Swiss Couple Found Frozen in Alps 75 Years Later

Image: PHOTO: Switzerland's Aletsch glacier. (photo via Flickr/Craig Stanfill)
Image: PHOTO: Switzerland's Aletsch glacier. (photo via Flickr/Craig Stanfill)
Patrick Clarke
by Patrick Clarke
Last updated: 11:18 AM ET, Wed July 19, 2017

A Swiss couple missing for nearly 75 years was discovered mummified in a receding glacier in the Alps earlier this month.

According to CNN, a ski resort worker stumbled onto the bodies of Marceline and Francine Dumoulin while performing a routine inspection at 8,500 feet above sea level.

"From afar, it looked like small rocks, but there were too many in the same place," Glacier 3000 resort director Bernhard Tschannen told Radio Television Swisse.

The couple went missing on August 15, 1942, during a hike to milk their cows.

In addition to the bodies, a slew of accessories was found at the Tsanfleuron glacier, including backpacks, boots and watches.

The bodies have since been airlifted from the glacier. DNA testing by forensic experts at Lausanne University confirmed their identities.

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Officials believe that the couple fell into a crevice in the now shrinking glacier, preserving their bodies for decades.

Marceline and Francine were 40 and 37, respectively, when they went missing. They left behind six children.

"We spent our whole lives looking for them, without stopping. We thought that we could give them the funeral they deserved one day," the youngest daughter, 79-year-old Marceline Udry-Dumoulin, told Le Matin via SwissInfo.ch.

"I can say that after 75 years of waiting, this news gives me a deep sense of calm."

According to SwissInfo.ch, four frozen corpses were uncovered in the nearby Aletsch glacier during 2012. The remains were determined to be part of a climbing expedition that went missing in 1926.


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Patrick Clarke

Patrick Clarke

Senior Editor

A Maryland native and wanderer who has lived across the U.S. from North Carolina to SoCal, Patrick Clarke graduated from Towson University with a B.S. in journalism. He previously worked for Bleacher

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