The search for a Swiss female skier who vanished during a doomed Alps trip with her boyfriend and his family has been abandoned after her relatives gave up hope she is alive.
Emilie Deschenaux, 28, was part of a group of six skiers who embarked on a trip in the Swiss Alps on Saturday and came into a brutal storm. They were reported missing and five bodies were found on the Tete Blanche mountain on Sunday night.
The bodies belonged to brothers Jean-Vincent Moix, 30, David Moix, 27, – who was Emilie’s boyfriend – and Laurent Moix, 21, their cousin Marc Moix, 44, and their uncle Joel Moix, 58.
Law graduate Emilie’s backpack and skis were found next to the bodies, but there was no trace of her after extensive searches that had to be interrupted repeatedly due to bad weather.
The search for her has now been permanently abandoned after consultation with her devastated family, who gave up hope that Emilie is still alive somewhere on the freezing mountain, Swiss outlet Blick reports.
Police said she remains ‘unfortunately untraceable’ but said they had deployed everything at their disposal to try and find the young woman.
The sixth member of the skiing group was identified as as 28-year-old law graduate Emilie Deschenaux (pictured), David’s girlfriend, whose backpack and skis were found next to the bodies
A screenshot from a handout video made available by the Valais cantonal police shows the Tete Blanche snow field where five bodies were found, in the Swiss alps mountains, near Sion, Switzerland, 11 March 2024
Jean-Vincent Moix (left), 30, was one of the five skiers found dead in the Swiss Alps on Sunday. David Moix (right), 27, has also been found dead. His girlfriend Emilie is still missing on Tete Blanche
Youngest brother Laurent Moix (left), 21, froze to death during alongside four of his family members on the weekend. The oldest of the group, Joel Moix (right), 58, was also found dead. He was the uncle of Jean-Vincent, David and Laurent
Marc Moix (pictured), a captain with the local police force in the Swiss canton of Valais, was one of the six skiers who went missing in the tragedy close to the Tete Blanche mountain on the weekend
They added that they will ‘keep an eye’ on the area, but the weather was not ‘favourable’ to continue their search.
Police explained that the search being abandoned had depend more on the bad weather than on the number of days spent searching.
Earlier this week the parents of Jean-Vincent, David and Laurent said in an obituary that their beloved sons ‘fell asleep together’ while doing something they were passionate about. They also noted that ‘Emilie, David’s love, is still on the mountain’.
Marc Moix’s death notice by his family reads: ‘After a last hike in the mountains to share his light, he has become our new star, which will now be our guide.’
His loved ones also thanked those involved in the search for Marc and the others, writing: ‘Through their professionalism, their availability, their listening, their empathy, they brought everyone a little light and comfort in these difficult moments of waiting.’
Meanwhile Joel’s wife and two daughters said he ‘left full of enthusiasm for his last ascent with his dear climbing companions’.
On Tuesday, rescuers searching for Emilie said ‘miracles happen’ and said they still had hope to find her alive.
Air Zermatt chief Anjan Truffer, the lead rescuer deployed to find the group, said his team previously saved people who had been missing for days, giving workers at the time a glimmer of hope that Emilie may have still been alive.
‘We have already found missing people several days later, miracles always happen,’ he said, after local police spokesman Daniel Imboden told Blick that hope remained Emilie may have survived the storm.
But with the search now being called off, all hope she may still be alive has been shattered as she would have been on the mountain in freezing temperatures and during bad weather for six days while only wearing thin clothing.
The search for Emilie (pictured) has been abandoned in consultation with her devastated family
Emilie (centre) set off from Zermatt on Saturday alongside her boyfriend David, who was found dead on Sunday
The skiers, five of them members of the same family, went missing around Tete Blanche mountain on Saturday, March 9
As the group passed close to the Tete Blanche (pictured), a mountain peak between Zermatt and Arolla, the region was engulfed in a brutal storm that left the skiers stranded at an altitude of around 11,400ft (3,500 metres)
Swiss media have speculated she may have fallen into a nearby crevice, given that her backpack and skis were found but rescuers have been unable to visually locate her after rescuers said the group had likely become disoriented in the storm.
‘The area is full of crevices – [she] may have fallen near the other members of the group. But this is just speculation,’ Truffer said.
Earlier the mountain rescue chief described how his team discovered five bodies scattered on the mountain late on Sunday.
