A body found in the Aberdeenshire end of the Cairngorms is believed to be that of an experienced hillwalker missing since the beginning of March.
Police confirmed the grim discovery – the result of snow melting during this week’s warm weather – in the Glen Lui area of the national park, near Braemar.
The family of missing walker, James Robertson, have been informed, following the development on Thursday night.
The body was still being recovered yesterday as the formal identification process took place.
A police spokeswoman yesterday said: “Police Scotland can confirm that a body has been found in the Glen Lui area of the Cairngorms, Aberdeenshire.
“An operation is currently underway to recover the body and more information will be issued when available.”
Braemar Mountain Rescue Team have spent weeks scouring the Highland landscape searching for Mr Robertson, a lover of the outdoors.
He had been staying in Bob Scott’s Bothy, on the banks of the Lui Water – between Derry Lodge and the Linn O’ Dee car park – when he went missing on March 1.
The Glasgow man left for a trip to the hills on February 29.
Those looking for him had recently widened their search, camping out overnight in their attempts to find the hillwalker.
The news came as the Braemar MRT confirmed the extent of the effort to trace the missing 61-year-old.
Support manager of the rescue team, Malcolm MacIntyre, said it was too early to comment on the find.
However he added: “The search has involved over 3,000 man hours. It has been a massive, on-going search.
“This body has now just melted out from under the snow because of the good weather we have had last week. We are hanging on for the weather to improve.”
After Mr Robertson’s disappearance his daughter, Lynn Robertson, set up a Justgiving page for the Braemar MRT, which has raised nearly £12,000 to date – 1,163% more than her original target.
Posting on the team’s social media page earlier this month, Ms Robertson hailed the “incredible” effort by the team to try and find her father.