Dateline: SwitzerlandGlobal climate change isn’t all bad. Thanks to a shrinking glacier in the Alps, the frozen bodies of a Swiss couple who went missing 75 years ago have been discovered. Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin went to milk their cows in a meadow above the village of Chandolin in the Swiss canton of Valais on Aug. 15, 1942. They were never seen again. “We spent our whole lives looking for them, without stopping,” the couple’s youngest daughter, Marceline Udry-Dumoulin, told the Lausanne daily Le Matin. “We thought that we could give them the funeral they deserved one day.” Valais cantonal police said that two bodies bearing identity paper were discovered earlier this month by a worker on Tsanfleuron glacier near a ski lift above Les Diablerets resort. “They were perfectly preserved in the glacier and their belongings were intact,” Bernhard Tschannen, director of Glacier 3000 ski lift company, told the daily Tribune de Geneve. “We think they may have fallen into a crevasse where they stayed for decades.” The documentation evidently identified the bodies as belonging to the Dumoulines, although DNA testing will be performed. “I can say that after 75 years of waiting this news gives me a deep sense of calm.” the 79-year-old Udry-Dumoulin said. Dateline: Washington, D.C. An experimental robot security guard has been killed on the job after falling down a set of stairs and drowning in a fountain. The security robot, nicknamed “Steve,” started patrolling the Washington Harbour, a riverside complex of offices and restaurants in Georgetown, earlier this month. After only a few days, however, Steve was photographed floating face-down in the complex’s decorative water fountain. The Washington Harbour and its real estate developer, MRP Realty, introduced the robot on Facebook on July 12, touting its “extensive catalogue of security capabilities.” Evidently, being waterproof was not one of those capabilities. Authorities have yet to determine if Steve was the victim of foul play or accidentally rolled down the four steps on his own. The robot’s owners say Steve was busy “mapping out the grounds” at the time of the fatal incident. “This initial phase is our opportunity to implement, vet and remediate any bugs in the system to help advance both the programming and security features in a busy, mixed-use center such as The Washington Harbour,” an MRP spokesperson told CNN. “These incidents show us where improvements are needed, which may then be deployed to contribute to the ongoing security of our tenants, residents and visitors.” No word, yet, on when Steve might be back on the job.Dateline: FloridaA self-described drug dealer called 911 to report that someone broke into his car and stole some of his cocaine. The caller was, no doubt, shocked when police showed up and arrested him instead. According to the Miami Herald, 35-year-old David Blackmon of Fort Walton Beach called deputies on the morning of Sunday, July 16, to report that someone had stolen $50 cash out of his vehicle as well as a quarter ounce of cocaine. An Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputy responded to the scene of the crime where Blackmon allegedly admitted he was employed as a drug dealer. Sure enough, the deputy found some trace amounts of cocaine on the car’s center console next to a crack rock and a crack pipe. Blackmon was arrested and charged with resisting an officer without violence, possessing drug paraphernalia and possessing cocaine. He was booked into Okaloosa County Corrections that afternoon, pending a $4,000 bail, and later released. No word on whether or not police have located Blackmon’s missing drugs.Dateline: WisconsinFlooding in southeastern Wisconsin destroyed the entire contents of a bank vault at the Fox River State Bank in Burlington. Between July 11 and 12, 21 inches of rainwater rushed into the building, soaking every single bill inside the depository. Keith Polleck, the bank’s CEO and president talked with WISN-12 News, but refused to say exactly how much money was destroyed. He did assure customers, however, that all the cash would be replaced by the Federal Reserve. The bank branch was closed for several days as restoration crews cleaned up the soggy mess. On July 18, the bank put up a Facebook post assuring customers that all the waterlogged bills had been “replaced with clean and safe cash.”
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. Email your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