‘First we found two people lying on the snow, severely hypothermic. Thanks to sounding poles and avalanche locators, we later found two more people lying under the snow cover. We had to shovel these out. When we found the people, they were very lightly dressed… they ended up disorientated at high altitude,’ Truffer told Swiss outlet NZZ.
He added that the ski tourers had tried to build a cave and protect themselves from the gales – in temperatures of -30 degrees C with windchill and gusts of up to 75 miles per hour – to no avail.
‘That’s actually a good idea. But the group didn’t have the necessary equipment with them. They had shovels, but they were too light to do anything with this massive blanket of snow,’ Truffer concluded.
The skiers were only wearing thin suits and only carried light equipment, according to local media – despite forecasts of dangerous gusts on the mountain.
‘It’s crazy. You can see it coming, a wall of clouds,’ a mountain tourer told Blick about the approaching storm in the mountains. Truffer added: ‘It is negligent to undertake such hikes with such weather forecasts.’
Klaus Aufdenblatten, another Valais mountain guide, agreed as he said: ‘The alpinists completely underestimated the weather conditions. The wind in particular can develop enormous power.’
The group of six skiers had left Zermatt Saturday morning with the goal of reaching the town of Arolla, near the Matterhorn mountain, later that day.
But as the group passed close to the Tete Blanche, a mountain peak between Zermatt and Arolla, the region was engulfed in a brutal storm that left the skiers stranded at an altitude of around 11,400ft (3,500 metres).
A member of the group sent a distress call to emergency services around 5pm on Saturday afternoon, authorities said, but helicopters and rescue teams were unable to deploy, such was the ferocity of the storm.
Five rescuers who tried to find them on foot had to turn back due to the bad weather.
By the time a rescue team finally reached the mountain on Sunday evening, five of the six alpine enthusiasts had perished close to the Dent Blanche alpine cabin.
Colleagues of Jean-Vincent paid tribute to him on Monday, including the mayor of Vex – a small village in the Swiss canton of Valais where four of the six skiers had lived.
They had a regular table at a local pub which now sits empty, according to a local. ‘Three brothers are dead. Only the sister is left,’ she told Blick. ‘You can’t imagine what the family must be going through right now.’
Three of the deceased were active members of Echo des Glaciers, a local brass band founded in 1914.
Jean-Vincent Moix (pictured) froze to death after being caught in a catastrophic storm close to the Tete Blanche mountain on Saturday afternoon
Emilie was a passionate skier and she shared many pictures of her trips on social media
David Moix (R) also lived in Vex, a small village in the Swiss canton of Valais, and was a lawyer
A handout photo made available by Valais Cantonal Police shows Mountain rescuers and helicopters prepare to fly to the Tete Blanche mountain in the Swiss alps mountains, near Sion, Switzerland, March 10
The band has cancelled its annual concert, which has been due to take place this weekend, in the wake of the tragedy.
Its president, Fabien Chambovey, said: ‘The brass band has a broken heart. It is an unspeakable tragedy that has affected the families of the victims.
‘Our only concern today and in the coming days is to support the families with all our strength, with our thoughts and prayers and to help them as best we can.’
The Moix family is described as being well-respected in the area, and Jean-Vincent had only recently been elected as a councillor.
The former private banker, who was also educated at the University of Westminster, was a keen mountaineer and had decided to switch careers.
Mayor Sebastien Menoud said: ‘It is such a huge tragedy to lose a colleague on the local council. Our thoughts are with him, his family and those around him and we express our deepest condolences to them.
‘One knows that it is an immeasurable pain that his family is now confronted with.’
David also lived in Vex and received his license to be a lawyer a week ago after studying at the University of Fribourg.
His girlfriend, Emilie, studied law and worked in Fribourg as an administrator for the local water company, according to her LinkedIn account.
Jean-Vincent, the oldest brother, used to be a private banker before being elected as a councillor for his home town of Vex in the Swiss canton of Valais
Emilie studied law and worked in Fribourg as an administrator for the local water company, according to her LinkedIn account
A friend of David, Lucas Nanchen, posted on Facebook: ‘Why is it always the best ones leave first? David (like his brothers) was the epitome of selflessness, always listening. David was very generous.
‘Lowkey he never came forward and yet he could have. The mountains of his region, which he knew by heart and cherished so much, took him away.’
A close friend of police officer Marc Moix told Blick: ‘He was like a brother to me. I’ve known him for a very long time. He is a generous person with an extraordinary attitude to life.
