On the Styrian side

Search for Bodo Hell on the Dachstein continues

There is still no trace of Bodo Hell (81)

(Bild: Sigrid Landl / Droschl Verlag)

The search for the writer Bodo Hell, who has been missing for more than a week in the Dachstein region, is now being continued on the Styrian side of the mountain massif. The search teams are taking a close look at the area north and east of the Heilbronner Kreuz. Mountain rescue, police and the Austrian army are involved.

Witnesses had last seen the well-known author Bodo Hell on August 9th. He wanted to look for his cattle in the alpine terrain between Grafenbergalm and Heilbronner Kreuz, he is said to have told hikers.

Since then, the writer has been missing. He has neither arrived at his destination nor returned to his hut. The 81-year-old is considered to be familiar with the area and regularly spends his summers as a shepherd on the Dachstein in the Upper Austrian-Styrian border region.

A large-scale search operation involving mountain rescue teams and the Alpine police, dogs, helicopters and a drone - most recently on Upper Austrian territory - was unsuccessful and has since been discontinued. After an evaluation of the cell phone data, the focus shifted back to the area east of the Heilbronn Cross.

Difficult terrain
Today, Sunday, a search is to be carried out on the Styrian side of the area, which is interspersed with mountain pines and rocks, as the police have also confirmed.

Hell was awarded the Styrian Literature Prize this year. Born in Salzburg, he spends his summers in an alpine hut on the Grafenbergalm, where he not only herds around a hundred animals, but also writes books.