'It's a shock': RCMP lose one of their own after snowmobile accident in Kugluktuk

The 30-year-old RCMP officer whodied after a snowmobile accident near Kugluktuk is being remembered for his love of the land and his desire to serve people in Nunavut.

He died Friday whileout with another officer on their day off andhis snowmobile went over a 30-metre cliff inKuglukTerritorial Park.

According to Michael Jeffrey, the commanding officer for theRCMPin Nunavut, locals say the cliff would have been hard to see in spring conditions.

• RCMP officer dies near Kugluktuk, Nunavut after snowmobile accident

The weather in Kugluktuk was around 15 C with periods of blowing snow on Friday.

The officer lived in Kugluktuk almost a year and a half. He was from British Columbia.

Jeffrey said he volunteered to come to Nunavut, in order to work with Inuit and experience the land and culture. He died doing what he lovedenjoying the wilderness.

"The community has been extra helpful, very very kind," he said. "Yesterday they did a vigil at the detachment, they laid flowers, there was a lot of community members that came out to show their sorrow and their support for the member's family."

The officer's fiancee attended the vigil with her mother, Jeffrey said.

"It's a shock," Jeffrey said. "When you hear that it's somebody that you know, that you've worked with in the past, it's very sad. It's very tragic."

RCMPCpl. HenryComan said some of the officers sent to investigate the death are returning to Iqaluit Monday night.

He says the police will release more information as the results of the investigation become available.