Crystal Mountain, WA – The body of a skier missing since March was found by searchers on Wednesday in a tree well on Crystal Mountain.

Paul Melby, 40, of Lakewood, Wash., went missing on March 1 while skiing alone at Crystal Mountain and earlier efforts to locate him were unsuccessful. A renewed search effort was launched earlier this month as the deep snowpack began to melt away.

His body was discovered shortly after noon on Wednesday by an employee searching dense woods known locally as “Mine Shaft” about 100 yards off the double diamond Middle Ferk’s run, at an elevation of around 5,600 feet.

Melby is believed to have suffocated after becoming trapped in a tree well. Ski Patrol Director, Paul Baugher stated that the position in which Paul’s body was found “confirms he’d fallen upside down into a tree well and suffocated.” It’s the first such death at Crystal Mountain since 1993.

“We wish to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers and professionals who put in many hours of tireless effort to return Paul to his family,” resort officials said in a prepared statement. “Our thoughts are with all of ‘Melby’s’ friends and family as they finally get to say goodbye. He will be deeply missed.”