The Manitoba RCMP says an 18-year-old from East St. Paul died while hiking on the Mantario trail this week. 

The RCMP says in a release that they received a distress signal from a personal satellite messenger device at 4:00 p.m. on June 28. The coordinates placed the signal near a section of the Mantario Trail.

Police were able to notify a helicopter that was already in the general area. The helicopter began a search for the male, while personnel from the Falcon Lake RCMP, EMS, Manitoba Sustainable Development as well as the Southeast Whiteshell Fire Department headed towards the remote location to search for the male.

Two hours later, at 6 p.m. the helicopter spotted the male but was unable to land because of the terrain. The pilot relayed to RCMP that the male was not moving

At 7:50 p.m., the 18-year-old male was located deceased by the searchers near the trail on the east side of Marion Lake.

Police say the initial investigation determined that an 18-year-old male hiker from East St. Paul had been dropped-off with supplies at the southern trailhead near Caddy Lake earlier that morning.

The Mantario trail is 63 KM long with most of it in Whiteshell Provincial Park in eastern Manitoba, though some of it goes through Ontario.

There has been no report as to what caused the hiker's initial distress signal. An autopsy has been scheduled and the RCMP are continuing the investigation.