A body has been removed from the Lions Bay area during the search for a woman reported missing over the weekend.

The deceased was transported from the area on a stretcher Monday afternoon. Few details have been confirmed by officials, including the identity of the person and their cause of death.

Rescuers were led by a passerby to a trail opening on Tidewater Way, near the water.

"(Mounties) went down to the location, along with a couple other agencies, to see if they could locate something and they did locate a body," RCMP Cpl. Sascha Banks told reporters.

The body was located during a search for Lorraine Prebushewski, a 59-year-old last seen Sunday.

While authorities have not confirmed the remains are Prebushewski's, Banks said initial indicators match the description of the missing woman.

The deceased's final identification will be made by the BC Coroners Service, but it appeared search efforts were scaled back following the discovery. The RCMP will be assisting in the investigation, and it is not yet known whether her death is considered suspicious.

She vanished the quiet coastal community on Sunday, triggering a large-scale search operation that continued well past dark.

Lions Bay Search and Rescue resumed their efforts in the daylight Monday morning, but said they had few clues about where she might have headed.

"She has fairly limited mobility so we assume she's not going to be hiking up hills," search manager Sandro Frei told CTV News on Sunday night. "Beyond that we're just looking for someone that might be reaching out for help, or someone not reaching out and is maybe more withdrawn."

Prebushewski is originally from Saskatchewan, but spent the last several months staying with her sister in Lions Bay. She was last seen leaving the Kelvin Grove Way home at around 10 a.m. Sunday.

Squamish RCMP said the missing woman also has ties to the Coquitlam area.

Authorities said the sudden disappearance is out of character for Prebushewski and they're concerned for her well-being, particularly after she potentially spent a chilly night outside in temperatures that hovered just above zero.

Crews believe it's possible she used public transit or hitchhiked out of the village, and they're asking anyone who might have seen her to contact police immediately.

Prebushewski is described as 5'2" tall, 120 lbs. with a slim build, brown eyes and dark brown hair. She was last seen wearing all black clothes, including a puffy down filled vest with a hood and runners.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Sheila Scott and Emad Agahi