KAHBAMIUE/COLVILLE LAKE - Colville Lake elder Alexis Blancho was found dead on Thursday by an RCMP search helicopter.

Local search and rescue personnel found an emergency makeshift camp nearby.

Police do not suspect foul play and a post-mortem will be conducted on the body.

His snowmobile was abandoned 25 km southeast of town, pointed in the direction of Colville Lake, so it was assumed he was travelling back to the community before he went missing.

He was last seen on Thursday, Feb. 24, on his way to his cabin in the Lac Des Bois area.

The snow in the area was hard packed, which made searching for him difficult.

"If someone was walking on it, you couldn't even see their footprints," said Helen Oudzi, secretary for the Behdzi Ahda First Nation band.

The 69-year-old man's cabin door was tied shut and he had enough supplies with him to survive the storm.

"He's an experienced bushman, from what we heard," said Alvin Orlias, sub-chief of the band. "He grabbed his pack sack, his snow shoes, axe, and his gun."

His snowmobile was found stuck in an opening in the ground.

A severe snowstorm in the region at the time hampered air travel and winds reached speeds of up to 85 km/h.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.