The father of a young woman who went missing in far north Queensland says he endured “16 hours of hell” waiting to get his daughter back.

Jessica Hamill, 20, was reunited with her family in hospital on Wednesday after she went missing from her home in Port Douglas around midnight on Tuesday.

An alert was put out and police feared for Ms Hamill’s safety. At the time they said they suspected she had been taken by a man in his 20s.

Following a tip-off from the public, police spotted a black 2012 Holden Commodore station wagon around 6pm on the Kennedy Highway.

Tyre spikes were used without success to try to stop it and the car eventually crashed down a steep embankment on the Kuranda Range on Wednesday night.

Emergency services found Ms Hamill in the wreck of the car and she was taken to Cairns Base Hospital in a stable condition.

Her father Scott Hamill said his daughter was coping as well as could be expected but was “still bewildered” at everything that had happened.

“She’s doing okay under the circumstances,” he said.

“I’ve just lived through 16 hours of hell … (but) we got our Jess back.”

He said she was a “very driven young lady” who held a good position in real estate and had achieved her dream of owning her own home by age 21.

“She’s done that. Unfortunately, she doesn’t feel safe to go back to that house,” he said.

A 24-year-old man is expected to face Cairns Magistrate Court on Friday morning charged with a string of offences including attempted murder and assault occasioning bodily harm.

Detective Acting Inspector Michael Gooiker confirmed the attempted murder allegation related to the car crash.

-AAP