No, this isn’t a newspaper, but what a good story! Photos sent from the mobile phone of a hiker lost with two teenagers in a Victorian national park were instrumental in rescuers finding the trio.

Mark, his son Josh, 14, and Elise were found after spending the cold night huddled together below a ridge at Mt William in the Grampians National Park. They told police they had tried to keep warm by sleeping on a bed of leaves.

The three were wearing just T-shirts and lightweight trousers. Police believe they followed a track from a carpark for about an hour but became lost on the return trip.

Save for a mobile phone equipped with a camera, their situation could have been dire.

Mr Valentine, an experienced bushwalker, raised the alarm by phoning Halls Gap and Stawell police, prompting an air and land search. When his photos came through, Grampians National Park ranger Andrew Dennis realised they were searching in the wrong area.

Inspector Martin Dorman said the area was very rugged, and without the use of the phone it might have taken them several days, rather than half a day, to find the group.

Story: The Australian