The family of a hiker who vanished after visiting a glacier in the Swiss Alps have released the last videos he took as they seek answers about what happened to him.
Aidan Roche, 29, a chemical engineer from Middlesbrough, sent his last messages to family and friends on June 22 from the Eiger trail, about 50 miles from the Swiss capital of Berne.
His older brothers Connor Roche, 32, and Niall Roche, 31, have retraced his steps on the trail after raising more than £30,000 for the search. Swiss authorities have charged the Roche family for the use of a rescue helicopter that turned up nothing.
His campervan that he was traversing Europe in was found nearby, unlocked, with no trace of Aidan.
His family have now released the last videos Aidan is believed to have taken before he vanished.
In the footage, Aidan pans around the stunning Swiss valley and captures an unknown woman in a baseball cap sitting on a bench looking out at the view.
As he spins he lands on another group of climbers heading directly towards him.
Desperate friends and family are hoping they can be identified.
Connor Roche said the family were “all missing Aidan so much” and that the hardest thing was dealing with “the unknown”.
He said: “I try and keep up hope that maybe he’s decided to wander off, or he’s hit his head and forgotten who he is, but I have to drag myself back to what we actually know and the evidence suggests that he’s still on the mountain and we haven’t found him yet. There’s the outside chance that he has some crazy survival story.”
He added: “You can’t help but imagine the worst of things sometimes – especially with it being this long since he went missing. But then you feel guilty for imagining those things. Right now we just need more information – anything that can help us find him and bring him home.”
Close friend teacher Beth Taylor, 26, has been sharing the last known videos Aidan sent on TikTok in the hope that someone would recognise him or the other hikers. She said: “This is awful – we all just need to know what has happened to him.
“He’d never just disappear like this. There isn’t a day goes by normally without him making contact with friends and family, sharing pictures or videos. We’re part of a massive group of really close friends – he wouldn’t just randomly go missing.”
