Fears grow for climber Marcin Kuffel who is missing in French Alps9:23am Friday 30th December 2011 in News
By Mark Stead
Political Reporter
A CLIMBER from York has gone missing while on holiday in the French Alps, and his brother says he now fears the worst. Factory worker Marcin Kuffel, who was born in Poland but moved to York about ten years ago and has been living in Hull Road, travelled to the resort of Chamonix at the start of December. He last spoke to his brother Bart, who also lives in York, the day after he arrived.
The 33-year-old, who has 16 years’ climbing experience, has not been heard from since, despite a search involving police in France and Poland as well as officers from Interpol.
Friends and colleagues of Mr Kuffel, who has been working for some time at Pro-Pak foods in Malton, have set up a Facebook page appealing for information and climbing forums have also sent out a plea for help.
But Bart, 30, who lives in the Poppleton Road area, said he was now facing up to the possibility that his brother had been killed.
“He was going to go to France with a friend, but they cancelled just before he left so he decided to go on his own,” said Bart.
“When I last spoke to him on December 3, the day after he got to Chamonix, he was completely fine, very happy and saying he was going to see a glacier. Since then, I have heard nothing, which is unusual because he always stays in touch.
“For the first five days, I tried ringing his mobile constantly and sending text messages asking him to let me know he was okay, but the battery must have then run out. I am having to be honest and say that I am fearing he is dead.”
After Mr Kuffel vanished, Bart travelled to France himself for several days to see the search attempts, but was told that bad weather and heavy snow in the region had hampered the efforts. He said the Polish embassy in France had been informed.
“The authorities in France are doing a great job, but the problem is the weather, which has been very bad since he disappeared,” he said.
“I have been told that there are concerns he may be under the snow and that if he had fallen into the glacier, it may be very difficult to find him. It is now just a case of hoping.
“If he was to read about how worried his family and friends are, I would just ask him to get in touch and let us know he is safe, but I have started to fear the worst because it has been such a long time without any news.”
An employee at Pro-Pak said Mr Kuffel worked for the agency KHS Personnel Ltd.
Richard Hale, branch manager at KHS in York, said: “Marcin is a brilliant guy, who has worked for KHS for a while. He is a great guy to work with, and it is out of character for him to miss a single shift.”
A message on the UKClimbing.com website said Mr Kuffel may have posted messages in the past on the site and other similar climbers’ forums under the username Chariot, and it was “uncertain” what his exact plans were once he got to France.
The Facebook appeal can be found at ‘Missing Marcin Kuffel’, asking for anybody with information to phone 07598 005808 or email
bkuffel@ymail.com or
anoli1125@o2.pl 
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