When police got word a backpacker was missing in remote WA, they were already out there looking for someone else

Carolina Wilga is not the first person to go missing at the edge of Western Australia’s Wheatbelt.

In a spot where farming country meets unforgiving salt plains, scrubby mallee bush and hostile heat, the state’s police were already working their way through the difficult terrain of Karroun Hill when they got the call.

German backpacker Carolina Wilga was airlifted to hospital after spending almost two weeks in the WA outback.Credit: 9News Perth

Coincidentally, officers had been following up on missing gold prospector Barry Podmore when a call came in about the missing German backpacker.

Wilga had not been seen since June 29 in a small Wheatbelt town, and family in Germany had raised the alarm via Interpol when she failed to return their messages.

Interpol contacted West Australian police, who were coincidentally already scouring the nature reserve for any sign of Podmore.

A photo of Barry Podmore circulated by police.Credit: WA Police

Podmore had gone missing in December, but his abandoned four-wheel-drive was found in the Karroun Hill Nature Reserve in May.

It was locked, and despite significant investigations and resources by police, there have been no sign of the 73-year-old since.

The site was still being examined by officers when they got the call to investigate Wilga’s disappearance, and only hours later her car was found abandoned in the same reserve.

Police found the 1995 Mitsubishi Delica had run into mechanical problems, and believed Wilga had tried to use recovery board and bits of wood to free the car, which had become bogged in a patch of mud.

However, like in Podmore’s case, there was no sign of the backpacker.

Podmore’s distinctive car was also found in Karroun Hill Nature Reserve, where Carolina Wilga’s car was eventually also found.Credit: WA Police

Details about the ensuing days remain a mystery, but the hunt for Wilga came to an end on Friday when she was rescued by a station owner returning from Beacon along a remote bush road.

Tania Henley told media that Wilga stumbled out from the bushes and waved her down.

Wilga has offered little insight into her 11 nights in the bush, but said she survived by sleeping in a cave, drinking from puddles and using the sun as her guide.

Bush survivalist instructor Mike Cook said it was clear the backpacker had luck on her side.

“It’s a harsh environment, and it’s quite difficult to navigate without aids … it’s difficult to get any sort of sense of where you are, if you’re not familiar with solar navigation,” he said.

“It sounds like she had some idea about trying to sort of pick a direction and head west after she decided to leave her car.”

Cook said any traveller looking to drive east in WA should be conscious of the lack of water in the region as it borders the desert.

“You have to go with the mindset that if you did break down, you should be right for a solid week, at least with sufficient water and stuff like that,” he said.

Wilga’s van was stocked with days’ worth of food and water. The traveller said she was disorientated when she decided to walk away from the area carrying no supplies.

Searchers confirmed the bushland was hard going, with low shrubbery and very little distinct terrain to help someone who was lost.

Posting to social media from Fiona Stanley Hospital on Tuesday, Wilga joked she would need to gain “12 kilos back” after her ordeal, but still has not spoken about what she went through.

Celebrity agent and public relations expert Max Markson said the backpacker, who spent her fifth night in hospital on Tuesday, would probably be fielding calls from media outlets across the country wanting to share her story, with Nine’s 60 Minutes and Seven’s Spotlight showing interest.

“They’re the ones who would do the story and do it properly – as opposed to 15 minutes, they’d do 30 minutes of television,” he said.

Markson said Wilga could ask for between $50,000 and $100,000 to exclusively share her ordeal.

“I think it’s really important to have someone who can not just represent her for this deal, but for other deals that will happen – I’m sure there’ll be a magazine deal at one stage,” he said.

“There might be overseas deals in Germany, in America, in Los Angeles, or in television in New York – it’ll go international.”

This masthead has contacted Wilga’s employer, who is understood to be supporting her in hospital, for comment. Her parents remain in Germany.

It is understood Wilga has signalled her intention to return home to Germany to be with her family.

The investigation into Barry Podmore’s disappearance remains ongoing.

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