The father of missing woman Angie Fuller says he is "absolutely devastated" by her disappearance outside of Alice Springs, as the search for her enters its second week.
Ms Fuller, 30, was last seen last Monday evening, running into bushland along the Tanami Road, about 15 kilometres west of the Stuart Highway intersection.
She was reported missing on Wednesday, with police appealing to the public for information from Friday.
In an interview with the ABC, Tony Fuller said it was out of character for his daughter — a mother of two — to disappear and that he was worried for her welfare.
"[Police] still remain hopeful, there are still a few different outcomes potentially," he said.
"But as the days pass and the hours fold, I'm more concerned about if she is out there … that the time frame is closing in on her.
"I just want her to come home."
Mr Fuller said his daughter had recently moved to Alice Springs, where she was turning her life around and had started a job at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation service.
"She was working there and she was really enjoying it, and I could see she was eager and keen to get back," he said.
Mr Fuller said she left Darwin on Sunday, January 8, arriving back into Alice Springs the day after.
"The only evidence we had to support that she actually made it into Alice Springs was some CCTV footage provided by McDonalds, where she was last actually seen," he said.
Mr Fuller also claimed he was "sickened" by videos uploaded to social media by a man claiming to be her boyfriend, saying he had never met him and did not believe he was Ms Fuller's boyfriend.
Desert search for Angie continues
The NT Police search and rescue operation for her continued today, involving 20 police officers, helicopters and a drone.
NT Police issued statements about the search for Ms Fuller on Friday and Saturday, and made an officer available for questions on Sunday at the ABC's request.
No press conference was held on Monday, which marked a week since Ms Fuller was last seen.
NT Police have not said whether they are treating her disappearance as suspicious, but in a statement on Monday said they were conducting "extensive inquiries" to locate her.
A spokesperson for NT Police said police were continuing to "vigorously search for Angie hoping to find her alive".
Authorities are continuing to appeal for anyone with information as to her whereabouts to contact police on 131 444.
Area subject to harsh conditions
On Sunday, police said they believed Ms Fuller was still alive.
"There are certainly water sources in the area that she can access," NT Police Acting Superintendent Rob Engels said at the time.
"Our experts to date tell us it is survivable at this time."
Gordon Dedman, a survival expert with experience in the Northern Territory, said conditions in the area where Ms Fuller had gone missing were harsh at this time of year.
He said the environment's main challenges included its remoteness, extreme temperatures and dangerous animals such as snakes.
"Generally, you're talking about [an environment that is] very hot, very dry, not lots of trees, sparsely vegetated," he said.
"It wouldn't be a nice place to be in the middle of the Australian summer."
But Mr Dedman said if there was more water than usual in the area – with ex-tropical cyclone Ellie bringing heavy rainfall to the region last week – that would improve chances of survival.
"That's a really good sign, if there's lots of water," he said.
"So hopefully, depending on how far away [that is], and the evaporation rate, where exactly that is, [if she can] just stick by one of those, at least she's got a good fighting chance. And it would just be a matter of staying put and [using] signalling aids."
