Frozen bodies found in glacier identified

A Swiss woman whose parents went missing 75 years ago is relieved that their bodies have finally been found after years of searching for them. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)

The missing couple were Marcelin Dumoulin, a shoemaker, and his wife Francine, a teacher. The parents of seven children also kept cattle. They disappeared on August 15, 1942 in the Glacier 3000 region, at a height of 2,600m (8,530ft), after going to tend to their cows.

Their daughter, Marceline Udry-Dumoulin, says she had never given up on finding her parents, even climbing the glacier three times to look for them. She was planning to go back there in August to mark the 75th year of their disappearance.

In mid July, a man operating a ski piste machine discovered body parts buried in the ice, along with backpacks, tin bowls and a glass bottle, as well as male and female shoes. Identification was carried out by cross-matching their DNA with that of relatives. 

Marceline Udry-Dumoulin says she is now planning to put her parents to rest with a Catholic ceremony.