Mystery of the French Skier Lost in 1954, Solved Due to Social Media in 2018
The man in his 30s went missing in the Alps since 1954, but recently got identified - all thanks to the social media!
Sounds like an action thriller, but a reality. Some 64 years back a Frenchman who was a skier by passion reported lost in the Alps. It is in 2018 that his identity has been traced, although the man died during her skiing trip in the Italian Alps and that too on his 35th birthday - 26th March, 1954.
The nameless skier was once known by Henri le Masne, an employee of the Ministry of Finance in Paris. Though his remainings were found in 2005, those failed to lead to his true identity. However, Turin’s scientific police unit did run an investigation and according to the state authorities’ revelation, the man was not of Italian origin.
Following the news published in Independent, the state police also made a Facebook post putting up the details of the objects found by the man’s corpse that included a watch, a pair of high-end Rossignol Olimpiques, eyeglasses, pocket change and skis.
Things turned positive when a massive appeal was made online, and the media and the newspapers helped to spread the word. A French woman Emma Nasem claimed to know the identity of the man as she stated, her uncle Henri le Masne went missing since 1954 in the quite similar way, and similar location.
Using advanced DNA testing technology, that has proved to be successful in shedding light in a few criminal cases from the past, succeeded again. Ms Nasem’s father, Mr. Le Masne’s saliva was examined to find out the truth.
Now 95, Mr. Le Masne described his brother in an email as, “a bachelor and quite independent. He worked in the finance ministry in Paris”.
The course of events drags us to this conclusion that the truth is not only stranger, but also way fascinating than the fiction. Really... what an incredible world this is!
