Two days lost in the desert, this teenager made it out safely




JAKARTA- A teenager who had been missing in the wilderness of a Canadian park for two days has been found.

As reported by Royal Canadian Mounted Police News, 16-year-old hiker Esther Wang got lost on a trail in Golden Ears Park in British Columbia on Tuesday (6/27/2023). But now the teenager is safe.






“He is healthy, he is happy and he is with his family,” RCMP Superintendent Wendy Mehat wrote in the statement.

The Canadian teenager was part of a hiking group in a British Columbia park when he escaped around 3 p.m., the statement said.

The group members tried to contact Wang without success. The group then contacted park officials, who then contacted the RCMP.

Canadian police said they “immediately activated” the Ridge Meadows search and rescue team.

On Thursday evening (6/29/2023) at around 9:30 p.m., Wang “left the East Canyon trail alone,” the statement said.

By the time he left the mountain trail – the same one he was on when he became separated from the group – some 54 hours had passed since his first disappearance.

Wang was reunited with his family the same evening, after a medical examination.

RCMP Sergeant Keith Schendel told CityNews that Wang was not seriously injured.

“He’s fine, just very tired and sick, bitten by mosquitoes,” he told the outlet.

“So he’s going to take some time to rest.”

“Her parents are still there from the rescue attempt that day — they’ve been there nonstop for a few days — and she almost walked into their arms,” Schendel said.

According to the sergeant, the teenage climber took a wrong turn while descending the mountain.

“He came down the mountain and followed the waterway to a trail,” Schendel told CityNews, adding that Wang was out of the wild on enough food and water to last him two nights.

In an RCMP news release, Mehat added that Wang’s family “expressed sincere gratitude” to first responders and search groups working to locate the 16-year-old hiker.

“They are very grateful for this result and request confidentiality at this time,” the watchdog wrote.

Ryan Smith, a member of the committee leading Wang’s 16-team search, said the team was “very excited about the results of the search.”

“Returning Esther to her family is our goal,” Smith added.

“We are using as many resources as possible,” Smith continued in the statement.

“I would like to thank our partner organizations, the RCMP, other first responders, helicopter companies who assisted us in this exhaustive search.”


Justin Ortega

"Professional communicator. General music practitioner. Passionate organizer. Evil twitter fan."

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