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News in 5: Final text missing WA mum sent her family; Prince Philip involved in car crash; Aussie's career defining match.

-With AAP

1. The final text message from missing WA mum Felicity Shadbolt has been revealed.

The body of a missing West Australian woman has been found, ending a four-day search in the state’s remote Pilbara region.

36-year-old Felicity Shadbolt was reported missing after failing to return home from a run on Sunday.

Police called off the search on Wednesday night after her body was found by a member of the public in bushland, about 500m away from Tom Price Tourist Park.

The mother-of-two was last seen at 11.30am on January 13 after telling family she was going for a run at Mount Nameless, about 10km from the Tom Price town centre.

A Tom Price resident said, “Flik” as Shadbolt was known, regularly walked the area and was carrying a hydration pack and mobile phone.

News.com.au reported her last known contact was at 12.50pm on Sunday, when she sent a text message saying she would be home in about 20 minutes. She never arrived.

Police attempted to triangulate the phone’s location using the local mobile tower but said the area pinpointed was too broad.

Calls to Shadbolt were ringing out until early Monday morning.

Police do not yet know if her death is suspicious but have not ruled out foul play.

Shadbolt’s family have been assisting police with the search, with her mother and older sister flying to the mining town on Tuesday.

“Thank you to those who have helped looked and are still looking for her,” her sister Jennifer Dick wrote on a WA Police Force Facebook post.

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“We all want her home,” she said.

The ground and aerial search covered more than 70,000 hectares and included local community volunteers, drones and Pony Club members on horseback.

Police were forced to temporarily suspend the search when temperatures soared above 40 degrees and thunderstorms lashed the area.

2. Prince Philip has been involved in a car crash.

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The Duke of Edinburgh has been involved in a road accident while driving close to the Sandringham Estate.

Philip, 97, was not injured in the crash on Thursday afternoon, Buckingham Palace said.

Norfolk Police said officers were called to the Sandringham Estate shortly before 3pm “following reports of a collision involving two cars”.

A spokesman added that police and ambulance crews attended and two people in one of the vehicles suffered minor injuries.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman confirmed the duke was driving when the accident happened.

She added: “He saw a doctor as a precaution and the doctor confirmed he was not injured.”

The spokeswoman would not comment on who Philip’s passenger was but it is likely the duke was travelling with his close protection officer.

The duke is no stranger to the driving seat and has been seen with very famous passengers in a Range Rover in 2016.

Philip showed former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle the personal touch when he drove them and the Queen to Windsor Castle after the Marine One presidential helicopter landed close to the monarch’s Berkshire home during their visit to the UK in April 2016.

Even in his 80s, the duke continued to compete in demanding carriage driving competitions, and has previously pulled muscles in his back while driving his horse-drawn carriage.

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In 2017, he joked how the rough and tumble of carriage driving left his “Balmoral dog cart” smashed up regularly.

In his first interview since he announced his retirement, Philip told how he took up the sport of carriage driving when he gave up polo aged 50.

He was instrumental in helping to establish the sport and took part well into his 80s, but gave up competitions some years ago.

Philip retired from official royal engagements in August 2017.

3. 26yo Aussie just played a career-defining match at the Australian Open.

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Wild-haired wildcard Alex Bolt has given Australia its best start to the Australian Open in 15 years with a pulsating second-round win over veteran Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Bolt saved four match points in a thrilling 2-6 6-4 4-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 fightback over the former world No.6 to leave fans on Court 3 in a frenzy.

“This is the best thing I have ever experienced in my life,” the world No.155 said.

“It is unbelievable to have everyone behind me tonight. They really got me over the line.”

With fellow wildcard Alexei Popyrin getting past 2018 French Open finalist Dominic Thiem, who retired trailing by two sets earlier on Thursday night, Australia has five men and women in the last 32 at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2004.

“I think we are in a pretty good spot. Hopefully some of us can win another round and go deeper into the tournament,” Bolt said.

Bolt smoked 43 forehand winners against the 29 seed Simon, backing up his maiden grand slam win on Tuesday over American Jack Sock.

