Police are investigating if a body found in Tuggen in canton Schwyz at the weekend could be that of a boat captain who went missing at the end of June.

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The body of a man was discovered on Saturday afternoon by people out exercising who were drawn to the spot by a powerful stench, online news site Blick reported.

The body was found in the same area where 50-year-old Jean-Pierre Rebsamen's boat was found anchored in the Linth river delta in the Obersee section of Lake Zurich.

Due to the difficult terrain around where the body was found, it took police some time to reach it. The body is in such a state of decay that it has not yet been possible to identify the person, nor have police yet been able to identify the cause of death.

However, police are examining the possibility that the body may be that of the missing boat captain, from Jona in canton St. Gallen, who has been missing since June 29th.

Rebsamen was last seen alive on June 27th. A friend reported him missing two days later and his boat, a Riamar, was located that same day.

The police started a major search, using divers to search the lake bottom, helicopters, and two different types of search dogs. The dogs briefly located the scent of Rebsamen on land but then lost it again.

None of his friends can believe that he would have taken his own life, the news site reported. Nor do people think that he had emigrated or gone into hiding. His disappearance was a mystery.