Two friends of a Haines Junction man who went missing late last month came across his truck off the Alaska Highway near Jake's Corner on Friday, leading to the discovery of David Boyle's body soon afterward.

RCMP officers arrived Friday afternoon to find Boyle's body outside the pickup, which had left the highway and gone down a steep embankment.

"There were several large trees that the truck hit,” causing extensive damage, RCMP spokesman Const. Dean Hoogland said today.

"The truck was partially camouflaged by trees and foliage that fell on and beside the truck after the collision,” he said.

Longtime family friend Neil Reginbald went looking Friday morning for Boyle, 53, last seen in Whitehorse on Aug. 30.

His search partner scanned the ditch while Reginbald drove, coming across the white Skookum Asphalt pickup Boyle had been driving at around noon.

"It was in a hard-to-see place, very easily missed,” said Reginbald, a long haul truck driver who also worked with Boyle's father at the Aishihik hydro plant.

"I was just tired of the rumours, so I went looking myself.”

Reginbald said he and his partner searched for an hour and a half before spotting the truck about 10 to 15 kilometres northwest of the Tagish Road along the Alaska Highway.

"I'm just glad it's over,” he said.

Boyle's brother, Paul, expressed relief mixed with pain on hearing the news Friday.

"It was a pretty tough day, and the next day was tough as well,” he said today.

"It will take a bit of time to get over it, but we're holding up,” he said. "I'm glad we didn't have to wait until the snow was gone to keep searching.”

"It's a bittersweet moment,” said Paul's wife, Josephine Boyle.

"It was like a bad nightmare that wouldn't end.”

Paul speculated on what happened after his brother was last seen driving off the Skookum Asphalt property near Robert Service Way in the company pickup last month.

"They figured he was ejected in the crash – a pretty violent crash. They figure he fell asleep and drove off the road,” he said.

Paul expressed deep thanks to Reginbald and his search partner: "Without people like that, we would still be working ... He made our lives way better.

"To anyone and everyone that had a part, thank you.”

Const. Hoogland said the cause of death is under investigation, in part "to determine how he got outside of the vehicle.”

Foul play is not suspected.