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'Short walk' that turned into a 12-day nightmare
Ben Bailey15.07.09
Jamie Neal survived in the Blue Mountains for 12 days. Below is the timeline of his ordeal.
Monday 22 June: Jamie Neale arrives in Australia for start of gap year with plans to travel on to South-East Asia
Thursday 2 July: the teenager checks into a youth hostel in Katoomba, New South Wales, 70 miles west of Sydney
Friday 3 July: Jamie tells staff at the hostel he is going for a short walk in the nearby Blue Mountains, leaving his luggage and mobile phone, and wearing a fleece, T-shirt, jeans and carrying a burgundy day pack.
Saturday 4 July: the teenager is reported missing to police by hostel staff when he fails to turn up for an organised tour of the Jenoln Caves he had booked, and a massive search is launched involving 100 police and rescue helicopters
Wednesday 8 July: heavy rain hampers search and grounds helicopter, and temperatures fall to freezing overnight, increasing fears for Jamie's safety
Thursday 9 July: father Richard Cass arrives in New South Wales
Sunday 11 July: Australian couple contact police to say they saw Jamie the previous Saturday at an outcrop called Ruined Castle. The couple describe him as being "in good spirits and good health" during their 10-minute conversation at the outcrop before he left, saying he was going to another lookout at Mount Solitary.
Monday 12 July: police focus their search on Ruined Castle and Mount Solitary after information but scale it down to 60 officers
Tuesday 14 July: his father prepares to fly home and books a flight for the following day after holding a "closure ceremony" in the Blue Mountains
Today 12.49pm (2.49am UK time): New South Wales police announce they have found the missing hiker in a gully near Narrow Neck fire trail, 10km from Ruined Castle.
