Val de Bagnes: discovery of remains of mountaineer who disappeared in 2016

Human bones have been discovered in the mountains of Val de Bagnes in Switzerland. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

Human bones have been discovered in the mountains of Val de Bagnes in Switzerland. They belong to a German man who disappeared in 2016, according to the identification procedure. The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.

In mid-July 2023, a hiker reported to the authorities that he had discovered a rucksack in the Avouillons region in the Petit Combin sector, the cantonal police said in a press release on Monday. Subsequent searches by the police led to “the discovery of other personal effects and bones”.

These items, which were submitted to forensic medicine, made it possible to formally identify the victim, a German national who had been missing since October 5, 2016, the police said. Information gathered at the time had made it possible to locate the missing man’s vehicle in a parking space near the Brunet hut above Fionnay. The search for the victim was unsuccessful.

+ More human remains and objects emerge as glaciers retreat

As part of the search for missing persons, the Valais cantonal police are constantly looking for new leads. “This example shows once again how important it is to notify the authorities in the event of such a discovery,” a cantonal police spokesman told Keystone-ATS.

+ Skeletal human remains found in southern Swiss Alps

Other remains found this summer

In recent years, as the glaciers have retreated, more and more mountaineers have been found, some of whom had been missing for decades.

At the beginning of August, the remains of an Italian mountaineer missing since a ski tour in March 2019 were found in the Petit Cervin region (Valais). In mid-July, the remains of a German mountaineer who had been missing since 1986 were found on the Théodule glacier above Zermatt (Valais).

+ Remains of long-lost German alpinist found on Swiss glacier

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