BURSTTwo Belgian mountaineers who disappeared in the Swiss Alps in 1992 have been identified after their remains were discovered on a melting glacier 34 years later. The remains were found by a hiker on the Trift Glacier, high above the mountain village of Saas-Grund in Switzerland’s Valais region.
Authorities recovered the bodies and transported them to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Valais Hospital in Sion for identification. DNA testing later confirmed that the remains belonged to Belgian climbers Marcel Bastyns and Jos Van Deun. Bastyns and Van Deun were 39 and 41 years old respectively when they disappeared in September 1992, when they were attempting to climb Weissmies, a 4,017-metre mountain in the Swiss Alps.
The two climbers started up on Sept. 3, then spent the night at the Weissmies Hut, located at an elevation of 2,726 metres. Early the next morning, they set out toward the Almageller Hut, following a route that was intended to take them over the summit of Weissmies, but they never made it. Search efforts were conducted after their disappearance, but only a pack was found.
Several other climbers who disappeared decades ago have also been found after melting glaciers exposed their remains. In Switzerland, a 38-year-old German climber who disappeared in 1986 was identified in 2023 after his remains emerged from the Theodul Glacier near the Matterhorn. Climbers discovered the remains along with a boot and climbing equipment, and DNA testing confirmed his identity. Another case involved British climber Jonathan Conville, who disappeared on the Matterhorn in 1979 during poor weather. Remains were discovered on the mountain more than three decades later as melting ice exposed them. DNA testing confirmed that they belonged to Conville.
In another Swiss case, a British mountaineer who disappeared in 1971 was identified after human remains were discovered on the Chessjengletscher glacier near Saas-Fee in 2022. DNA testing confirmed his identity, 52 years after his disappearance. A similar discovery occurred in Peru, where American climber William Stampfl disappeared while climbing Huascarán in 2002. His mummified remains were found in 2024 after melting glacier ice exposed his body, 22 years after he went missing.
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