The desperate search for a Perth man who went missing while hiking in the Swiss Alps has ended in tragedy, as his loved ones share heartfelt tributes.
n expat Stephen Ingram, 33, is believed to have slipped on ice and fallen from Stockhorn mountain in Switzerland on Sunday.
Emergency services recovered his body on Tuesday, following an aerial search of the mountain located in the Bernese Alps, a sub-range of the Swiss Alps.
His work colleagues reported him missing when he failed to show up to work the previous day, the West n reported.
Being an experienced mountaineer, his death came as a shock to his family. His sister Lisa Hegarty described his death as a ‘pure accident’.
‘Every single weekend, if he wasn’t out conquering some mountain, he was thinking about it and planning his next trip,’ Ms Hegarty said.
‘He had an amazing bunch of friends in Geneva and that shared his passion – if they weren’t hiking, they were skiing.
‘He was always ready for the next challenge and absolutely lived life to the fullest.’
His work colleagues are said to have broken into Mr Ingram’s apartment where they searched his laptop for his precise location.
Mr Ingram moved to Switzerland in 2017 where he began a master’s degree in commodities trading at the University of Geneva.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he has worked as a market analyst at global agribusiness COFCO International, headquartered in Geneva.
‘As they say, the brightest candle burns the fastest,’ his sister Tara Southworth wrote on social media.
‘We want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts, especially Stephen’s community of friends in Switzerland, who were tireless in their support with helping us find him.’
A notice was posted to his Instagram page alerting Stephen’s social media followers that he had been missing for several days.
‘Attention. This is not a joke. Stephen got lost on Sunday April 6. He was going to hike on Sigriswiler Rothorn but he was last seen around Stockhorn,’ the post read.
Last July, he posted a series of photos from a hike through Switzerland.
He captioned one image: ‘For those asking me (and perhaps others wondering) whether I have a job or not – well, yes, I do!
‘I just happened to have developed a love for alpine hiking.
‘Consequently I spend all my holidays and weekends exploring the European alps, sussing out different mountain passes and if I’m lucky finding the odd crystal along the way too!’
A funeral service will be held in Switzerland before Stephen’s body is flown back to .