The body of a missing pilot has been found in the forest near Queets, state officials said Monday.

Rod Collen was found dead inside the wreckage of his 2006 Cessna T182 Turbo Skylane, officials with the Washington State Department of Transportation reported April 10.

Authorities said Collen likely perished when the plane hit the ground.

Collen, 53, had gone missing for 36 days. State officials said his family had been briefed Monday of the discovery. 

The aircraft wreckage was found by search-and-rescue crews from the state Department of Transportation in densely wooded terrain.

The wreck was difficult to spot and not easily accessible, officials said.

Collen took off from Tacoma Narrows Airport at 5:35 p.m., Monday, March 6, and officials said his plane fell off radar abruptly 45 minutes later. 

A two-week search ensued as teams covered a 36-square-mile wooded area for signs of the missing pilot or his plane.

Search crews returned to the area on the West End of Jefferson County on Friday, April 7.

Authorities said they used a new hypothesis of what may have happened to the plane that was provided by a search-and-rescue partner in British Columbia. Combined with warmer weather that had reduced the snow level in the area, wreckage of the white plane was easier to spot.

During last Friday's flight, crews noticed some items of interest, but nothing could be positively identified from the air, officials said.

Returning on Monday morning, a combined team from WSDOT Air Search and Rescue, the Quinault Emergency Management, and a K9 team from the King County Search and Rescue Office hiked into the location of interest and identified the aircraft. 

The crash is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, and officials said the probe could take 12 to 18 months to complete.