Hunt for pair after miracle rescue
A woman who survived almost a fortnight stranded in Australia’s unforgiving outback saved herself by finding a water hole but fears are growing for her two companions.
Tamra McBeath-Riley, 52, is being treated in an Alice Springs hospital for dehydration and exposure after a traumatic battle for survival in heat that nudged 40C in recent days.
Her companions Claire Hockridge, 46, and Phu Tran, 40, remain missing after their dual cab ute got bogged in the bed of the Hugh River, south of Alice Springs almost two weeks ago.
The group was last heard from on November 19, when they told family and friends they were going for a drive outside of Alice Springs.
When authorities discovered the ute late on Sunday afternoon they also found a note, dated November 21, indicating they were setting off in different directions in search of help.
McBeath-Riley was found after search crews followed her tracks away from the vehicle.
Authorities are hanging onto hope her friends are still alive but concede they would by severely dehydrated by now, unless they’d also managed to find water.
McBeath-Riley’s survival has
Tamra McBeath-Riley (left), Phu Tran and Claire Hockridge left Alice Springs for an afternoon drive on November 19. They were npt seen again until McBeath-Riley was found by searchers late on Sunday.
been hailed as miraculous after she managed to find a water source, and was able to boil it to stay alive.
‘‘She’s had a fairly traumatic period of time. It looks like she had travelled about 1.5km from
the vehicle and was in an area where there was some water,’’ Superintendent Pauline Vicary has told ABC television.
‘‘So sensibly she appears to have stayed where the water is and has been drinking that and
that’s probably what going.’’
The note found in the ute included the directions they were headed.
It appeared Ms McBeath-Riley had gone north and the others
kept
her
had gone west towards the Stuart Highway, about 22km from where the ute was found.
It’s been revealed a keen-eyed pastoralist played a key role in saving McBeath-Riley by going to police to report spotting tracks in an area that hadn’t yet been searched.
‘‘We got some information from a station worker advising that there were some wheel tracks around the White Hill Dam area, it wasn’t in one of the areas that we had previously searched,’’ Vicary said.
‘‘As a result of that information, we were able to locate the vehicle and then from there they have followed some of the other tracks and have located her.’’
– AAP
‘‘She’s had a fairly traumatic period of time. It looks like she had travelled about 1.5km from the vehicle and was in an area where there was some water.’’
Superintendent Pauline Vicary