Flags at the Charlotte Pass ski resort were at half-mast yesterday after one of its youngest regulars, 15-year-old Evan Greenwood, was found dead in the snow.
The body of the mildly autistic Sydney boy, who had been missing since Monday morning, was found outside the boundaries of the Snowy Mountains resort just 2km from the ski lodge where his worried family waited.
Evan's family was taken out of the ski village about 1.40pm. About the same time the commander of the search operation, Superintendent Gary Merryweather, told media at nearby Perisher that a body had been found behind the rugged mountains towering over Charlotte Pass.
Bushwalkers found Evan's body about 11.30am behind the Mount Guthrie ski run. He was agonisingly close to the lodge where his family was staying.
In a statement, the Greenwood family described Evan as ''a beautiful person who loved life'' and who ''cherished every minute''. They thanked everybody who helped during the search. ''Understandably we're deeply distressed at this time,'' the statement said.
The back country behind the Mount Guthrie ski run is considered a long, difficult trek from Basin Poma beginner's run, the slope where Evan was last seen by his brothers.
For more on this story, including details of the weather conditions during the time that Evan was missing, see the print edition of today's Canberra Times.
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