As Glacier Ice Melted, Another Grisly Find

Cops say body found near Matterhorn is German mountaineer who went missing 37 years ago
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 29, 2023 2:40 PM CDT
He Set Out for the Glacier in '86 and Vanished. Finally, Closure
Stock photo of Theodul Glacier, in the Swiss Alps.   (Getty Images/santirf)

DNA tests have confirmed that the body recently found on a glacier southeast of the famed Matterhorn peak is that of a German mountaineer who disappeared 37 years ago, police in southwestern Switzerland said Thursday. Increasing glacier melt, which many scientists blame on global warming, has spurred a recent increase in discoveries of the remains of hikers, skiers, and other alpinists who went missing decades ago.

Regional police said the 38-year-old German went missing in September 1986 and that searches at the time didn't find him, per the AP. On July 12, mountaineers on the Theodul Glacier near the Italian border found the remains of the man, which were then transported to a nearby hospital for analysis. Genetic tests confirmed the man's identity, which wasn't made public by the regional police.

(More Switzerland stories.)

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