An Iraq War veteran who shot dead a Mount Rainier park ranger on New Year's Day was found frozen to death on Monday ending a 200-men search that included a SWAT team, K-9s and helicopters.

The body of Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, was found in a river not far from the road block where he shot dead Margaret Anderson, who tried to stop him. Barnes likely succumbed to the freezing temperature as he was just wearing a t-shirt, a pair of jeans and one tennis shoe, according to Det. Sgt. Ed Troyer of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.

The death of Barnes also lifted a park lockdown that saw visitors evacuated on Sunday as the fugitive was heavily armed and considered dangerous.

Barnes had figured in a shooting in Skyway on New Year's Eve and drove to the Mount Rainier National Park to hide. He rammed his car through a checkpoint manned by park rangers checking if car tires are chained before encountering Anderson, a mother of two, in another road block near the Longmire Ranger Station. Barnes shot Anderson before she could get out of her patrol car.
Anderson's companion, ranger Dan Camiccia, escaped harm.

Barnes was deployed to Iraq from 2007 to 2008 and is believed to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He had told his wife that he wanted to die and kept heavy firearms in his home.