‘He loved life, his friends and his family. He lived his life 200 percent. It devastated me when I found out what had happened.’
Laurent Moix used to be part of a local football team and his former coach said he was a ‘nice person’ and ‘always laughed’.
On Monday night, a group of around 300 people in Vex gathered for a memorial procession, laying candles before listening to a performance by Echo des Glaciers.
‘It is an unspeakable tragedy that has affected the families of the victims. Our only concern today and in the days to come is to support the families with all our strength, with our thoughts and prayers, and to help them as best we can,’ the president of the music society told Blick yesterday.
A helicopter is pictured during a rescue operation after six touring skiers went missing, in Evolene, Switzerland, in this handout picture released on March 11, 2024
People attend a ceremony following the discovery of 5 ski tourers who had died near Tete Blanche in the Swiss alps mountains, in Vex, Switzerland, Monday, March 11, 2024
People light candles during a memorial ceremony for the deceased skiers
The skiers, five of them members of the same family, went missing around Tete Blanche mountain on Saturday on the Zermatt-Arolla path, near the Matterhorn mountain that straddles the border between Switzerland and Italy
People light candles during a ceremony after the bodies of five ski tourers were found near Tete Blanche
People attend a vigil after the bodies of five ski tourers were found near Tete Blanche in the Swiss alps mountains, in Vex, Switzerland, 11 March 2024
Christian Varone, head of Valais cantonal police, told reporters on Monday that rescue workers had pulled out all the stops to try to reach the stranded skiers on Saturday evening but faced horrendous conditions.
‘We were trying the impossible,’ he said, adding that the mission had pushed its efforts ‘to the extreme, extreme limit’, but were forced to turn around to avoid ‘seriously endangering the lives of the rescue workers.’
He added: ‘Sometimes you have to bow before nature.’
Truffer confirmed that emergency services received a distress signal from one of the skiers at around 5:19pm local time on Saturday.
This, he said, gave rescuers a rough location in the Col de Tete Blanche, whose peak stands at 12,160ft above sea level.
Truffer told Blick that the weather was so bad that flying in to rescue the skiers simply wasn’t an option.
He said there were ‘very strong winds, heavy snow, high avalanche danger, and zero visibility’ which would leave rescuers ‘dead in two minutes’.
He added that when the group left Zermatt, the bad weather conditions were already known and he believes that the skiers were caught in the storm rather than struck by an avalanche.
With helicopters unable to brave the storm, five rescuers had tried to reach the rough location on foot from Zermatt, but they too were forced to turn back at an altitude of 9,840ft due to the bad weather, according to local media reports.
Director of the Cantonal Valais Rescue Organisation Fredy-Michel Roten looks on during a press conference in Sion, Switzerland, on March 11, 2024
Rescue authorities announced a search in difficult weather conditions Sunday for six skiers missing. The group set off Saturday on a route between the resort town of Zermatt, at the foot of the Matterhorn, and the village of Arolla, near the border with Italy
The group of skiers, who ranged in age from 21 to 58, had left Zermatt Saturday morning with the goal of reaching the town of Arolla later that day
On Sunday, a team consisting of two rescue workers, a doctor and a mountain police officer, was finally able to be dropped off by helicopter nearby, police said.
‘At around 9:20 pm, it reached the Tete Blanche sector, where it discovered the bodies of five of the six people who were missing,’ it said in a statement.
Fredy-Michel Roten from the Valais Rescue Organisation told local press that six private rescue helicopters and two Swiss army Super Puma choppers participated in the rescue mission along with dozens of specialist mountaineers.
Valais lead prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud told reporters that an investigation had been launched to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Zermatt is a popular mountain resort renowned for skiing and attracts tourists from around the world.
Tete Blanche in particular is very popular with ski tourers who are attracted by the region’s renowned landscape and the challenging terrain it offers.
The region hosts the esteemed Patrouille des Glaciers race, which sees ski tourers traverse a route from Zermatt through Arolla and on to Verbier.
But the area is notoriously difficult to navigate during periods of poor visibility, and has proven fatal for even highly experienced skiers and mountaineers.
Nearly five years ago, tragedy struck when 14 members from two ski touring parties became disoriented amidst a fierce storm on treacherous slopes.
The ensuing rescue operation endured for almost 21 gruelling hours before reaching the stranded groups.
Seven people died, while the rest were evacuated with varying degrees of injury.