Woman who saw Brit hiker hours before he vanished says he 'was in good spirits'
A woman who walked with the Brit that vanishe d in the Alps eight weeks ago today said he was "in good spirits" when they met, as fears grow for his whereabouts.
Aidan Roche, a 29-year-old man from North Yorkshire, was last spotted on June 22 while traversing the Eiger Trail in the Grindelwald region of the Bernese Alps. Scheduled to return home just two days later, he had arranged to meet friends but never turned up and has not been heard from or seen since.
Now, a fellow hiker, who met the chemical engineer on the day he vanished, has come forward as his loved ones continue the search for him. Rochelle, who did not want to give her last name, walked with Aidan along the trail for a short while after meeting him at a waterfall. His brother Connor, 32, told The Independent the woman got in touch with his family and said he was wearing a bright red top and black trousers. She said: "He was in good spirits and was chatting about his walk from the day before." The pair parted when she took a turn to Alpiglen and he continued along the Eiger Trail.
Aidan Roche, 29, went missing on a hiking trip in Switzerland’s Grindelwald area on June 22 (Roche Family / SWNS)The Mirror revealed that Aidan had arranged to meet someone he met the night before for a pint after he finished the day's trek. In texts seen by the Mirror, 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." The experienced hiker also sent a picture of his location with the message at 13:07.
By 21:20, the unnamed friend messaged him 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.
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Police and mountain rescue teams spent five days with dogs and drones searching the area. Aidan's brothers Connor, 32, and Niall, 31, then stayed on and searched for an initial nine days, followed by another six. The pair climbed into snow drifts, followed in Aidan's footsteps and put up missing person signs in local petrol stations, supermarkets and shopping centres.
"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", his older brother Niall told the Mirror.
Niall says the hardest part is dealing with the "unknown." He says everyone is missing him so much, he has "loads of friends, is really sociable and likes to party." He continues: "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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