BRISBANE: A man who went missing more than two weeks ago in Australian bushland has been found alive, apparently surviving his ordeal by “drinking dam water and eating mushrooms”, authorities said on Sunday.

Robert Weber, 58, was discovered near a dam by a local property owner on Sunday morning after last being seen on January 6 leaving a hotel in Kilkivan, about 200 kilometres north of Brisbane.

Queensland police said early indications suggested Weber had run into trouble after his car became bogged on an unfamiliar road.

“He remained at his car with his dog for three days before running out of water,” a police statement said.

“He left on foot and became lost and remained at a dam where he survived by sleeping on the ground, drinking dam water and eating mushrooms.” Rescuers earlier suspended an air-and-ground search after failing to find a trace of him despite a week of combing “dense bushland, rivers, dams and steep terrain during wet conditions”.

Weber was taken to hospital “suffering exposure to the elements but was otherwise safe and well”, police said, adding that his dog has not been found.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2021