Several days after three friends went missing on route to a fishing trip near Mont-Carmel in the Kamouraska region, Quebec provincial police confirmed they were found in that area Saturday morning and one of them has died.
A local resident found Léon Drapeau, 75, lying unconscious on the ground in a forest, while the two others, Pierre Barrière, 57, Ronald Fillion, 78, were in a chalet nearby, police said.
The men were examined by paramedics and taken to a local hospital, where Drapeau was in critical condition, then died hours later.
The Sûreté du Québec had been conducting elaborate searches involving helicopters for the men who were missing since Tuesday.
Barrière and Fillion are from the Montreal area, while Drapeau is from Mont-Carmel.
'Weak, dehydrated and hungry'
An SQ spokesperson, Sgt. Claude Doiron, told CBC News Drapeau was found unconscious on the ground shortly after 10 a.m. and was evacuated on a sled.
Barrière and Filion, discovered in the chalet, were "weak, dehydrated and hungry," and they were transported to hospital by helicopter, Doiron said.
The trio was planning a fishing trip to Lac-de-l'Est, south of Mont-Carmel and were supposed to return the same day.
Police had gathered little evidence until Friday, when they were able to capture a signal from one of the men's cell phones that prompted them to move their command post closer to Lac-de-l'Est.
Doiron said police believe the men's vehicle, a mini-van, got stuck in the forest. They appeared to have gone out on-foot in search of help.
He said a police investigation into what happened, and how the men were separated and found in two different places, is ongoing.