Body found in Peru identified as missing Belgian woman Natacha de Crombrugghe

Human remains found a fortnight ago in the Peruvian Andes have been identified as belonging to 28-year-old missing Belgian backpacker Natacha de Crombrugghe, according to the Peruvian prosecutor's office, reports RTBF.

"The provincial prosecutor's office has confirmed that the skeletal remains discovered in the bed of the Colca River, in Huambo (Arequipa region, southeast Peru), belong to the Belgian tourist Natacha de Crombrugghe,” it said in a press release.

The body, found on September 21, was identified "thanks to a DNA test carried out on the parents of the victim," said the prosecutor's office. "We have just received the results of the DNA tests, it is indeed our daughter," the parents confirmed to Belga.

"The police investigation continues to determine if Natacha accidentally fell into the river during her trek in the Colca Canyon on January 24 or if it is a homicide."

De Crombrugghe’s disappearance in January sparked numerous searches in the region by Peruvian and Belgian authorities.

She left her backpack in a hotel room in Cabanaconde, a small village perched at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters in the Peruvian Andes, when setting off alone in the early morning of 24 January, planning to walk in one of the deepest canyons in the world.