Mobile Phone Photos Save Lost Hikers
Michael Davis January 04, 2008
Australian IT
PHOTOS sent from the mobile phone of a hiker lost with two teenagers in a Victorian national park were instrumental in rescuers finding the trio.
Mark Valentine, 46 with his son and niece, both aged 14, after they were found. They had been lost at Mt William in the Grampians National Park in western Victoria. Picture: Ten NetworkElise Valentine, 14, yesterday described being lost with her uncle and cousin in the Grampians National Park as "kinda cold" but fun.
Save for a mobile phone equipped with a camera, their situation could have been dire. Rescuers believe Elise's uncle Mark Valentine, 46, dramatically reduced the time needed to find them by phoning emergency services well before dark on Wednesday and sending photos of their location to Parks Victoria. Mark, his son Josh, 14, and Elise were found yesterday morning after spending the cold night huddled together below a ridge at Mt William.
They told police they had tried to keep warm by sleeping on a bed of leaves. "It was fun," Elise said. "It was kinda cold. We slept on leaves and had leaves covering us. But it was still freezing."
The three were wearing just T-shirts and lightweight trousers. Police believe they followed a track from a carpark for about an hour but became lost on the return trip. Mr Valentine, an experienced bushwalker, raised the alarm at 5.30pm on Wednesday by phoning Halls Gap and Stawell police, prompting an air and land search.
When his photos came through Grampians National Park ranger Andrew Dennis realised they were searching in the wrong area. Early yesterday mobile phone contact resumed, and the group was finally seen by a helicopter.
"It was quite an adventure," Mr Valentine said. "When I was trying to describe where I was I thought, 'Well, take a photo and see if I can send it to someone'."
Inspector Martin Dorman said the area was very rugged, and without the use of the phone it might have taken them several days, rather than half a day, to find the group.
