Swiss walker loved Tassie

A SWISS tourist who is likely to have died south of Hobart fell in love with Tasmania while on a life-changing trip.

Police are yet to formally identify remains found in forest near Geeveston last week.

But Erich Munger told the Mercury “everything” points to it being his brother Thomas.

The youngest of four brothers, Thomas Munger was a quiet child who enjoyed model cars, karate and fishing. He was a stonemason before becoming a carer for his parents.

“We had a good relationship, among the family there was never any fighting,” Mr Munger said.

After both parents died Thomas travelled the globe, including a visit to Tasmania in early 2010.

“When it was finished he came back for about three weeks, selling all the property he had here and said he liked to start a new life somewhere,” Mr Munger said.

“He told us he liked Tasmania very much and also parts of New Zealand.

“But especially Tasmania, he liked to go fishing.”

Mr Munger said travel had changed something inside Thomas.

“My brother liked being free. But in Switzerland ... he didn’t feel comfortable or happy here,” he said.

“The time he took care of our parents, his life had meaning and when they were gone, ‘there is nothing here,’ he said.

“He said ‘look, I don’t know where I’m going but you will hear from me.” The family never did. They hoped Thomas was “building a new life somewhere” but as the months without contact turned to years they grew concerned.

“But then you think, where in this world do you want to start to search? So it’s also not easy for us, there isn’t much we could do,” Mr Munger said.

“In the German language we say ‘die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt’. It means the hope dies last. For sure you hope that one day he will come back.”

The Mungers eventually got a call, but it was bad news.

Thomas’ good friend Michael Nydegger had just seen a photo of himself online. Tasmania Police had released the photo, taken from a phone found with skeletal remains, in the hope of identifying the per- son. The photo was taken in the US by Thomas.

Mr Nydegger told Mr Munger he thought Thomas was dead.

“To live with the unknown is hard. But to hear that your brother is dead is hard too,” Mr Munger said.

“But you can draw a line now, we know what happened.

“There are many things swirling in my head.”

Tasmania Police are now liaising with Swiss authorities to get a DNA sample from Mr Munger to confirm the remains belong to Thomas.

Thomas Munger