‘She’s healthy, she’s happy’: Missing teen survives more than 50 hours in B.C. park

It’s the best possible outcome for a teenage girl who was missing for more than 50 hours in B.C.’s Golden Ears Park.

Esther Wang, 16, went missing when she was separated from her group on Tuesday afternoon.

On Thursday evening, just before 10 p.m., Wang walked out of the trail on her own.

“She’s healthy, happy and with her family,” Supt. Wendy Mehat with Ridge Meadows RCMP told media on Friday morning.

“That’s the best possible outcome.”

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Wang had been missing for 54 hours when she was found.

Mehat said she walked out of the East Canyon Trail — the same trail on which she went missing.

Police added that Wang was very fatigued but thankfully unharmed, other than some mosquito bites.

She was released to her family on Thursday evening and her family has requested privacy, Mehat said.

It’s not yet known how Wang survived more than 50 hours alone in the wilderness, but RCMP said they would be talking to her on Friday.

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Ryan Smith, with Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue, said there were 16 teams involved in looking for Wang, including teams from the Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland and the Sea to Sky Corridor.

There were even teams ready to come from Vancouver Island on Friday, Smith added.

He praised Wang for being prepared to survive in the backcountry.

“Esther was prepared,” he said. “She had some food, she had some water.”