Remains of Swiss couple who went missing 75 years ago, recovered in Alps glacier

The couple were heading to to feed their cows in a field near the village of Chandolin in Switzerland.

New Delhi: In a strange incident, two frozen bodies have been recovered in the Alps. They were dressed in clothing which was in trend during the period of the World War II.

It is being suspected that the recovered bodies are of Marcelin and Francine who had disappeared at a height of 8,530ft.

The couple were heading to feed their cows in a field near the village of Chandolin in Switzerland. It has been 75 years since Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin disappeared in August 1942.

Reportedly, a DNA test will be conducted for the identification of the couple. A book, backpack and a watch had also been taken for forensic analysis, said report.

At the time of disappearance, Marcelin was 40 years old while Francine was 37. The couple was the parents of five sons and two daughters, the youngest of whom is 79-year-old. 

A two-and-a-half month search followed by several independent searches by their children over the past years failed to discover what happened to the couple.

"I climbed three times on the glacier afterwards, always looking for them. I kept wondering if they had suffered and what they had become. I have the pleasure of having answers to these questions from now on", said Udry-Dumoulin, their youngest daughter.

After over seven decades, a worker from a ski-lift company, Glacier 3000, discovered the bodies on Tsanfleuron glacier above a resort, said police.

According to the company's director Bernhard Tschannen, his employee saw male and female shoes along with a part of a body under the ice. He also found some backpacks, tin bowls and a glass bottle. The couple had apparently fallen into a crevasse, he added.

"The bodies were lying near each other. It was a man and a woman wearing clothing dating from the period of World War Two," India Today quoted Tschannen as saying.

Following the completion of the formal identification process and release of the remains, the children of Marcelin and Francine have planned to arrange a funeral for their parents.