Swiss Police Identify 2 Belgian Climbers Missing 34 Years as Melting Glacier Releases Bodies
Updated
Updated · CBS New York · Aug 19
Swiss Police Identify 2 Belgian Climbers Missing 34 Years as Melting Glacier Releases Bodies
3 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Aug 19
Summary
DNA tests confirmed that two bodies found on the Trift Glacier on July 26 were Belgian mountaineers who vanished in the Weissmies region in 1992.
Wallis police said a hiker spotted the remains on the southern Swiss glacier near the Italian border, and forensic specialists in Sion established the identification through direct DNA-profile comparison.
The two men were 39 and 41 when they disappeared; Wallis police keep missing-person records dating to 1925, largely tied to mountain and river accidents.
Retreating glaciers are increasingly exposing long-buried remains: Wallis saw a 1994 Swiss climber found last year, while similar discoveries have recently surfaced in Antarctica, Pakistan, Peru and the Alps.