Found from the air: how a teenager in shorts survived six days in the Gippsland bush

A Victoria Police Air Wing crew found him on Thursday morning, 12 November, after spotting his fishing tackle box about two kilometres east of Stoney Creek, near Walhalla East. William was close by, asleep on a rock in a dry riverbed. He was shirtless and sunburned, with a pillow, a lunch box and a small table beside him. When the helicopter circled overhead he woke, smiled, waved and pumped his fist. Officers were then winched down to bring him out.⁠1

Where he was found matters as much as the fact that he was found. Authorities said William could not have been found without the helicopter. An ABC video report said the crew spotted him while flying over an area that had not yet been searched.⁠1⁠2

His mother, Elizabeth Barkley, dropped him off on Friday 6 November for a weekend of camping with a friend. It was his first trip on his own, and he had little bush experience. He is believed to have walked a short way back to the drop-off point to fetch more gear. When he didn't come back, his friend searched the area and found no trace of him. Police said he was last seen at about 4pm that day near Stoney Creek Road, between Cowwarr and Walhalla. He had left his phone, food and water behind.⁠9⁠1

His surname has not been released. Several reports, including those from the South China Morning Post and ABC News, describe him as a teenager who lives with autism.⁠6⁠2

Everything known so far about his time in the bush comes from police and from his mother, passed on by reporters. Police said he spent days walking through extremely rugged, rocky terrain. Two days before the rescue he fell down a steep riverbed embankment, and after that he stayed where he was, sleeping and waiting to be found.⁠1

Barkley told A Current Affair how it started. He missed a turn-off back to camp and curled up under some bushes to sleep. "He said he got up the next day and started walking again, trying to find the camp site, and he just missed his footing and down he went." He used two towels as blankets on the cold nights and rationed a family-sized bag of chicken chips, which lasted about two days. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that he survived on little more than chips and water.⁠1⁠14

Reports describe the fall in different ways. The ABC gave the police account as a steep riverbed embankment, DW said he fell down the side of a riverbed, and the Herald called it a cliff. None of these reports carries a direct police quote about the fall.⁠1⁠11⁠14

Benbow added one striking detail: William "had no idea police were even looking for him." He still did the thing that made him findable. After the fall he stopped moving and stayed next to gear that a helicopter crew could see from above.⁠1

More than 100 people searched for him on land and in the air, with more than 80 volunteers in the bush each day. Police divers, the dog squad, the rescue squad and the SES took part, along with boats, horses, motorbikes and several helicopter crews. Reports described nights in the region as near freezing.⁠1⁠5⁠7

On Wednesday, the fifth day, police widened the search. After a hunting camera was found in the search area, they asked hunters, campers and landowners around Cowwarr to check deer, trail and game cameras urgently for footage recorded since 6 November. No report has said whether any of that footage showed William or helped find him. The find itself came from the helicopter crew the next morning.⁠10⁠16⁠15

Accounts of his condition depend on who is speaking. Police said he was exhausted and unable to walk, with cuts on his legs and severe sunburn to his upper body and face. "Other than that, he's talking to us, he's happy, he's smiling, he's giving us an account of what's happening and he's hugging his mother and having a doughnut and water," Benbow said. His mother said he had only a few scratches and some sunburn and seemed fit and healthy. These accounts don't contradict each other. One is a police assessment at the scene, the other the view of a relieved parent.⁠1⁠8

Barkley happened to be at the Cowwarr staging ground when the helicopter came in. She ran to it with her arms open and told her son: "You scared the shit out of me." SES incident controller Tohi Kuru was standing with police and Barkley minutes before confirmation arrived. "There was just this air that came in, no-one was saying anything … we knew something was coming," he said, and he called the reunion "an awe-inspiring moment". At the Cowwarr Recreation Reserve, Barkley told reporters: "He's never leaving the house again. He's grounded for life."⁠1

He was taken to Latrobe Regional Hospital for monitoring. The hospital's chief executive, Don McRae, said it was "extraordinary to see him so well" and called him "obviously a fit young man". Late on Thursday his mother said he was talkative, happy and hungry, and she brought him the McDonald's order he had asked for. If all goes well he could be discharged as early as Friday 13 November. Benbow said: "In my opinion, I think he could have survived more days; he was very fit and healthy."⁠1

Most reports, including the Guardian's, put the rescue on Thursday morning, and that matches the police timeline. The BBC's account said he was located on a Friday morning, and The Independent put the tackle-box sighting on Wednesday morning. Neither date fits a search that began on Friday 6 November and lasted six days. The distance from Melbourne is given as about 180 kilometres by the ABC and the BBC, and 185 kilometres by the South China Morning Post and a Guardian video. Neither difference changes the story.⁠9⁠8⁠3⁠1⁠6⁠17

So, for now, here is how he survived. He was fit, he had towels and a bag of chips, and after the fall he stayed put in a dry riverbed beside a tackle box that could be seen from the air. Police have said they still need to establish exactly how he got through six days without supplies or proper clothing, and they want to hear it from him.⁠1⁠3