MISSING WOMAN FOUND ALIVE BUT INJURED IN AUSTRALIA’S SNOWY MOUNTAINS

WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Bernama-UPI) -- A woman missing for almost two weeks in Australia’s Snowy Mountains region was found alive on Sunday, suffering from exposure and a snake bite, United Press International (UPI) reported, quoting local authorities.

Lovisa Sjoberg, 48, was reported missing Oct 21 but was last seen driving her gray Mitsubishi Outlander at 7 am local time on Oct 15 in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales, near the Victoria border. Authorities said the last time that anyone had spoken to her was Oct 8.

New South Wales Police announced in a statement Sunday that Sjoberg had been located on the Nungar Creek Trail in Kosciuszko National Park at about 4.50 pm by a National Parks and Wildlife Service officer.

NSW Ambulance paramedics treated her for the snake bite and exposure at the scene before she was transported to Cooma District Hospital in a stable condition, NSW Police said.

Monaro Police District Superintendent Toby Lindsay told local media that she had been found “dazed and injured,” informing responders that she was bitten by a copperhead snake four days earlier and had also rolled her ankle.

The search, launched Oct 21, involved officers with the Monaro Police District along with various local and federal law enforcement agents, as well as members of the public.

“We had in excess of 30 people physically in the field every day searching,” Lindsay said. “We held grave concerns for the missing woman, and very glad she's been found safe and reasonably well.”

Lindsay added that Sjoberg was “very fortunate to be alive.”

“She obviously went through a tough time.”

--BERNAMA-UPI