Searchers find phone of Belgian woman missing since 2023 in Australia

The phone of a Belgian woman who went missing on a hike on the Australian island of Tasmania was found by independent searchers. Local police are now joining the hunt.

Celine Cremer, a Belgian tourist, was last seen in the Tasmanian town of Waratah on June 17, 2023.

Authorities believe the 31-year-old drove to Philosopher Falls, nearly 7 miles away, and went out for what was supposed to be a short hike. She was first reported missing nine days later, the Tasmania Police said.

The police searched for two weeks, but those efforts and follow-up attempts in the years since did not produce any sign of Ms. Cremer.

Her friends and family organized a private, independent effort to continue looking for her this past weekend, resulting in the discovery of her phone at Philosopher Falls on Saturday, the police said. 

“It must have been a twist of fate because everyone was heading toward the same direction minutes before the phone was found, and then there was a call out that someone had found a phone. There was a lot of emotion and a lot of excitement,” local Rob Parsons, who was searching along with some of Ms. Cremer’s friends from Belgium, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Authorities theorize she dropped her phone while using it to try and find her way back to her car.

“The phone was found in an area that has been extensively searched previously, and phone data, as well as the location it was found, supports our theory that Celine may have, using an app on her phone, elected to leave the Philosopher Falls track to take a more direct route back to her car as daylight faded. We suspect she dropped her phone and continued without it, becoming disoriented in dense terrain,” Tasmania Police Inspector Andrew Hanson said.

Mr. Hanson also said that in the days after her disappearance, temperatures in the area dropped to below freezing, with snow.

“Expert medical advice at the time indicated those conditions were not survivable for the duration she is believed to have been exposed. … While finding her phone has provided some hope for the many people invested in this matter, it is a stark reminder for Celine’s loved ones of the tragedy of their loss,” Mr. Hanson said.

The Tasmania Police are contributing their resources to the updated search for Ms. Cremer’s presumed remains.