Helmut and Erika Simon

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Helmut (1937 – October 15, 2004) and Erika Simon were German alpinists from Nuremberg who discovered the mummy of Ötzi the Iceman, who died in the Ötztal Alps in Italy around 3300 BC. They discovered the corpse while returning from a ski trip on September 19, 1991.

After their finding, the Simons sued the Province of Bolzano-Bozen for a reward. The lawsuit was settled shortly before Helmut's tragic death on October 15, 2004. He died on an unaccompanied hike in the Austrian alps; while ascending an unsecured footpath, the weather changed dramatically and a blizzard set in. He fell to death approximately 100 metres into a deep canyon, and his body was found lying in a creek, covered with ice, on the morning of October 23, 2004 after several days of uncertainty. He is buried at the cemetery of Bad Hofgastein, Austria.

Besides Helmut Simon, several other people connected to the recovery and examination of the Copper Age corpse have died under supposedly mysterious circumstances, leading to the speculation of "Ötzi's Curse."