Teen found safe and well after desperate search

A teenager who went missing after leaving home to live ‘off grid’ in remote bushland has been found.

A Victorian teen who went missing after he was believed to have gone off grid, inspired by the iconic book Into The Wild, has been found safe and well.

Police held grave fears for Samuel Thomson, 19, who left his Lysterfield South home on February 10 to go camping, leaving a “cryptic” note inside the book that he was going off the grid.

Investigators announced on Friday evening Samuel has been found safe and well and thanked the public for their assistance.

The teen had driven northwest to the regional city of Swan Hill, dumping his car on the outskirts of town.

Investigators were concerned he did not have supplies when he ventured into remote bushland during extremely hot weather.

Samuel Thomson has been found safe and well after he was last seen on February 10.

Mr Thomson had not answered any phone calls or messages from family or friends since he went missing.

His mother Elizabeth Thomson had begged him to get in touch with them and said he was loved and missed.

She said she was holding onto the hope her son was having a great time exploring the world off the grid and was okay.

“But we just want to hear from him,” she said.

Elizabeth Thomson had pleaded for her son to come home. Picture: Jason Edwards

But her husband and Sam’s friends became concerned on Friday when they hadn’t heard from him, and her husband contacted police.

Mrs Thomson said the note left inside the book was cryptic.

She said it mentioned he was going walkabout and that he would be back.

“But of course because it was inside the book and he was taken by the story of that book when he bought it and read it a year ago that’s caused us great concern,” she said.

Samuel Thomson went missing last week

Into The Wild is a famous nonfiction book about the final days of American man Chris McCandless, who abandoned his big city life and ventured into the Alaskan outback to live off grid.

McCandless abandoned his car and descended into the wilderness armed with only ten pounds of rice, a rifle, a camera and books.

According to the book, he survived 113 days.

[e-mail]