Miracle as missing woman who vanished in the mountains found alive

A photographer missing in the NSW Snowy Mountains has been found alive, 12 days after she vanished, and reportedly 'extremely dehydrated' and suffering from snakebite.

Lovisa 'Kiki' Sjoberg, 48, was found at 4.50pm on Sunday at a remote fire trail in Kosciuszko National Park, almost two weeks after she was last seen.

After days of a large scale search by officers, volunteers and her worried friends, National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) officer found her injured on the Nungar Creek Trail at Kiandra.   

Paramedics called to the scene treated her for exposure and what was believed to be a snake bite before she was taken to Cooma District Hospital where she was recovering and in a stable condition.

The  award-winning photographer and brumby conservationist was seen on the morning October 15 in her grey Mitsubishi Outlander rental car, although her last contact with another person was on October 8.

The alarm for Ms Sjoberg, from nearby Jindabyne and who has photographed for Harpers Bizarre magazine, was raised a week ago when rental car staff realised her hire car was six days overdue.

It was found unlocked and abandoned near Kiandra Courthouse, 90km north-west of the Snowy Mountains capital, Cooma.

Although familiar with the local alpine landscape, worried friends said Ms Sjoberg's disappearance was out of character.

They have expressed their relief and joy on Facebook posts since the news of her recovery. 

Police and NPWS officers had been searching trail heads in the six square kilometre national park, known for its waterfalls and limestone gorges. 

Her rental vehicle was discovered unlocked at the remains of the old settlement at Kiandra, an abandoned gold mining town.

Local horse track operator Peter Cochran, who was involved in the search, said she would often head into the wilderness and take photos of brumbies as she was a 'devout supporter' of their cause.

He said tracking Ms Sjoberg down was the result of an 'intense' effort by volunteers and community members along with officials.

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Police officers including from the horse and dog units, SES, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Rural Fire Service and a Surf Life Saving Helicopter were all part of the search effort.

'The scrub is incredibly thick ... you could ride within five metres and not see (a person) because the regrowth as a consequence of fires in 2020 has left an incredible amount of scrub up there, dense scrub that you've got a job to ride through,' Mr Cochran told ABC Radio South East NSW.

Fellow brumby photographers and wild horse campaigners Michelle Maree Brown and Ian Brown regularly posted alerts on social media nd said that Ms Sjoberg 'knows the country and hikes all the time in KNP'.

Ms Sjoberg is a local hero in the 'save the brumbies' movement since finding and photographing the bodies of a mob of 11 wild horses.

 Mysteriously shot dead in September 2022, the mob was a family led by a brumby stallion the Browns called Arrow Boy, and included a pregnant mare.

Ms Sjoberg's recognised work includes photographs she took of Snowy Mountains landscapes blanketed in red smoke the during the 2019-2020 bushfire season.