The preserved body of an American mountaineer who went missing while climbing a snowy peak in Peru 22 years ago has been found. Ice melting caused by climate changePolice said Monday.
William Stumpfl was reported missing in June 2002 at the age of 59 when an avalanche buried his climbing team on Mount Huascaran, at over 22,000 feet. Search and rescue efforts were unsuccessful.
Peruvian police said his remains were finally uncovered by melting snow in the Andes’ Cordillera Blanca mountain range.
Stamplin’s body, as well as his clothes, saddle and boots, were well protected by the cold, according to photos released by police.
His passport was found among his possessions, allowing police to identify the body.
The mountains of northeastern Peru are home to snowy peaks such as Huascarán and Kashan, a favorite of mountaineers from around the world.
In May, the body of an Israeli hiker was found there a month after he went missing.
Last month, an experienced Italian mountaineer fell to his death while trying to scale another Andean peak.
The bodies of other climbers have been found in recent years
As glaciers around the world increasingly melt and retreat, which many scientists blame on global warming, discoveries of the remains of hikers, skiers and other climbers who disappeared decades ago have increased.
In June, Five frozen bodies were recovered From Mount Everest – including bare skeletal remains – as part of a mountain-cleaning campaign on Nepal’s Everest and adjacent peaks, Lodse and Nuptse.
Last year, the The remains of a German climber In 1986 the missing people were rescued from a glacier in the Swiss Alps.
In 2017, Italian mountain rescue teams They recovered the remains of the climbers A glacier on the south face of Mont Blanc probably dates back to the 1980s or 1990s. A few weeks later, a climber found in the Swiss Alps was identified as a British mountaineer. He disappeared in 1971Local police said on Thursday.
That same year, a shrinking glacier in Switzerland revealed the bodies of a frozen couple. It has been 75 years since the disappearance Before. Marceline Dumoulin and his wife Frances were 40 and 37 when they disappeared on August 15, 1942. Regional police told local media that their bodies had been found. Found near a ski lift on the glacier By an employee of an adventure resort company.
In 2016, the bodies of a renowned mountaineer and travel photographer buried in a Himalayan avalanche in 1999 were found. were discovered Partial melting from a glacier.
In 2015, the remains of two Japanese climbers who went missing on Switzerland’s famous Matterhorn in 1970 were found and their identities confirmed through DNA testing, Reuters reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
