Everything we know of missing Brit hiker as family say 'it doesn't make sense'
There is still no trace of the experienced British hiker who was last seen in the Alps 47 days ago, as his family and friends begin to lose hope.
Yorkshireman Aidan Roche, 29, was last heard from on June 22 while in the Grindelwald area of Switzerland on a solo hike, just two days before he was set to travel home. His older brother Niall told the Mirror it was not a particularly difficult trail and of how out of character the disappearance is.
Niall said: "There's none of his bag or anything that he had with him. It doesn't make sense how we haven't found anything. We've searched thoroughly. There is not a trace."
Friends and family are desperately hoping for more clues as the Swiss police and mountain rescue service have ceased their efforts after "exhausting every option" with no new evidence. A GoFundMe campaign has now exceeded its £30,000 goal, with funds going towards generating new leads by raising awareness in the area, as well as the use of a search helicopter.
Aidan hiking on another occasion (Supplied)
Yorkshireman Aidan Roche, 29, was last heard from on June 22 (Supplied)Who is Aidan Roche?
Aidan Roche is an experienced 29-year-old hiker from Middlesbrough. His day job is as an offshore chemical engineer where he works three weeks abroad and three weeks off. He spends all of his time off walking and being in the outdoors. His brother Niall told the Mirror: "This is what he does when he's not working. So he's fully kitted out for it."
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The 6ft 2in tall man grew up in Longlands, a central Middlesbrough neighbourhood and had been living in Leeds before just moving back to the home area before he went away. Aidan’s friend Beth Taylor says he had a distinctive tattoo on his arm reading "MAYASWELLMAYSENYA" and loved to play "blaring" music from a speaker as he walked.
"He is just really happy and outgoing. He's got loads of friends. He's really social, you know, he's constantly busy when he's back home, visiting friends, family and partying." While his other brother Connor previously said to the press: "He’s a character and this solo travel thing is exactly the type of thing he loves. He can talk to absolutely everyone and he can just make friends with anyone."
Chemical engineer Aidan Roche, 29, fell out of contact nearly three weeks ago (Roche Family / SWNS)Where was he last seen?
Messages seen exclusively by the Mirror reveal Aidan's last known location. The solo traveller had arranged to meet a friend for a pint at the campsite after he finished the day's trek. In the texts accompanied by a photo at 13:07, Aidan says: "Hello, hello I should be in Grindelwald in about two hours. I'm still pretty high, I'll see you back at camp." After seemingly not turning up, the unnamed friend texts him at 21:20 saying: "Did you climb the whole Eiger? I [am] going to sleep early. Your toothbrush is under the back tyre." Friends and family then began messaging each other in worry after a few days of not hearing from Aidan as he normally kept everyone up-to-date on what he was doing each day. The family have managed to trace the last picture he sent as a ravine near Stollen.
Nicolle Richardson, a close friend of Aidan's, shared videos with the Mirror that Aidan sent her on the day he went missing. From an unknown location at 10:56 on the 22nd, he said: "This place is out of this world, you need to go." Then just over half an hour later, at 11:36 am, he sends more footage to friends and this time other hikers can be seen in the background. Friends understand this is near Roche at the foot of the Eiger mountain and think the other hikers could have vital information. But Niall is keen to stress: "As far as I'm aware, no one recognises anyone in the videos and he was hiking by himself that day."
The mountain Aidan climbed the day he went missing (Supplied)
The last text that Aidan is believed to have sent (Supplied)What is the latest on the search?
The Roche brothers went to Switzerland on July 21 to try and find Aidan themselves and retrace his steps. Connor Roche posted an update on July 30 on the GoFundMe, writing: "We just need some more information. We’ve had nothing coming in from any of the missing posters. We’ve also now been given the bill for the search helicopter, which came to £7k."
Niall said how the search went: "There's none of his bag or anything that he had with him. It doesn't make sense how we haven't found anything. From the timestamp of the picture he sent, it's about 90 minutes of hiking and it's not particularly difficult. All of that trail and beneath the trail and beneath all the rock faces beneath the trail... We've searched thoroughly. There is not a trace."
Niall also believes Aidan was hoping to visit the Gletscherschlucht glacial canyon, which is a tourist attraction with a carpark. They don't know whether he made it or not but are pleading for dashcam footage of anyone who visited on June 22.
He continued: "The likelihood is he was on the mountain somewhere, but the amount of the areas that we've searched again and again... it could mean that he's made it down and something else has happened or we don't know. There are almost 100 different scenarios running through your mind. I still think there's a bit of hope, but I don't want to dwell on it too much because I understand the reality of the amount of time that he's gone missing, so I am kind of mentally prepared for the worst."
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