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A large group had been searching for Cassie in the national park near Waterfall. Picture: AAP Image/Simone Ziaziaris
SYDNEY teenager Cassie Olczak has been found alive and well yesterday, walking along a highway north of Wollongong after being missing for almost a week.
“She has been in the bush ... from what she said,†Assistant Superintendent Gary Ford said.
“She’s obviously had some exposure to the elements but she’s pretty much really in good health considering.
“We will talk to her in the next 24 hours or so, once she’s recovered.â€
Cassie, 16, was located at Waterfall railway station, in Sydney’s southern fringe, by rail employees this morning after a passing motorist had seen her walking along the Princes Hwy near the station just before 9am and called triple-0.
Officers from Sutherland region stopped the girl and confirmed she was the missing teen, ending an extensive search in the nearby national park.
Timeline of Cassie’s disappearance.Source:The Daily Telegraph
The teenager leaves the station — the last sighting before she was found.Source:Supplied
Police said the teenager told them she spent her days away alone in bushland in the Royal National Park, near the station.
Cassie’s mother Connie said she was “grateful†her daughter had been found and thanked the search teams for their efforts during the past week.
“I just want the medical team to look after her ... She’s been out for a long time,†she said.
“It’s just a miracle and I don’t even know what to say. I’m just grateful that they’ve found her.†She said it was “very bizarre†and out of character for her daughter to disappear as she had.
Connie with Cassie’s brother Benjamin with the missing persons posters.Source:Facebook
A large group had been searching for Cassie in the national park near Waterfall. Picture: AAP Image/Simone ZiaziarisSource:AAP
Cassie went missing last Sunday after she became separated from a female friend and boarded a train at Banksia station, in Sydney’s south, at 6.58pm.
She was spotted on CCTV footage getting off at the remote Waterfall station about 40 minutes later.
One rail commuter reported seeing Cassie “glazed and dazedâ€, leading her distraught mother Connie to fear her daughter had been given a substance while it is also believed an incident involving Cassie’s friends had upset her.
The discovery of the teenager this morning comes after missing bushwalkers Nikki Groves and Kate Bateup, both 21, were found yesterday morning in the Royal National Park.
The women were spotted by an RFS helicopter after spending 24 hours in the bush.
It is not believed the two cases are linked in any way.