SYDNEY, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Police said on Friday that a German national missing in the outback of Western Australia (WA) likely became lost after abandoning her vehicle.
Carolina Wilga, 26, was reported missing in Australia by her family in Germany early in July, triggering a nationwide search.
Providing an update on the search, authorities in WA on Friday said that the vehicle that Wilga was traveling in when she was last sighted on June 29 in the remote town of Beacon, 250 km northwest of Perth, was found on Thursday.
WA Police Acting Inspector Jessica Securo said the vehicle was found a significant distance away from any track in a nature reserve about 100 km north of Beacon.
She said the search is now concentrated on the area around the vehicle, which is believed to have suffered mechanical issues.
Homicide detectives have been deployed to aid the search, but police do not believe that Wilga met with foul play.
"Our information to date is that she's likely to become lost in that area, and has potentially walked away from her vehicle," Securo told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.
Prior to her disappearance, the 26-year-old had spent the last two years living and working in WA.
Police said she had expressed an interest in using the recently-purchased vehicle to travel to regional areas, as well as Australia's east coast.
Authorities have escalated search efforts in the nature reserve where the vehicle was found and are investigating whether Wilga took anything with her that could help direct the search. ■
