Saskatchewan

RCMP says missing mushroom picker, 74, found dead in northeast Sask.

Searchers found the body of the missing 74-year-old woman who was last seen mushroom picking Thursday morning in northeast Saskatchewan.

Lois Chartrand got separated from friend in forest on Aug. 4

Lois Chartrand has been found deceased, according to RCMP. Searchers were looking for the 74-year-old three kilometres east off of the Hanson Lake Road (Highway 106), around 33 kilometres north of the village of Smeaton. (RCMP/Submitted)

Searchers found the body of a missing 74-year-old woman who was last seen mushroom picking on Aug. 4 in northeast Saskatchewan.

Lois Chartrand was located dead in a forested area on Sunday, around one kilometre from where she was last seen, RCMP said in a news release. Chartrand's family has been notified.

Several agencies and volunteers were involved in the search for the 74-year-old, including RCMP's Smeaton Detachment, Alberta RCMP, Saskatoon Police Service, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, Search and Rescue Saskatchewan Association of Volunteers, Civilian Air Search and Rescue Association and Heli Recon.

LISTEN | Lois Chartrand's best friend Maureena Schreiner discusses the search:

On Thursday August 4th Lois Chartrand was mushroom picking near the community of Smeaton. It's something she's done for decades. In fact Lois and her husband Lorne Terry do this for a living. But that day Lois went missing in the bush. And she still hasn't been found. Host Shauna Powers speaks to her best friend Maureena Schreiner about the ongoing search.

Chartrand was an experienced mushroom picker who became separated from the person she was with, RCMP said in a news release on Aug. 5, one day after she was last seen.

Severe thunderstorms, wind and rain impacted the search for Chartrand the night of Aug. 4, but police managed to communicate with her via a radio she had at least until 6 a.m CST the next morning, according to RCMP.