Search for drunk man

Avalanche dog finds missing “après-ski booze corpse”

The ten-year-old avalanche dog "Ella", seen here in an archive photo, found the missing man.(Bild: Hundestaffel Landeck)

Mountain rescue, dog squadron, fire department, police - a large contingent of emergency services searched for a missing German in the Tyrolean ski resort of Fiss (Landeck district) on Monday night. The 38-year-old had disappeared without a trace after après-ski. The man was only discovered by search dog "Ella" in the early hours of the morning - asleep in front of a staff house.

There had clearly been too much partying at the end of a day's skiing! On Sunday evening, at around 6 p.m., a German tour group raised the alarm with the police. After a visit to an après-ski bar, a 38-year-old member had not turned up at the agreed meeting point for the trip home to Germany and had disappeared without a trace.

Search with eight sniffer noses and drones
A search operation was launched, which gradually developed into a large-scale operation. The Fiss, Serfaus and Ried im Oberinntal mountain rescue teams, the Landeck district mountain rescue dog team, the Fiss and Ladis fire departments, the Landeck fire department drone team and numerous police patrols, including a drone, searched for the German - initially without success.

On the way there, we wanted to search a parking lot when 'Ella' suddenly ran away.

Daniel Vögele

At around 3 a.m., Daniel Vögele, district representative of the mountain rescue dog team, also set off from his home in Serfaus to Fiss with his dog "Ella". All in all, eight (!) four-legged friends were deployed. The search areas had been precisely divided up beforehand. Vögele and "Ella" combed their search area for an hour - without success.

"Ella's" nose led to the staff house
"We then walked back to the mountain rescue station. On the way there, we wanted to search a parking lot when "Ella" suddenly ran away," Vögele describes in an interview with the "Krone". The sniffer ran to a nearby staff house.

Avalanche dog "Ella" at her actual work.(Bild: Hundestaffel Landeck)

Drunk man slept in ski gear in front of the house
A man was lying there in the vestibule by the entrance - asleep, in ski gear! "The dog barked at him. He was totally startled and was suddenly wide awake," Vögele continues. At this point, it was already 5 o'clock in the morning. The dog handler then showed the man a picture of the missing man and asked him: "Are they looking for you?" However, in his still obviously alcohol-impaired state, he was unable to give an answer. Nevertheless, the case was solved - fortunately a "happy ending".

Vögele then made his way to the mountain rescue center with the "après-ski victim". The German had lost his cell phone - it is not known whether he took time off on Monday. However, the man should take a more leisurely approach to his next ski trip to the Tyrolean mountains ...