Message found from missing backpacker

Trackers searching for a British backpacker who disappeared in north Queensland have found a message written on a tree to the 19-year-old's boyfriend, it emerged yesterday.

The message, in red felt-tip, read "Louise S loves Steven W for eva" and was illustrated with a heart symbol, according to the Queensland-based Courier-Mail newspaper.

Louise Saunders, from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, has been missing since Tuesday morning, when she set out alone to hike to the top of Mount Tyson overlooking the popular backpacker destination of Tully.

Police in the north-eastern Australian state said Aboriginal trackers had also found a banana skin near the tree as well as a footprint believed to belong to Ms Saunders.

She was last heard from at 1.15pm, when she called her friend Joanne Woodward on her mobile phone to say she was lost and was finding the track very steep. The telephone's batteries died as she was speaking.

Yesterday 70 people were scouring the rainforest covering Mount Tyson, including army and Aboriginal trackers, police from across the state, and Ms Saunders' boyfriend, Steven Wong.

Helicopters were also out before dawn searching for her with thermal imaging equipment.

Last night her mother Liz said: "Today has been the most positive day so far. The police rang me this morning and said they had found signs which they had been able to trace back to her early movements.

"The most recent find [shows] where Lou had been resting."

Ms Saunders bought a pie before making the climb and her friend Jo said she had bought bottles of drink and fresh fruit and vegetables. "Knowing that she has bought food means that she has eaten," Mrs Saunders said.

The trainee beauty therapist had been taking a gap year in Australia since June. Like many backpackers she visited Tully for work picking bananas on the local plantations and for whitewater rafting on the Tully river.

Ms Saunders is short-sighted and had broken her glasses before setting off, making it more likely she could have become lost.

Witnesses last saw her on her way to the start of the Mount Tyson walking track, and the fact she was carrying food and drink has raised hopes that she may have been able to sustain herself since going missing.

But after more than 36 hours police were growing increasingly worried that no members of the search party had heard her calling.

The path to Mount Tully's peak leads through a mossy gorge and passes over several steep precipices, and investigators believe she may have fallen and concussed herself.

"With conditions as they are, she can survive as long as she doesn't have any serious injuries," said Sergeant Kim McCoomb of Queensland police. "The searchers are still confident that they can find her alive, although they are getting worried now."

Investigators initially narrowed their search to two areas of the mountainside, although they have not revealed which ones for fear of hoax callers. They are confident she had been in both areas, but have now thoroughly searched the terrain without success.

Last night police and volunteers continued to search along the path to Mount Tyson's peak in the darkness, in the hope of finding some clue to her whereabouts.

Off the path, the mountain is only considered suitable for experienced bushwalkers. The steep slope is pitted with rocks and crevices, and one of the main focuses of the next phase of the search will be checking for signs she has fallen down between rocks.

About six people go missing while hiking in north Queensland every year. Kay Mott, of the local backpackers' hostel, the Savoy, said the mountain path was known to be treacherous, although no one had previously been missing as long as Ms Saunders.

"There's a good view from the top, but people often get a bit lost coming down," she said.

"It's very easy to veer off the track and get lost. Quite often you will have someone spending the night on the mountain, but not this long."

The disappearance has shocked the small town of Tully, which survives on sugar growing and banana picking. It is known as the wettest place in Australia.

Ms Saunders has been living in private accommodation in Tully. Police remain confident that no foul play is involved in her disappearance.