Remains of U.K. researcher who vanished in 1959 found on Antarctic glacier: "Shocked and amazed"
Dennis "Tink" Bell had been working as a meteorologist for the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, the predecessor of the British Antarctic Survey, in 1959 when he died on July 26, 1959 in a crevasse on a glacier at Admiralty Bay on King George Island, located off the Antarctic Peninsula. His body was never recovered.
Bell and another man, Jeff Stokes, left the base they were staying in to survey a glacier using a dogsled, according to the survey. The snow was deep and the dogs began to show signs of tiredness, so Bell walked up to encourage them, but wasn't wearing his skis. He suddenly disappeared into a crevasse.
According to accounts in the British Antarctic Survey records, CBS News partner network BBC News reported, Stokes lowered a belt to Bell and he was pulled up to the lip of the crevasse. As he reached the lip of the hole, though, the belt broke, and Bell fell again. He then longer responded to his friend's calls.
The Polish team that found Bell's remains also found over 200 personal items, including an inscribed watch, a Swedish knife, radio equipment and ski poles.
"When my sister Valerie and I were notified that our brother Dennis had been found after 66 years, we were shocked and amazed," Bell's brother David told the British Antarctic Survey.
David Bell said the work of The British Antarctic Survey, British Antarctic Monument Trust and the Polish team that brought Bell's remains home "helped us come to terms with the tragic loss of our brilliant brother."
"I had long given up on finding my brother. It is just remarkable, astonishing. I can't get over it," David Bell, now 86, told BBC News.
Jane Francis, the director of the British Antarctic Survey, called the discovery a "poignant and profound moment."
"This discovery brings closure to a decades-long mystery and reminds us of the human stories embedded in the history of Antarctic science," Francis said.
Bodies exposed by melting glaciers in recent years
As glaciers melt and recede around the world, there has been an increase in discoveries of the remains of missing skiers, climbers and hikers.
The preserved body of an American mountaineer was found in Peru in 2024, 22 years after he disappeared scaling a snowy peak there.
In 2017, a shrinking glacier in Switzerland revealed the bodies of a couple who went missing in 1942.
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USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Receding Antarctic glacier reveals body of researcher who died in 1959
A receding glacier in Antarctica has revealed the remains of a researcher who died nearly seven decades ago. A Polish team found the body of Dennis "Tink" Bell among rocks that were exposed by the receding glacier, according to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Bell, a 25-year-old meteorologist who was working for BAS' predecessor — the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey — was identified by DNA, the organization said. Bell died on July 26, 1959 in a crevasse on the glacier at Admiralty Bay on King George Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula, BAS reported in a news release. Meet Petunia: Winner of the 2025 'World's Ugliest Dog' contest is crowned Researcher's body found with inscribed wristwatch, ski poles According to the release, teams found more than 200 items belonging to the researcher, including radio equipment, a flashlight, ski poles, an inscribed Erguel wristwatch, a Swedish Mora knife and an ebonite pipe stem. 'When my sister Valerie and I were notified that our brother Dennis had been found after 66 years we were shocked and amazed.... Bringing him home have helped us come to terms with the tragic loss of our brilliant brother," David Bell, the researcher's sibling told BAS. The remains were transported to the Falkland Islands on the BAS Royal Research Ship, the release described, where they were lated identified using DNA testing. Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund.
Gizmodo
5 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Glacier Melt Reveals Remains of Antarctic Meteorologist Lost 66 Years Ago
In 1959, 25-year-old meteorologist Dennis Bell disappeared into a glacial crevasse in the Antarctic before the eyes of his horrified colleague. 66 years later, a Polish team has finally discovered his remains in the wake of a receding glacier. Personnel from the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station on Antarctica's King George Island first found and recovered some of the remains on the Ecology Glacier in January, according to a statement by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The following month, a team including an archaeologist, geomorphologist, anthropologist, and glaciologist returned to the site to conduct a more thorough archaeological survey. Denise Syndercombe Court, a forensic geneticist at King's College London, conducted DNA tests of the human remains, which matched with samples from Bell's brother and sister. 'When my sister Valerie and I were notified that our brother Dennis had been found after 66 years we were shocked and amazed,' David Bell said in the statement. 'The British Antarctic Survey and British Antarctic Monument Trust have been a tremendous support and together with the sensitivity of the Polish team in bringing him home have helped us come to terms with the tragic loss of our brilliant brother.' Dennis Bell joined the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS, the predecessor of BAS) as a meteorologist in 1958. At the time of the accident, he was stationed at Admiralty Bay, a UK base on King George Island. King George Island is around 74.6 miles (120 kilometers) off the northern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, and its peak is permanently covered in glaciers. On 26 July 1959—the middle of the southern hemisphere's winter—Bell and three colleagues with two dog sledges climbed a glacier to conduct fieldwork. The group split into pairs, and Bell and surveyor Jeff Stokes set off before the others. During the ascent, Bell moved ahead of the sledge without his skis to encourage the tiring dogs and disappeared into a crevasse. Bell survived the fall, however, and Stokes threw a rope down to him to pull him back up. Bell, however, had tied the rope around his belt rather than around himself. When his body reached the top of the crevice, he got stuck, the belt broke, and this time he fell to his death. Of Ice and Men, a book by former BAS director Vivian Fuchs, describes the event as 'a particularly tragic fatality which one really felt should never have happened, and thus doubly grievous,' as cited in the statement. Researchers discovered his remains along with over 200 personal items, including the remains of radio equipment, ski poles, a flashlight, an inscribed wristwatch, and a Swedish Mora knife. Bell Point on King George Island is named in his honor. 'Even though he was lost in 1959, his memory lived on among colleagues and in the legacy of polar research,' said BAS director Jane Francis. 'This discovery brings closure to a decades-long mystery and reminds us of the human stories embedded in the history of Antarctic science.'
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
UK scientist's remains found on Antarctic glacier 66 years on
The remains of a British meteorologist who died in an Antarctic expedition in 1959 have been recovered six decades later from a glacier, the British Antarctic Survey said Monday. They were identified by DNA-testing as those of Dennis "Tink" Bell, who died aged 25 when he was working for the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, which became the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the UK's polar research institute. Bell died on Admiralty Bay on King George Island, located 120 kilometres (75 miles) off the coast of Antarctica on July 26, 1959. He was stationed on the island for a two-year assignment at a small UK research base. Bell and three other men had set out to climb and survey a glacier, when he fell through a crevasse -- a deep chasm in the ice. His body was never recovered. The remains, which were exposed by a receding glacier, were found on January 19 by a team from the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station. "This discovery brings closure to a decades-long mystery and reminds us of the human stories embedded in the history of Antarctic science," said BAS director Jane Francis. The bone fragments were carried to the Falkland Islands by the BAS Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough, and then brought to London for DNA testing. Alongside his remains, the Polish team also found over 200 personal items including radio equipment, a flashlight, ski poles, an inscribed wristwatch and a Swedish-brand knife. Bell's brother David Bell, who lives in Australia, said the discovery after 66 years left him and his sister "shocked and amazed". "Dennis was the oldest of three siblings and was my hero as he seemed to be able to turn his hand to anything," said his brother. Francis said the confirmation of the remains "is both a poignant and profound moment for all of us at British Antarctic Survey". Bell "was one of the many brave ... personnel who contributed to the early science and exploration of Antarctica under extraordinarily harsh conditions," she added. aks/jkb/tw
