Bodies of two hikers missing for decades found after Swiss glacier melts
Police in Switzerland announced that the bodies of two Belgian men who disappeared in 1992 while hiking near the Weissmies mountain in the Swiss Alps were recovered after the Trift Glacier melted away.
A hiker discovered the remains on 26 July, and DNA analysis confirmed that the men were 39 and 41 at the time of their disappearance.
The Valais police organised a recovery operation and transferred the bodies to Sion for identification. The Weissmies peak, reaching over 4,000 metres, remains a popular mountaineering destination.
Scientists link the rapid retreat of Swiss glaciers to climate change, noting a 25 % reduction in the area of the country’s glaciers over the last decade. Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (Glamos) reports another 3 % loss in 2025, following record melts in 2022 and 2023.
Unseasonably warm temperatures have also affected snow cover and ski resorts in higher altitudes. The discovery is the third time melting glaciers have uncovered remains of people missing for decades. For example, in 2023 remains were found near the Matterhorn, identified as a German climber missing since 1986.
