HALIFAX -- Following a 26-hour search for a missing canoeist near Morris Island in Yarmouth County, N.S., the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre says they have suspended their search.

The search began on Tuesday afternoon after police received a call of a deceased person seen in the waters off of Morris Island.

A body was discovered, and RCMP called the JRCC for assistance as they searched for 69-year-old Kenneth Peter Surette who was last seen travelling in a canoe on Sunday, Jan. 10 around 11 a.m.

"Upon initial investigation, the deceased was identified and believed to be associated to Kenneth Surette," the RCMP said in a news release on Tuesday. "It is believed the two had been travelling together in a canoe."

The JRCC announced Wednesday evening on Twitter that they have turned their case over to the RCMP as a missing person’s case.

Police did locate a canoe on Wednesday between Surettes Island and Morris Island in Nova Scotia’s southwest coast. RCMP spokesman Sgt. Andrew Joyce has since confirmed it was the canoe being used by Surette and his travel companion.

The investigation is ongoing.