OTTAWA — The Canadian military says a soldier is presumed dead after being caught in an avalanche while on leave in Switzerland.

A statement from the Armed Forces says Capt. Sean Thomas went missing in the slide on April 1.

Local authorities had reported that three people were killed in an off-piste area of the Riffelberg, above the resort and below the famed Matterhorn peak.

The military says Thomas joined the Armed Forces in 2018 and he’d been deployed to Jordan last November as part of the Canadian Training Assistance Team.

He was set to return home next month.

No other Canadian Armed Forces members were in the area at the time of the slide.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2024.

— With files from The Associated Press

The Canadian Press