Two days after going missing, a teenage Canadian woman was discovered in a vast provincial park's wilderness.
In British Columbia's 555 square kilometer (214 square mile) Golden Ears Park, 16-year-old Esther Wang vanished after becoming separated from her hiking party.
A helicopter, a drone, and 16 search teams were used in the massive 54-hour search that was launched by authorities.
On Friday, however, the adolescent came out of a trail unharmed.
Ms. Wang, according to the police, was recovering with her family.
She is in good health, a happy place, and with her family. We can't ask for a better result than that, said Supt. Wendy Mehat of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in a statement.
All first responders and Search and Rescue teams have received sincere gratitude from Esther's family, Supt. Mehat continued. "They request privacy at this time and are extremely grateful for this outcome. ".
At around 21:30 local time on Friday (04:30 GMT Saturday), according to authorities, Ms. Wang returned to the East Canyon trail from which she had initially gone missing.
How she got away from her group is a mystery. The group left a lookout point on Tuesday around 14:45, according to local media, and discovered Ms Wang was missing about 15 minutes later.
The group leader searched the lookout again but was unable to locate her, so he raised the alarm. Soon after, a search was begun.
Emergency personnel examined Ms. Wang and found that, besides a few mosquito bites, she had not been hurt during the incident. Then she was allowed to take her parents back to their house.
Our goal was to get Esther back to her family, and we're thrilled with how the search turned out, said Ryan Smith, a spokesperson for search and rescue.
"We made the most of the resources we had. The RCMP, other first responders, and the helicopter companies that helped us in this laborious search are all deserving of our gratitude.
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