Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin went missing after going to milk their cows in a meadow above Chandolin in the Valais canton on August 15, 1942.
But on Thursday, their bodies were found lying next to each other by the Tsanfleuron glacier at an altitude of 2,615m, along with backpacks, a bottle, a book and a watch.
The head of the resort, Bernard Tschannen, told Le Matin daily: ‘It was a man and a woman wearing clothes from the last (world) war. The ice preserved them perfectly and their belongings were intact’.
Local reports say they were identified by their wartime identity papers.
A DNA search has been planned to confirm their identities, but Marceline Udry-Dumoulin said she believed the remains were of her parents.
Dumoulin, 79, who was four when her parents went missing, told the paper: ‘We spent our whole lives searching for them, without stopping. We never thought we’d be able to give them the funeral they deserved.
Searches were carried out for more than two months but in the end, Dumoulin and her five brothers and one sister were placed in foster homes.
The 79-year-old said: ‘It was the first time my mother went with him on such an excursion. She was always pregnant and couldn’t climb in the difficult conditions of a glacier.
‘After a while, we children were separated and placed in families. I was lucky to stay with my aunt,’ she said.
‘We all lived in the region but became strangers.’
‘For the funeral, I won’t wear black. I think that white would be more appropriate. It represents hope, which I never lost.’
The couple will be buried later this month in a joint service at their local church.
Metro.co.uk
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