The body of a 52-year-old Tagish man was recovered from the Six Mile River on Saturday, after he had been reported overdue earlier that morning.

As of early this afternoon, the RCMP were not releasing the name of the deceased, having not received approval from the family to do so.

The Star has confirmed the deceased is Frank Estrada, who once ran the Waterfront Donut Shop in the Horwood's Mall in Whitehorse.

He was working as a custodian at the Carcross School, and had operated the restaurant at Montana Services in Carcross for a number of years.

Passing comments from those who knew him describe Estrada as a warm individual who liked to be involved with his community, from a volunteer soccer coach to Santa Claus.

A press release issued today by Carcross Cpl. Eric Hendriks indicates the detachment received a call at 1:50 a.m. about an overdue individual who was last seen on the shore of Tagish Lake at about 10 p.m. Friday.

'Carcross detachment officers attended and a preliminary investigation suggested that the individual had gone through the ice near the mouth of the Six Mile River,' says the press release.

'At the time, visibility was poor due to the ice fog from the river and further search activity was postponed until the following morning.'

The Six Mile River connects Tagish and Marsh lakes.

Hendriks said in an interview this morning he was among the officers who initially responded early Saturday.

Conditions were dark and dangerous, with poor visibility, he said, noting that he too ran into some bad conditions as he was on a snowmachine attempting to follow the individual's tracks.

A team of some 20 people from Carcross Search and Rescue, the Tagish Volunteer Fire Department and Tagish Ambulance Services, with volunteer assistance by a helicopter provided by Trans North Helicopters, confirmed shortly after daybreak that a snowmobile had gone through the ice.

The deceased's body was recovered at 4:50 p.m.

Hendriks noted in his press release that the general public must exercise extreme caution and avoid the ice at all costs, as unseasonably warm temperatures are causing treacherous ice conditions that are changing all the time.