KITCHENER — The body of Daniel Trask, the Waterloo man who disappeared into the wilderness of northern Ontario more than three years ago, was discovered this week on the shore of an isolated lake.

Trask, who was 28 when he vanished, was last seen by his family in November 2011, the day before he drove off from his parents' home in the early morning hours without a goodbye note.

The discovery came after an extensive search effort that involved cadaver dogs, a float plane and a team of experienced backcountry volunteers from Michigan. The search team, which included Trask's parents Maureen and Don, found remains on the southern reaches of Lady Evelyn Lake on Monday and called police.

The remains, found close to the town of Temiskaming Shores, were sent to the OPP's North East Region Forensic Pathology Unit for examination in Sudbury where they were identified as Trask's.

"It's a very secluded, remote area," said Acting Detective Insp. Mark Zulinski, of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch. "To get in, you have to use a combination of roads, boats and hiking."

Forensic investigators hope to have more clues soon into how Trask died, and how long his remains had been by the lake. When he disappeared, Trask was physically fit and had some previous experience camping in the Temagami region.

"(A cause of death) is undetermined at this time. It's still very early in the investigation," Insp. Zulinski said. "It's premature for me to say too much more at this point."

Maureen — who has become an advocate for families of missing people in Ontario — and Don Trask could not be reached for comment, but were still in the Temagami area where cellphone reception was limited.

In a previous interview, Maureen Trask said she knew her son, who went to Temagami with sparse food supplies, likely perished in the harsh elements. Previous searches had turned up his abandoned car, backpack, jacket, snow shoes and snow pants, but no body.

Without physical proof her son was dead, Maureen Trask said he she couldn't help but hold out hope he was still out there, somewhere, living off the land.

"This is not a traditional death. We can't have a funeral or a memorial because what if he shows up?" she said, in a Nov. 2013 interview. "Nobody could have described this to me. You have to live it, breathe it to understand. It's in your skin. You're frozen in time."