The 26-year-old, who took a break from tennis three years ago to work as a labourer with his brother, had never before beaten a player ranked inside the top 70.

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“My parents have come over from Murray Bridge. To be able to perform like this in front of them is real special,” he said.

Big guns Ashleigh Barty and Alex de Minaur will keep the flag flying on Friday when they play Greek Maria Sakkari and Rafael Nadal respectively, while wildcard Kimberly Birrell faces second seed Angelique Kerber.

The last group of five Australians to make the third round was Mark Philippoussis, Lleyton Hewitt, Todd Reid, Nicole Pratt and Alicia Molik.

Bolt will meet either German fourth seed Alexander Zverev or Frenchman Jeremy Chardy for a place in the fourth round.

4. Australians urged to do bowel cancer test.

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Judy Christie was an active 74-year-old without a care in the world when a package arrived in the mail.

A retired nurse, she played lawn bowls at least twice a week, walked daily, volunteered at a local op shop and enjoyed tending to her garden.

Even so, she had no reason not to complete the government-funded bowel cancer screening test in the parcel.

It came back positive, revealing a cancer already reaching its late stages despite her total lack of symptoms.

“If it hadn’t been for that test, I would not be here with you talking to you today,” Ms Christie told AAP of the test she completed 18 months ago.

“The surgeon told me the cancer they removed from my bowel was type three of four and eventually I would have had symptoms and gone to my doctor.

“But he said they wouldn’t have been able to help me – it would have been palliative care only.”

Ms Christie caught the cancer just in time to treat it with surgery and chemotherapy and now urges everyone who receives a test to do it or pick one up from a chemist as she had done in earlier years.

“It’s really very simple and look at the results.”

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She also welcomes the federal government’s announcement on Friday of a $10 million advertising campaign to boost participation in its national bowel cancer screening program.

The program – which the Howard government introduced in 2005-06 and has been gradually expanded – invites Australians aged between 50 and 74 to screen for bowel cancers using a free home test kit.

The kit involves people taking two small faecal samples, which are sent to a pathologist, with the results then mailed to the participant and their doctor.

By the end of 2019, everyone in the age group will get an invitation to screen every two years.

Of the 3.2 million Australians invited in 2015 and 2016, 41 per cent decided to participate.

That was up by two per cent from the previous period but the government would like that figure to be higher.

Cancer Council NSW modelling shows the program will have saved 59,000 lives between 2015 and 2040 at current participation rates but could save 83,000 lives if the rate was 60 per cent.

“We must get the message through to people that early detection of this cancer is vital in saving lives and protecting lives,” Health Minister Greg Hunt said.

“Symptoms can often be silent, so screening is absolutely critical for early detection. Testing can even find the early warning signs even before bowel cancer develops.”

Cancer Cancer Australia will use the new funds for TV, radio, social media and outdoor advertising throughout 2019.

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About 17,000 Australians are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year.

5. Python tries to eat teen in Qld.

A far north Queensland couple struggled for ten minutes to prise a three-metre scrub python off their son after it sank its teeth into his hand.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service said the snake attacked the boy, 14, on January 8, coiling around his right arm, sinking its teeth into his hand and refusing to let go.

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Emma and Neville Jackson woke to the sound of screams from their son Ryan, the ABC has reported.

They tried desperately to pull their son free, but the snake only tightened its grip and sank its teeth further into his left hand.

After a 10-minute struggle, Mr Jackson used a platypus money box to force the snake’s jaw open far enough for Ryan to free his hand, the public broadcaster says.

“We’ve taught our children not to fear snakes because they’re everywhere, but this one was hungry and aggressive and not keen to let go,” Mrs Jackson told the ABC.

The family was grateful the snake did not attack their four-year-old daughter who may not have survived if attacked.

“Ryan took one for the team in a way because I think the snake would have killed her, the aggression behind that snake, it would have taken her,” she told the ABC.

The boy, who was flown to Cairns hospital by the flying doctor, was not seriously injured.

The scrub python is common in Australia and can grow to 8.5 metres, making it the sixth largest snake in the world.

The snake’s diet generally consists of birds, bats, rats, possums, and other small mammals.

Larger specimens catch and eat wallabies.