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Tiny detail in this photo that led to missing student, 26, being found

A woman feared dead after disappearing in flooded and dense bush on the Gold Coast has been found alive.

Police divers had to scale a cliff face to find Chinese university student Yang Chen on Monday morning.

She was stranded 30 metres above a waterfall, according to the ABC.

A rescuer noticed Ms Chen’s yellow T-shirt through the dense bushland, 7News reported.

The section of the Tallebudgera Valley was about 300 metres from where she was last seen on Wednesday.

"There's no doubt our dive team, our police dive squad, definitely risked their lives today (Monday) to scale that cliff face," Queensland Police’s Acting Senior Sergeant Mitch Gray said.

"There was no trail there, what they did to get her out of there was nothing short of amazing."

A red circle shows where Yang Chen was spotted clinging to a cliff face at Tallebudgera Valley.
Yang Chen's yellow shirt was spotted by one of her rescuers through dense bushland. Source: Queensland Police

Authorities believe she walked into that area overnight after finding nothing during a search of the same patch of bush on Sunday.

The 26-year-old was reported missing on Wednesday morning by a man who climbed some boulders ahead of her during a walk near the Gorge Falls, only to come back and find she was gone.

According to the ABC, Ms Chen survived by sleeping in caves and kept hydrated by consuming fresh water from creeks.

"Today and tomorrow were looking towards the end of the search time," Sgt Gray said.

"I had that unfortunate feeling in my stomach, I suppose, that we weren't going to find her alive."

Yang Chen was piggy backed by a Queensland police diver back to safety after being missing in bushland for five days.
Yang Chen scored a piggy back from a police diver back to safety. Source: Queensland Police

Members of the Gold Coast bushwalking club, park rangers, surf lifesavers, water police, divers, bike squad and trail bike teams as well as officers from the criminal investigation branch and rapid action control group all helped look for her.

Torrential rainfall at the time forced the search to be suspended.

"My team tried to reach her through heavily flooded causeways on the Thursday, but we were just pushed back by the sheer current and volume of water," Sgt Gray said.

"From Friday until today it's been a massive undertaking."

Drones and helicopters were used, and her name was called every few minutes.

She was taken to Robina Hospital for medical treatment.

The woman had lost her shoes, but was able to walk to an ambulance after being given a pair of socks by a police officer.

A number of creeks in the area were flooded at the time she went missing.

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