Slovakia’s mountain rescue service said on Wednesday, 21 October, that it had found a body in the Low Tatras, on the northern slopes below Poľana peak. HZS speaks of a 73-year-old Czech tourist, sought since 13 October. This is a find. It is not a formal identification.

The Czech foreign ministry, through spokesman Adam Čörgő, told ČTK that Slovak authorities had confirmed the discovery. “At this moment, however, a proper identification has not yet taken place, and therefore we cannot confirm whether this is the missing Czech citizen.” The embassy in Bratislava is in contact with Slovak police and is ready to give consular help if the identity is confirmed.

The search request reached the HZS emergency centre on 13 October. Phone location, asked of Slovak police, failed twice, including on 19 October. Clues from the missing man’s daughter, HZS writes, suggested he was still in the Low Tatras. Ground searches had not succeeded until Wednesday.

On Wednesday rescuers went out on foot again, plus drone pilots from the avalanche-prevention centre. A member of the ground team found the body. The helicopter could not fly because of the weather. The remains were brought down the valley on foot and handed to police and the examining doctor. Poľana sits on the main ridge, about 90 minutes from the upper cable-car station at Chopok.

Seznam Zprávy reported after ČTK. Some local headlines already put a name on the body. The Czech MFA does not confirm the identity. This article does not confirm it either.

We do not write a cause of death. We do not move the case to the High Tatras. It is not a successful rescue and not an identity certificate. It is a find, with identification still open.

Image: Daniel Baranek, west slope of Polana peak, Low Tatras, 18 August 2010, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; the mountain in 2010, not Wednesdays find.

Sources consulted: Rescuers found the body of a Czech tourist in the Low Tatras in Slovakia - Seznam Zpravy, 21 October 2026; Search for a missing tourist in the Low Tatras - Mountain Rescue Service, 21 October 2026.