The bodies of two Belgian men who went missing in the Swiss Alps in 1992 were discovered on July 26 on the Trift Glacier after it melted, exposing their remains. DNA analysis confirmed they were aged 39 and 41 at the time of their disappearance. The melting of glaciers has revealed other long-lost remains, including a German climber found on a glacier near the Matterhorn in 2023 who had been missing since 1986. Glaciers in Switzerland have shrunk by a quarter over the decade to 2025, with a further 3% reduction in 2025.
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Story summary
Two Belgian climbers, 39 and 41 years old, who went missing in the Swiss Alps in 1992, have been found dead in a glacier in Valais, Switzerland. A hiker stumbled upon their bodies on July 26th as the Trift glacier was melting. DNA analysis confirmed the identities of the climbers, who were last seen near the Weissmies peak, which is over 4,000 meters high and a popular mountaineering spot. The discovery highlights the issue of glaciers exposing remains from decades ago due to rapid melting caused by global warming, with some scientists attributing a quarter shrinkage in Switzerland's glaciers between 2015-2025 to climate change. This is not an isolated incident, as three years ago, DNA tests confirmed that a body found on another Swiss glacier belonged to a missing person.
Written for “Missing Climbers Found In Glacier” on 2026-08-31,
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- Published
The bodies of two Belgian men who went missing in the Swiss Alps in 1992 have been discovered after being exposed by the melting of a glacier, police have said.
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police → publish → glacier
A hiker discovered the bodies on 26 July on the Trift Glacier, south of the Swiss city of Lucerne, officials said.
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officials → discover → Lucerne
DNA analysis later confirmed them to be those of two mountaineers who went missing 34 years ago near the Weissmies mountain, police said.
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police → confirm → mountain
Many scientists attribute a rapid retreat in Switzerland's glaciers - which shrunk by a quarter in the decade to 2025, according to Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (Glamos) - to climate change.
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which → attribute → change
Police in Switzerland's Valais region said in a statement that they had organised a recovery operation following the discovery of the two men's bodies and transferred them to a hospital in the canton's capital, Sion, for identification.
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they → say → identification
Peaking at over 4,000 metres, the Weissmies mountain - which the two men went missing in the vicinity of - is a popular mountaineering spot in the Saas Valley.
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men → peak → Valley
Regional officials maintain a database of missing people dating back to 1925.
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officials → maintain → 1925
The majority of people on it disappeared in the moutains, or in rivers and other bodies of water, police said.
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police → disappear → water
The force noted that this was not the first time that the melting of glaciers had exposed the remains of people who had gone missing several decades prior.
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who → note → people
In 2023, human remains found on a glacier close to Switzerland's famed Matterhorn were confirmed to be those of a German climber who had been missing since 1986.
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who → find → 1986
The rate of glacier shrinkage has been increasing globally since the 1990s and at a particularly accelerated rate since 2000, according to the European Commission's monitoring body Copernicus.
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rate → increase → body
This melting has been particularly pronounced in Switzerland.
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melting → pronounce → Switzerland
Data from Glamos, external reported a further glacier reduction of 3% across 2025, following record years of ice loss in 2022 and 2023.
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Data → report → 2022
The upward trend in global average temperatures has brought unseasonably warm weather to Switzerland's higher altitudes, and a reduction in snow has imperilled some of its ski resorts and competitions.
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reduction → bring → resorts
