KATHMANDU, Nepal — The wreckage of a United States Marine helicopter was found on Friday on a high mountain pass in Nepal, where below-freezing temperatures, raging winds and thunderstorms had made it too dangerous even to recover the bodies.

The search for the missing helicopter had gone on for nearly three days. The UH-1 Huey, carrying six Marines and two Nepali soldiers on a relief mission, lost radio communication on Tuesday after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake, the worst aftershock since the earthquake in April.

Nepalese Army helicopters were the first to spot the remains of the Huey — at about 11,000 feet, and eight miles from the village of Charikot, which was hit hard by Tuesday’s quake. Visible in the ruins of the aircraft were at least three charred bodies, Nepal’s defense secretary, Ishwori Paudyal, said.

“Because of the nature of the wreckage, it is unlikely that there are any survivors at this time,” Lt. Gen. John Wissler of the Marines said in a news conference on Friday in Kathmandu. He said the bodies had not yet been identified.