Brother’s desperate plea to find British hiker, 29, who vanished in Swiss Alps
Family last heard from Aidan during two-week solo trip in June
The brother of a British hiker missing in the Swiss Alps for more than a month has issued a desperate plea in the hope of his safe return.
Experienced hiker Aidan Roche, 29, was last heard from on 22 June while in the Grindelwald area on the 12th day of a two-week trip.
His brother Connor has now issued a plea for anyone with information to come forward so they can find him and bring him home.
The chemical engineer, from Yorkshire, was travelling solo in the popular region but was no stranger to much tougher hikes.
“He’s done a lot of hiking and he’s not stupid about nature, he respects it,” Connor said.
“It’s one of the things that’s really frustrating all of us.
“As someone who’s now done the same hike (where Aidan vanished from) multiple times now, it’s not something he wouldn’t have been able to manage.
“But sometimes you know, all it takes is a freak occurrence for something to go wrong, it doesn’t matter.”
Connor said the region is popular with British tourists in the summer and wants to track down anyone who was in the area at the same time as his brother.
“I’d say to everyone, whenever you see his face anywhere, on Facebook or Go Fund Me, please share it,” he said.
“The chance someone was there at the same time is fairly high and hopefully someone will know something or have seen him.”
Aidan is believed to have been walking back to his caravan after visiting a glacier near the village of Grindelvald on the day he was last heard from.
The family are also looking to track down a woman who was seen in a video Aidan sent to family members shortly before he went missing.
Family and friends filed a missing person’s report with Swiss police, who Connor said have been very co-operative.
“They’ve been really good sending over maps and areas they’ve searched,” he said.
Over the past month, Connor and his other brother Niall have walked the trail Aidan was last seen on several times in a search for clues.
However, the family is continuing to wait for news before they take any further steps.
“We don’t have a set plan to go back to Switzerland right now, we’ve searched the areas,” he said.
“We just can’t keep blanket searching the mountain.”
Aidan’s family has launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise money for an awareness campaign to generate new leads. It can be found here
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