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A melting glacier in the Swiss Alps revealed the remains of two Belgian mountaineers who vanished more than three decades ago, authorities said Wednesday.
A hiker spotted the remains on the Trift Glacier on July 26 after melting ice exposed them, according to police in Switzerland’s Valais canton.
Authorities recovered the remains and sent them to a forensic medicine institute at a hospital in Sion for identification.
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A view of the Trift suspension bridge at the Trift Glacier in Valais, Switzerland, on Jan. 2, 2018. (BlueRed/REDA/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
DNA testing showed they belonged to two Belgian men who disappeared in the Weissmies region in 1992, police said. The men were 39 and 41 when they went missing.
Valais police have kept records of missing-person cases dating to 1925. Many involve people who disappeared in the mountains or in bodies of water.
The glacial ice avalanche of the Trift Glacier above the village in Saas-Grund, Valais, Switzerland, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. (Dominic Steinmann/Keystone via AP, File)
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As glaciers retreat, remains hidden beneath the ice for decades can emerge, police said.
Similar discoveries have been made in Switzerland in recent years. In 2023, DNA testing identified a body found on a glacier near the Matterhorn as a German mountaineer who disappeared in 1986.
Regional police shared an image of Trift Glacier near Saas-Grund, Valais, Switzerland. (Valais Cantonal Police)
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Switzerland’s glaciers have been melting at an increasing rate, a trend some scientists have linked to rising global temperatures.
