A German pensioner who is believed to have Alzheimer’s has been found alive in the Thai jungle a week after she went missing during a walk from her hotel.
Barbara Elisabeth Monika Glag Lange, 75, disappeared after she went for a walk through woodland on the island of Phuket, Thailand, on May 9.
The only clue police had was that she had told another guest she ‘was going for a walk to a house on a mountain’.
She had no food or water with her but was found by a passing young Thai boy today.
Police launched a massive search for the holidaymaker, using helicopters to scour the local surroundings which are infested with deadly snakes and dangerous wildlife.
Dozens of officials also joined the hunt for Barbara by searching through forests and beaches and interviewing hundreds of residents and tourists.
But it was not police or rescue teams that found Barbara but a young boy from a mountain village who was walking through the jungle and spotted the foreigner in the dense woodland. He returned to his family and told them.
Police were called and Barbara was found alive this afternoon, lying exhausted in a stream in the island’s vast Sirinat National Park.
Police said she is believed to have been drinking water from mountain streams to survive and cooling off in the water as temperatures reached 35 degrees Celsius in the day time.
Lieutenant colonel Ekachai Siri from the Phuket Tourist Police confirmed that Barbara had been found alive.
He said they believed she had been walking between two beaches and sleeping in the jungle.
The policeman added: ‘The tourist is safe and well. She has been taken to the hospital for health check ups. A German interpretor will also interview to find out what she has been doing.
‘When we found her she was lying in the water. I believe that helped her to stay cool while it was hot in the day. She might have also drank the water..’
Police said that Barbara left her room at the Maikhao Palm Beach Resort at around 8am.
She was seen on CCTV leaving her room before walking along a nearby road towards woodland on May 9.
The holidaymaker was wearing a blue jacket with a white shirt and black trousers on the day she was reported missing by the hotel staff.
The ensuing search and rescue operation covered more than a 50 mile radius from the hotel.
Local council chief Bancha Thanu-in said: ‘The rescue teams covered a large area using cameras and GPS technology. We used helicopters, boats and searched on foot. We are very relieved that we have found the tourist alive.’
Another German tourist also went missing this month. Leon Isiman Samuels, 21, had to be rescued after he was trapped between two large rocks when he decided to walk from the airport to his hotel upon arriving by taking a ‘shortcut’ in a forest next to Nai Thon beach.
