Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Autistic girl missing in NT desert found
An autistic girl with hearing and speech impediments has been found alive after she went missing in the Simpson Desert 24 hours earlier.
April 3, 2021
A four-year-old autistic girl missing in the Simpson Desert for more than 24 hours has been found alive and well, Northern Territory police say.
The girl, who also suffers hearing impairment and is unable to speak, disappeared on Friday from an outstation about 150km south of Alice Springs.
The girl is undergoing health checks but appears well, police said.
She was found on Saturday afternoon but details of the rescue were unavailable due to the remoteness of the location, police told AAP.
Emergency services started searching for the girl on Friday about 2pm local time using a helicopter, drone and patrol vehicles.
The search was suspended overnight and resumed early on Saturday.
The girl went missing from the Alice Outstation near Alice Well on the banks of the Hugh River, about 110km east of the Stuart Highway.
Senior Sergeant Adrian Kidney said her family had been “beside themselves with worry.”
Temperatures in the area were forecast to reach about 32C on Saturday.