In a twist worthy of a movie, the bodies of a long-lost couple have been found in a melting glacier in the Swiss Alps. Though DNA testing will be needed to confirm their identities, the identification papers found with the bodies names them as Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin, who went missing 75 years ago. On August 15, 1942, the couple left home to milk their cows in a nearby valley and were never seen again, leaving behind seven children.
““We spent our whole lives looking for them,” their daughter Marceline told Le Matin, a local Swiss paper. Now 79, she was only four when her parents disappeared. She said that, after decades of uncertainty, “this news calms me deeply.”
The bodies were discovered near a ski lift at the Les Diablerets resort last week, when a worker spotted something odd in the ice while driving over the glacier. Bernhard Tschannen, director of the ski lift company, told local paper Tribune de Genève that he thinks they may have fallen into a crevasse and gotten trapped. Other items, such as a book, backpack, and watch, were found with them and are being analyzed for forensic evidence. The police have confirmed that an autopsy is underway, but ask for patience as they currently have a list of 280 missing people from the area. “We will try to cross-check,” said Stéphane Vouardoux, a spokesperson for the Valais cantonal police. (A Swiss canton is like a state in the U.S.)
The family hopes that after the police conclude their investigation, they can finally give the couple the burial they deserve. ““For the funeral, I won’t wear black,” Marcelline said. “I think that white would be more appropriate. It represents hope, which I never lost.”