Police believe teenager Cassie Olczak spent most of the past five days in the Royal National Park without proper food, water or shelter.
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The 16-year-old, who had been missing from the Sutherland Shiresince Sunday, was spotted by a passing motorist wandering along the Princes Highway in Waterfall.
It's believed she stumbled out of the bush after spending almost five days in bushland described by rescue crews as rugged and difficult to access. It was not a long distance from where she was last seen at Waterfall station.
On Friday, her mother Connie was lost for words when asked about finding her daughter.
"It's just completely indescribable. I felt like I was living a movie," she said.
"I just had to keep looking at her, 'Oh my god it is actually her' and I was astonished at how well she looked."
She said Cassie seemed hesitant to hug her at first and her mother's first words were: "Do you need anything? Do you need anything? Are you OK?"
"I said, 'Just sit there and tell us what you need' and we covered her with a blanket."
Cassie has been taken to Sutherland Hospital to be assessed due to exposure from being in the bush for five days.
Acting Superintendent Gary Ford said police were yet to speak to Cassie to work out why she went missing or what she has been doing since Sunday evening.
Police believe she has been on her own since she disappeared after hopping on a southbound train at Banksia on Sunday afternoon following a catch-up with friends.
"She's pretty much in really good health considering she's been out there [in the bush] for those couple of days," he said.
A massive land and air search was launched in Sydney's south after CCTV footage showed Cassie getting off the train at Waterfall on Sunday night.
Her mother had made several desperate pleas, saying Cassie's disappearance was out of character and she feared her daughter had been given a "substance" that might have left her disorientated.
The day before she went missing, Cassie had returned home to Sylvania from a trip to visit her father in Abu Dhabi.
Ms Olczak said Cassie met some friends on Sunday afternoon and had received some news that agitated her. That news was believed to have involved a boy in their friendship group.
"At this stage we don't have answers to those questions [about what happened] and we're not going to put pressure on her straight away," acting Superintendent Ford said.
More than 90 members of the Rural Fire Service, State Emergency Service, NSW Police and other rescue crews were involved in the search in the Royal National Park.
smh.com.au
