Mum survives week in bush

A Charters Towers mum drank from puddles to survive after getting disorientated on a walk and spending a gruelling week lost in thick bushland.

Rikki Mitchell, 38, was miraculously found alive by search teams about 9.30am on Wednesday after she went missing from the Reid River rest stop on Monday, May 2.

Initial investigations indicate the mum of four had gone for a swim near the rest stop with her boyfriend the day she disappeared.

He told police he went to visit some friends in the area and came back about half an hour later but couldn’t find her.

He reported her missing to police on Thursday afternoon, May 4, and the next day police launched an extensive land search of the area with the help of SES volunteers.

Townsville Detective Inspector Jason Shepherd said the mum went on a walk after her swim and appears to have travelled several kilometres away from the river and road.

He said she got “disoriented” and spent days walking through the deep bushlands before she came across a dirt road on Wednesday that led her to an ATV on a rural property in the area.

Hopes for her safe return were fading, but just before 10am on Wednesday rescuers saw the ATV approach the command site driven by a local landholder with Rikki doubled on the back.

The man found her on his property, nearby the Flinders Highway, after she had commandeered the ATV from another property.

The man was aware of the search party and drove Rikki on the ATV to the rest area where emergency services were based.

Insp Shepherd said it was “remarkable” she survived that long, given she had a one-litre bottle of water and no food.