Highland mountain plunge schoolboy, 12, found frozen to death close to dad's body

A BOY who froze to death on a Highland peak was found just yards from his father’s body, an inquest has heard.

- BY RICHARD ELIAS

Double tragedy... Richard Parry died along with his dad on a peak near Glen Coe

Richard Parry slipped and fell on the hike and suffered a head injury, but survived the plunge downhill.

However, the 12-year-old, known to his family as Richie, eventually succumbed to the cold.

His father, Thomas Parry, had died instantly in the fall in May 2024.

The pair had been walking on the 1,150m Bidean nam Bian, the highest of a group of peaks south of Glen Coe, when tragedy struck.

The inquest was told that Mr Parry, from Alsager, Cheshire, had contacted his wife, Gemma early on the morning of Tuesday, May 28 to let her know their plans.

They had been expected to return home that evening but failed to do so.

Mrs Parry alerted the authorities and police found her husband’s car at the Three Sisters car park in Glen Coe.

A search began and the bodies were soon discovered.

The body of Mr Parry, 49, was around 100 metres from that of his son.

Postmortem examination results showed that Richard survived the fall but died of hypothermia.

Yesterday, the inquest in Stoke-upon-Trent heard that, on the day they disappeared, Mr Parry had stopped a mountain guide to ask for advice on how to ascend the peak.

A statement from the witness, whose name was not disclosed to the court, was read out at the inquest.