Tamra McBeath-Riley – 12 days in the desert with Raya the dog

Time stranded: 12 days

Distance traveled: Under 1 mile

Terrain types: Desert

Deaths: 1

Situation ended: Found by rescuers

Location: Central Australian Outback

On the 19th of November, 2019, Tamra McBeath-Riley along with her partner and a friend set off into the central Australian outback to do some hiking. The plan was to spend the afternoon there and be back home by dark, but since none of them had been to the area before the exact route to their planned destination wasn’t very clear.

At some point along the journey, Tamra took a wrong turn down a small country road, a move that would mark the start of their survival situation. After driving for miles down the road their car came to a dried-up river bed which they attempted to drive across, but it wasn’t quite as dry as it first appeared and their car became stuck in thick mud.

No amount of effort would get their wheels free and they agreed to stop trying. Unfortunately, no one had any phone signal and they only packed a small amount of food for one day. Knowing there was little chance anyone would drive past soon, they eventually decided to split up and try to reach someone who could help, though Tamra stayed in the car with her dog as she didn’t think she would survive the long walk.

Tamra later said at a press conference;

“We dug ourselves under the car during the day into the sand where it was a lot cooler. At night we could sleep in the car. We tried many times to try and get [the car] out, but we just ventured forth to try and find some shelter and water,”

The other two she was with, Claire Hockridge and Phu Tran took a GPS device and a compass and set off in the direction of the nearest highway, an estimated 12 miles away. At some point during the walk, the pair split up as Tran wanted to walk to the top of a hill to get a better idea of their location, whereas Claire decided she was going to continue following a fence line they had found.

All of them had been reported missing but none of them had told anyone where they were going. For this reason, it wasn’t until 12 days later that rescuers would come to the area Tamra was in after a local had reported seeing their tire tracks. She was found alive after 12 days and reasonably well considering the situation, her dog Raya was also still alive.

She told her story to the rescuers and the direction her friends left in, but this wasn’t enough for them to be found the next day. Two days after Tamra was found, Tran stumbled onto the edge of a remote farm and was spotted by a worker who immediately called the police. Unfortunately, Claire Hockridge wasn’t found over the next few days and people feared the worst. A week after Tran was picked up, 14 days after they originally became stranded, a body was found in the outback that is believed to be the remains of Claire Hockridge.