Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe BERLIN, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- The German who made the spectacular find of a frozen prehistoric man in the Alps has gone missing himself in the same area, The Telegraph reported Tuesday. Retired caretaker Helmut Simon, 67, failed to return from a climb on the 7,000-foot Gamskarkogel in the Austrian Alps Friday evening. Advertisement A 100-strong team of rescue workers and dogs who had searched for him throughout the weekend called an end to the search Monday. Simon found the well-preserved mummified remains of a 5,300-year-old hunter while hiking in the Tyrolean Otz Valley in September 1991. Scientists named the mummy Otzi for the region where he was found. German and Austrian newspapers began speculating Monday whether Simon had fallen afoul of the "Otzi curse," suggesting his apparent death was punishment for having disturbed the resting place where the iceman had lain. Simon and his wife fought lengthy court battles for legal recognition of their find, which is now on display in Italy, and attracts 300,000 tourists a year. The court ruled in their favor one year ago to the day Simon disappeared.
