A mother of three who went missing for 17 days in an Australian rainforest has been found alive, officials said. Shannon Leah Fraser was spotted by a banana farmer after she emerged from the dense jungle in far northern Queensland on Wednesday. She was almost naked, sunburned and had lost almost 40 pounds in weight, her family told local media. The 30-year-old said she survived by drinking river water and eating small insects and fish.

Fraser ended up separated from her partner and another man and failed to return to the car at a swimming spot on September 21, police said at the time. "She must have taken a wrong turn, and got lost," her brother Dylan Fraser told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday. However, police said there were still unanswered questions about Fraser's disappearance. Despite an extensive search involving helicopters, ATVs and teams on foot, Fraser emerged just 30 yards from where she was last seen, Queensland Police Inspector Rhys Newton told reporters. Newton said he had only spoken to Fraser briefly because she had been hospitalized following her ordeal. But he said that "she certainly was not in that area we were searching."

IN-DEPTH

- Alexander Smith