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The Missing Person Who Joined Her Own Search Party
By Simon Brew
June 16, 2015


One Saturday night in 2012, a search party was organized in Iceland to hunt for a woman who had apparently failed to return to her tour bus. But the twist? She had. She became part of the search party looking for her, unaware that she was the subject of everyone's concern.

The tour bus in question had stopped near Iceland's Eldgja canyon, and the woman in question took the opportunity to go freshen up and change clothes. When she reboarded the bus, the rest of the passengers didn't realize it was her. Instead, they became alarmed that she'd gone missing. The driver waited for an hour before the police were called.

Things escalated. A search of the area took place, joined by around 50 people, some in vehicles, many on foot. The coast guard was alerted, and the search went on for several hours.

It wasn't until three in the morning that the truth became apparent: that the woman everyone thought was missing was actually helping them in the search. Once she realized she was the missing tourist, she informed the police. The search was called off.

Moral of the story? It's always worth properly counting the number of people on a tour bus. No matter what they happen to be wearing.


https://www.mentalfloss.com/uk/travel/27027/the-missing-person-who-joined-her-own-search-party
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