A crew with the territorial Department of Highways and Public Works came upon a grim scene Wednesday afternoon while working on the North Klondike Highway.

A maintenance crew working out of the Whitehorse grader station was the first to spot a troubling set of tire tracks leading off the highway at about 3 p.m.

The workers followed the tracks to the bottom of a steep embankment, where they found a 1999 white Ford Contour. The four-door car was badly damaged and had obviously rolled several times before coming to rest on its roof.

"It's completely totalled," RCMP spokesman Sgt. Don Rogers said today about the condition of the car.

The vehicle's sole occupant - Marie John, 41, of Whitehorse - was deceased when the highways crew found her. The car was about two kilometres north of the Fox Lake campground.

"The vehicle had been there for at least a couple of hours," Rogers said, indicating that the crew immediately called the RCMP to attend the scene.

The Mounties have begun investigating the fatal crash, but are not releasing any information on how the rollover may have occurred.

According to Rogers, a traffic analyst is now in charge of determining the events leading up to the crash.

A spokesperson for the Department of Highways and Public Works said the workers who found John have all been offered counselling, should they need it.