The Missing Couple in Sarek: "Good Hiking"

The two mountain hikers who were searched for in Sarek national park and found unharmed tell TV4 that they "feel better than ever". We joked about the helicopter searching for us, says the couple.

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The Missing Couple in Sarek: "Good Hiking"
Photo: Svjo/Wikimedia Commons

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Nico Sallmén and Sanja Paronen from Eskilstuna made contact with the outside world after finding a walkie-talkie.

They had found a walkie-talkie in a boat and thus got in touch with the boat owner who contacted us, says Maria Linné, press spokesperson at the police to TT.

The couple had hiked through Rapadalen and reached Nammásj, where they found the boat.

Had sought shelter

TV4 News has met the couple in the national park. To the TV channel, Nico Sallmén and Sanja Paronen say that they had sought shelter from bad weather and therefore did not return home from Sarek on the planned date.

We lay in the tent for two days and waited it out. That's why we were delayed, says Nico Sallmén and tells that it's his first time hiking in the mountains.

The couple says they had brought extra food with them and had informed relatives and friends that they might be delayed. Therefore, they had not expected anyone to look for them or report them as missing.

We were surprised that they were looking for us. We joked about it when we saw the helicopter yesterday, says Nico Sallmén.

Sanja Paronen assures that they "are doing better than ever".

We've had a fantastic hike. But I understand that people have become worried and that's a shame. Because we're doing fine, she says.

The couple not lost

Relatives have been informed that the two have been found.

When mom called... We both just cried. She wrote to me first: "Call, it's urgent". Then I just felt: "Oh, is this good or bad?" Then mom told me that they're alive and it was such a relief. I was standing in a café and just burst into tears when I got that call, says Paronen's sister to Eskilstuna-Kuriren.

After the couple made contact, the plan was for the police to meet them with a helicopter, but it was changed due to bad flying weather. Now the two will instead hike back to their car and have dinner before driving back to Eskilstuna.

The couple was expected to have returned from their hike on Sunday and have been searched for since Wednesday.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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