My brother is searching frantically

The evening in Madeira is mild. July 7, 2021, twenty degrees, a few clouds, a light northerly breeze. Just after 7 pm, Michal Kozek got out of the taxi to Porto Moniz. From here, at the northernmost tip of the island, he was going to run to Calheta in the south.

20km over the mountains. It’s a tough route, but the 35-year-old is in good shape. He demonstrated this just a week ago with his friends from the Grindelwald Ultramarathon group.

Madeira is a volcanic island. Cliffs drop vertically into the Atlantic Ocean. Impressive mountains extend inland. The vegetation is lush and often impenetrable, with rocks and hidden caves. The weather can change so quickly that even the locals are surprised.

Kozek didn’t know which route he planned to take that evening. The day before, he had traveled to the island from Zurich with his family. His wife and two children were waiting for him at the hotel. He wanted to be back before one in the morning. Then Madeira went into a curfew. This still applies in the summer of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But his family never saw him again. Michal Kozek has been missing since that night three years ago.

Three years later, his brother sits over an espresso in Zurich, concentrating on reviewing his notes. Christopher Kozek is a refined man with messy curls, a creative type. For three years, he has been searching for his missing brother. “I need to know what happened,” he says. “I owe it to my brother not to give up. He would have done the same for me.”

On the morning of July 8, 2021, Michal’s wife contacted Christopher Kozek. She could not reach Michal because he had not yet finished his trip. She called the police.

Christopher notified his home country’s embassy—the Kozeks are from Poland—and boarded the next flight to Kloten-Madeira. His life would never be the same again.

Why would anyone take such a risk?

When emergency workers entered the heart of Madeira, the ground was still wet, a sign that the weather in the mountains had changed. It was clear to the helpers that Michal Kozek must have lost his way.

He was captured on surveillance cameras in Porto Moniz. These are the last photos of him. They show him running south towards the mountains.

Michal was wearing a Garmin watch when he started running, but the data was not recorded. Apparently she was not connected to the internet. He also had a smartphone with him. The last signal was at 8:30 pm.

It was recorded from a transmission tower near Pico da Urze, inland. The mountain is 35 km southeast of Porto Moniz, where Michal starts. However, location determination can be misleading. In inaccessible areas, such mobile phones can have a range of more than ten kilometers.

Rescuers began a race against time. Christopher Kozek negotiated with emergency services as he traveled. His calls so irritated civil protection officers that they ended up proactively updating him every few hours. “I was like a robot,” Kozek said.

Once he arrived at the scene, he drove himself to Porto Moniz. He joined a team of soldiers. Police and civil protection were also searching intensively. Dozens of emergency services were combing the area, including a dog unit. A helicopter equipped with a thermal imaging camera flew over the island. This went on for three days. The first emergency services were withdrawn on the fourth day. So it was called France. Michal was still missing.

The army would continue for another two weeks, when the soldiers would receive new orders. Christopher returned to Zurich. But he vowed to return.

Since his brother’s disappearance, Christopher has been asking himself the same, tormenting questions: Why would his brother take such a risk? Why would he run alone at night through unknown terrain? Kozek smiled bitterly. “Of course, these ultramarathoners are a little crazy,” he said.

But his brother is an experienced endurance athlete. In June 2021, he ran the Swiss Canyon Trail in the Jura mountains of Neuchâtel. 111 kilometers, 5,500 meters up and the same number of meters down. Michal Kozek took 19 hours, 26 minutes and 11 seconds. His result is still available online. “He is used to running at night,” says the younger brother. On Madeira, he wore a headlamp, which is the latest technology: “This thing lasts 80 hours.”

Brothers risk their lives in search

Michal Kozek’s life began with hope. He met his future wife while he was still training as an engineer. In 2014, he received a job offer in Switzerland at a trade fair in Poland. He accepted and immigrated with his wife.

In 2019, Michal brought his brother to Zurich. The brothers are very close: “Michal is my best friend,” says Christopher. They want to live near each other. Christopher says Zurich offers different career opportunities and a different attitude to life than Poland.

Michal’s children were born in Zurich. The Alps became his passion. Michal is an engineer at the building insurance company of the canton of Zurich. His speciality is fires in high-rise buildings. “Assessing and minimizing risks is part of his job,” says Christopher Kozek.

Michael Hilti, a friend in the ultramarathon community, said: “Michal was not a daredevil.” Nor was trail running a dangerous sport: “We stayed away from mountaineering.” He believed Michal Kozek had collapsed: “I have accepted the fact that he is dead, although with a heavy heart.”

After the horrors in Madeira, Michal’s wife and children returned to Zurich. It soon became clear that they would return home to Poland. Only Christopher remained in Switzerland.

In Zurich he is planning a search operation that will define the rest of his life. “Michail would never leave like this, nor would he be upset,” he says. That’s why he needs to know what happened. “It’s the only way I can find peace.”

He had been to the island ten times. He spent several weeks there every year. He climbed alone into rock crevices, abseild from cliffs, and ran for the hundredth time the route his brother had taken, following each new clue.

Once, a rockfall narrowly missed him, and another time, he had to be taken to the hospital for exhaustion. On a bad day, he would say, “I’m not stupid. I know it’s been three years. But finding the body is a relief for me.”

The time since July 7, 2021, has been divided into bad and very bad phases. Now he has used up all his savings. He has applied for a loan and charged several credit cards. In total, he says, the search has cost him 200,000 francs.

He quarrels with his parents and his brother’s wife, who want him to finally put an end to the story. He risks his life in the search.

But on good days he still holds out hope that his brother is somewhere on the island. Perhaps lost after losing his memory, but alive. “The chance that Michal has started a new life is one percent,” he said.

Tourists keep disappearing in Madeira

Two months after Michal disappeared, a Polish search team organized by his parents found a trekking pole, the same brand that Michal had used.

They are the family’s lifeline. Like the witness who claimed to have seen Michal on a hilltop near Porto Moniz on July 7. She told Christopher that he looked tired, even sick. He was confused. In fact, Michal had been vaccinated against Covid two weeks ago. Would the vaccination have weakened his strength?

Other rumors were also circulating. Maybe Michal was the victim of a crime. The Flower Island also had a dark side. “Every drug circulated in Madeira,” said Christopher Kozek. During the search, he repeatedly observed how speedboats approached one of the coves from the open sea. He suspected drug smuggling was behind it.

But the rumors persist. “Michal didn’t have any valuables on him, except for his Garmin watch and iPhone,” said Christopher Kozek. He also believed it was an accident. He was convinced his brother had crashed somewhere in the area. Somewhere in the heart of Madeira.

Michal Kozek is not the only tourist to disappear in Madeira. In December 2020, a young German lost all trace. In September 2021, a young Frenchman disappeared. In December 2022, a 54-year-old British man. In March 2024, a French couple in their fifties.

Sometimes it took almost two years for the bodies to be found, for the young Frenchman, and almost a month for the French couple.

“Ninety percent of the roads should be closed,” said Christopher Kozek. “There are too many beginners at the beginning. Unlike the Alps, the roads in Madeira are rarely marked.

There are so many missing people, which is why his search has already become a bigger task. “I am now looking for many others. If I can no longer help Michal, maybe I can help others,” he said.

He had already found friends among the islanders. Soldiers and policemen saluted him. “They are all good people.” In return, he donated money and equipment to the local forces. When he left, he left all his equipment to them.

That’s why Christopher Kozek is collecting again this summer. His list is long: a drone. 200 meters of rope. A carbine. A helmet. A camera. Money for car rental, gas and food. Because he wants to go again in September. “This could be the last time,” he says.

The island will not let him go.