An American journalist who went missing during a solo hiking trip in Norway has been found alive.
Alec Luhn was on a four-day solo backpacking trip in southern Norway’s Folgefonna National Park when he disappeared, PEOPLE previously reported.
His wife, Veronika Silchenko, told CBS News she last spoke with him on July 31 while he was hiking in Odda.
The Norwegian Red Cross announced on Wednesday, Aug. 6, via a post on X, that the missing man was “found alive near Folgefonna” by a helicopter crew and was being “transported for medical treatment.”
According to CNN, Luhn was conscious but tired when located at 11:34 a.m. on Wednesday.
“Alec is alive!” his mother, Sarah Marie Luhn, told WISN-TV. “Something is wrong with his leg, but otherwise, he’s in good health. Thank God!”
Silchenko expressed her gratitude to Norwegian rescuers, telling local outlet VG, “We are very, very happy! Many thanks to everyone in Norway who has helped to find him.”
Stig Hope, a Red Cross volunteer and head of the operations leadership team at Folgefonna, told CNN she could not recall the last time someone was found alive “after so many days” of searching. “The search doesn’t always end like this — but today, it did,” she said. “It’s a huge relief for everyone who’s been part of the effort.”
Luhn is an award-winning climate journalist, according to his personal website. He has contributed to outlets including National Geographic, The Guardian, The New York Times and The Atlantic, CNN reported.
He was reported missing after failing to board his flight home to the United Kingdom on Monday, Aug. 4, CBS News said.
Silchenko told CNN she initially thought everything was fine when her husband sent her a photo from the hike. “I started to worry slightly on Sunday, but then I thought that it’s Norway and it’s totally normal to be out of connection in the mountains, so I [decided to] wait and … do something if he’s not back online on Monday,” she explained.
She added that Luhn is “obsessed with the Arctic” and “loves glaciers and snow.” “He loves explorers, and he’s a climate journalist, so for him it is always that story that now because of climate change they’re all shrinking, and he’s trying his best to go to the coldest countries,” she said.
