Missing hiker lost in bushland for five days 'never saw searchers'

Five days after reporting himself lost, a Queensland father of three has defied the odds and walked out of thick bushland after surviving on just raisins a day.

Brian Saunders spoke exclusively to 7 News, describing how he followed a creek and then a road until he eventually found civilisation once again.

“There was a lot of prayers, my way and other ways, and that sustained me,” the 58-year-old finance worker said.

The Logan man went to Lamington National Park on Saturday, wearing only shorts and a t-shirt, for a short hike – but it turned into five days lost in thick scrub.

While the days were warm, night-time temperatures dropped to two degrees, and his five-day survival kit contained just three bottles of water, three sandwiches and a packet of sultanas.

Mr Saunders sparked the biggest SES air and ground search in the region in seven years when he called police on Saturday afternoon to report himself lost.

SES Controller Jeff McConnell said they started at his car and worked their way out from there.

“It was 30 square kilometres of rugged bush land and mountains that we had to try and search through,” he said.

Mr Saunders said: “It doesn’t please me that so much money has been spent on me, and who would know how much, millions”.

He wanted to thank “each and every one” of those who joined the search effort to find him.

But, remarkably, none of them did and on Thursday Mr Saunders walked out of the national park all by himself, “under my own steam,” he said.

“I never saw any of the searchers, unfortunately, because I think they were on a different side. That’s where they thought I was but I perhaps moved too many times but I wanted to get out so I followed the creek.”

Then he found a road.

“I thought ‘how beautiful’ is this, no more tracks, just a road, so I knew civilisation was there… I just had to keep door knocking until I found someone, until I saw my first human up the hill and I thought ‘beauty’.”

The missing man surprised local property owner, Mark Michael, emerging seemingly unscathed at 9.30am on Thursday morning.

"I was just looking at some pipe we were having trouble with and I got a ‘hello’...looked up here's the guy on the driveway," Mr Michael recalled.

He said the surprise visitor seemed healthy and in good spirits, and shared the strategy that kept him alive.

"He budgeted five raisins a day, he had a little bit of a flask of water, he found water - there's plenty of water up here," Mr Michael said.

The ordeal began on the popular track to Running Creek Falls, which is supposed to take around five hours.

Mr Saunders was found 15km away.

Detectives are now investigating the circumstances surrounding his missing days in the bush.

They took photographs of his injuries, including scratches on his legs, and conducted a short interview.

Mr Saunders was taken to hospital for a medical checkup but was back at his Tanah Merah home by Thursday evening night, from where he spoke to 7 News.

Grateful to everyone who searched for him, Mr Saunders said he had fully believed he would find his way home.

“I knew I’d get out, I just had to take one step at a time and that was it.”

News break – May 26