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A 31-year-old Pakistani man, who went missing in June 1997 in an ice cave, was found perfectly preserved last week by a local sheppard.
The discovery puts an end to a painful three-decade-long search for a family that tirelessly searched for his body in the mountainous Kohistan region.
As glaciers retreat around the world due to climate change, discoveries of bodies or ancient artifacts will likely increase as melting ice reveals their frozen tombs.
In June 1997, a 31-year-old Pakistani man by the name Naseeruddin, while traveling in the Supat Valley in the mountainous northern region of Pakistan called Kohistan, disappeared into a cave never to be seen again. He left behind a wife and two children, and for years, the family of the missing man searched the area for any sign of him—ultimately, to no avail.
“Our family left no stone unturned to trace him over the years,” Malik Ubaid, the nephew of the deceased, told the AFP. “Our uncles and cousins visited the glacier several times to see if his body could be retrieved, but they eventually gave up as it wasn’t possible.”
After nearly three decades, the search for Naseeruddin has finally come to an end. On July 31, a local shepherd in the valley named Omar Khan discovered the missing man’s body, with an identity card still on him. But that wasn’t the only surprise.
“What I saw was unbelievable,” Khan told BBC Urdu. “The body was intact. The clothes were not even torn.”
For 28 years, Naseeruddin lay mummified in the glacial ice. He underwent a quick freezing process that then protected the body from moisture and oxygen. Pakistan is home to some 7,000 glaciers—the largest amount outside of Earth’s polar regions—and like many glaciers around the world, these ice giants are slowly disappearing due to anthropogenic climate change.
In northern Pakistan, climate change has caused decreased snowfall in the region, leading to more direct sunlight melting the glaciers. This unnatural warming is what eventually exposed Naseeruddin’s body, allowing the passing shepherd to finally put a painful mystery to rest.
“Finally, we have got some relief after the recovery of his dead body,” Ubaid said.
Glaciers and other icy bodies, such as ice sheets, are basically planetary time capsules. Scientists around the world frequently drill ice cores to measure past climactic events by analyzing trapped air bubbles, as well as the isotropic composition of the surrounding ice. They can also provide incredible glimpses into humanity’s past. While many amazing artifacts have been found encased in glacial ice, the most famous frozen finding is Ötzi, also known as The Iceman, who was found in the Italian Alps in 1991 with his soft tissues and organs intact. This discovery provided an unprecedented glimpse into life and times and neolithic Europe.
While glaciers are amazing at preserving soft tissue (scientists even know what Ötzi’s last meal was), they aren’t as effective as cryogenic freezing, which can perfectly preserve an organism. This is why Ötzi, as well as other bodies of frozen WWI soldiers discovered in 2017, still show signs of decomposition and dehydration.
Sadly, Naseeruddin’s fate is one shared by many intrepid explorers who venture into these dangerous and cold altitudes. Last year, National Geographic reported the partial recovery of mountaineer Sandy Irvine, who disappeared on Everest a century ago. In fact, crews regularly conducted clean-up campaigns on the world’s tallest peak, often finding long-lost climbers frozen along the mountainside.
With glaciers rapidly in retreat around the world, we’ll soon see what other mysteries—both tragic and wondrous—that may lay hidden at the top of the world.
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