A tragic end to the search for hikers on Mount Harvey

A fifth and final body has been recovered from Mount Harvey.

The news brought the search for the five missing hikers, which had been ongoing since Saturday afternoon, to a tragic end.

A very sad day. Operations have concluded with the recovery of the five hikers. Our deepest condolences go out to their family and friends.

— Lions Bay SAR (@LionsBaySAR) April 10, 2017

“A very sad day,” said Lions Bay Search and Rescue on Twitter. “Operations have concluded with the recovery of the five hikers. Our deepest condolences go out to their family and friends.”

The search began after a hiker called Squamish RCMP on Saturday around 3:45 p.m., concerned over the collapse of the cornice on the peak of Mount Harvey.

According to the RCMP, the hiker noticed footprints leading to the summit and was concerned a slide may have taken out other hikers.

Search and rescue teams determined that five hikers were missing from the area and a large scale search, involving search and rescue teams from multiple jurisdictions, was launched.

Four of the five bodies were found on Sunday morning, prompting an update from Squamish RCMP early on Saturday afternoon.

"This morning during the search, Search and Rescue crews located four bodies believed to belong to the group of hikers," stated Cpl. Sascha Banks. "This is not the outcome which we had hoped for. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the hikers and the search and rescue teams in Lions Bay who are still working tirelessly to find the fifth individual."

Sadly, for everyone involved, the fifth body was located on Sunday evening in a similar area to where the first four bodies were found.