was reunited with her family early this morning after leaving an SOS message in the driveway of a Sedan property which was spotted via a security camera.
The three-day ordeal alone in thick bushland came to an emotional end when Mrs Pilgrim heard sirens and the search party calling out her name.
“I didn’t think anyone was looking until I heard them call my name,” she said.
“I think I dropped to the ground.”
The Surrey Downs woman had been camping with friends near Pearce Rd, about 1km west of Dry Weather Rd.
She was bushwalking when she got lost and the alarm was raised about 6am on Sunday.
“Before I knew it I didn’t know where I was,” she said.
“I found little shanty places, properties and sheds that people were not living in.
“I just left signs on the road, wrote in the dirt, on trees, whatever calling cards I could leave in case anyone was looking, I didn’t think anyone would be.”
She said a couple of planes flew overhead but they did not see her clearly.
The woman tried to track down a road but only found “dense scrub”.
“Go off in one direction it just became thicker and thicker so I turned around and came back the other way,” she said.
“I tried to gauge the time by the sun.
“If it got too hot I’d rest.”
She saw security cameras and water at a property belonging to Woodside local Neil Marriott and scrawled ‘SOS’ in the dirt.
“I thought this was going to be base because I’ve got water here,”
“I tried to go back to that base but I never found it again, just kept finding other places. I was disorientated.
“I lit a couple of fires, thought people would see the smoke, surely the CFS will come and find me. Nobody did.”
The camper was grateful that Mr Marriott and his son spotted the help message on Tuesday night and raised the alarm.
“They saved my life, the three people who had roofs. I really want to thank them from the bottom of my heart,” she said.
“My family couldn’t have gone through this if I hadn’t come home.”
Police launched a huge search of the area over three days alongside police helicopters, STAR Group, State Tactical Response Group, Murray Mallee police, Mounted Operations and SES volunteers and drones.
Mrs Pilgrim also thanked the emergency services and locals who spent tireless hours searching for her.
“I was sleeping one night and I heard a siren, I thought finally the CFS was finally here, in the middle of the night, yay.
“Went running out there heard someone called my name. It was the police so I just ran towards them.
“I had a torch in my hand waving.”
She said she survived by wandering during the day and sleeping at night.
“That was my job to stay alive.
“Kangaroos were watching over me … standing over me when I woke up. Wombats everywhere, but no people.”
Her partner Harry Willcox thanked the search team, who went from “six people to hundreds” in two days.
“Her (Mrs Pilgrim’s) survival skills were amazing,” he said.
He said his partner’s return home was “really good”.
Home invaders steal, then crash, Mercedes
A luxury Mercedes sedan has been stolen by a man and woman during a violent home invasion at Kurralta Park.
It’s official: Notorious child predator to stay locked up
A notorious serial kidnapper and child predator has finally had his bid for release into the community denied after a two-year legal and political battle.