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The Austrian Alps AP/Press Association Images
Alps
Skier's body identified in Austria ... 86 years after going missing
Karl K was 21 when he disappeared in 1929.
HUMAN REMAINS FOUND in a cave in the Austrian Alps have been identified as those of a skier who went missing 86 years ago.
DNA tests confirmed that the remains were of Karl K, a man who never came home after going skiing alone on the Untersberg mountain near his home in Salzburg in March 1929.
He was 21 years old.
In November 2014, a geologist found bones in a cave – which he first thought were from an animal – as well as a hobnail leather boot and bits of wooden ski and pole.
Police came across K’s name after combing through old records and were able to get a match after comparing DNA with his surviving half-sister, who is well over 100, and a 99-year-old half-brother.
“The half-brother has been informed of the confirmation,” police spokesman Anton Schentz told AFP. “The half-sister is however very frail and is no longer really reactive.”
Police have ruled out foul play, believing that K’s death was accidental.
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