Decades Later, Glacier Reveals Frozen Mystery of Man Missing Since 1997
For nearly 30 years, the Lady Valley glacier in Pakistan concealed a chilling secret — a man lost to time, preserved in ice. When the glacier finally gave way, it unveiled a body so intact it seemed as if he had simply drifted into sleep beneath the snow. Yet the story behind his disappearance hints at more than nature’s hand, entwined with family conflict, danger, and whispers of gunfire.
On August 1, shepherd Umar Khan stumbled upon the remarkable discovery in the remote Kohistan region. The frozen figure was identified as Naseeruddin, also called Hajo, who vanished at 33 in 1997. His national identity card, still in his pocket, confirmed the long-suspected truth: he had been hidden by ice all these years.
Naseeruddin, the son of Bahram from the Saleh Khel tribe, disappeared while returning from Sapit Valley with his horse. At the time, relatives believed he had fallen into an icy fissure, but exhaustive searches yielded nothing. The glacier’s extreme cold and low oxygen preserved his clothing, personal items, and facial features almost perfectly.
The backdrop of his disappearance is steeped in family turmoil. After his vanishing, the family relocated from Pallas Valley to Alai Tehsil following a violent dispute.
His younger brother, Gardezi, was later killed in what authorities described as an honor-related conflict, prompting both Naseeruddin and another brother, Kaseeruddin, to go into hiding.
Former police officer Abdul Aziz noted that law enforcement in the late 1990s was limited, leaving many cases unresolved. Their father, Bahram, was briefly arrested before charges were dropped.
Kaseeruddin, who accompanied Naseeruddin on that fateful journey, recalls choosing a remote route to avoid confrontation. He remembered hearing gunfire and said his brother sought refuge in a cold cave — a cave from which he never emerged. After search efforts failed, a symbolic funeral prayer was held at the site.
Now, with the glacier receding due to rising temperatures, Kaseeruddin faces the decision of whether to lay his brother to rest in Lady Valley or return him to their ancestral village. Experts, including Dr. Muhammad Bilal of COMSATS University Abbottabad, explain that the glacier’s extreme cold, dryness, and low oxygen created a natural mummification effect. Dr. Adnan Ahmad Tahir added that accelerated melting across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan in July 2025 has exposed numerous long-lost artifacts and remains.
The Lady Valley, accessible only by a multi-hour drive and a grueling 15–18-hour trek, remains a remote highland of seasonal pastures, lakes, and forests, according to Kohistan Additional Deputy Commissioner Aminul Hassan.
Conclusion
What began as a mysterious disappearance in Pakistan’s high mountains has become a haunting rediscovery. Naseeruddin’s remarkably preserved body brings a measure of closure to a decades-old mystery while leaving lingering questions about the events that led to his death. As glaciers in the region continue to recede under record heat, they may reveal more hidden stories, each frozen in time, waiting to be uncovered.