Skiing star shot dead
Former Swiss skiing star Corinne Rey-Bellet and her brother, Alain, were shot dead in their parents’ home, police said today.
Their mother was admitted to hospital with serious injuries following the attack late on Sunday in the Swiss mountain resort of Les Crosets, Valais cantonal police said.
Police said the unidentified male attacker entered the house and fired five shots.
He fled before police arrived and is still being hunted.
Rey-Bellet’s mother, although injured, was able to call the emergency authorities.
“The search is continuing. The examining magistrate has gone to the scene of the crime,” police said.
Spokesman Renato Kalbermatten said police were trying to find Rey-Bellet’s husband.
“We’d really like to get in touch with him,” Kalbermatten said.
“We have no concrete indication of the person who is responsible for this drama,” he added.
The couple’s two-year-old son, who was in the house but on a different floor, survived unhurt and is being cared for in secure accommodation, he added.
Kalbermatten declined to speculate on whether the shooting may have been committed by a relative.
Rey-Bellet lived with her husband and son in Abtwil, in north east Switzerland.
The 33-year-old Rey-Bellet shared a 2003 World Championships silver medal in the downhill at St Moritz. She retired shortly afterwards because of injuries to her right knee during top level competition.
The skier had her first podium finish in 1992, when she was placed third in the World Cup final in Crans Montana.
In 1999, she won the downhill and Super-G at the World Cup in St Anton, Austria.
Fans left hundreds of messages of condolence on Rey-Bellet’s website today.
“We’re shaken by the tragedy. We send our condolences to the family members and express our deep sorrow,” the website’s administrators said.
