BERLIN - Swiss police say they've formally identified two bodies found on an Alpine glacier as those of a couple missing for nearly 75 years.

Valais canton (state) police said Wednesday that forensic experts using DNA analysis identified the two as Marcelin Dumoulin and his wife, Francine. They were 40 and 37, respectively, when they disappeared on Aug. 15, 1942.

The couple's daughter, now 79, has said her parents set off on foot to feed their animals but never returned.

Police were alerted on Friday to the bodies on the Tsanfleuron glacier at 2,615 metres above sea level.

Regional police have a list going back to 1925 of missing people. They note that, because of climate change, bodies of people missing for decades regularly emerge from receding glaciers.

 

(Valais Police via Storyful)

Shoes and clothing where two bodies were found on the Tsanfleuron glacier. (GLACIER 3000 / Keystone via AP)

Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin were reported missing after having gone to feed their cows in the Alps. Their bodies were discovered, after 75 years, in the Tsanfleuron glacier. (Valais Police via Storyful)

(Valais Police via Storyful)