Searchers had been looking for Joseph Kuz, who was missing in rugged terrain east of Winnipeg. (Family photo)

An 86-year-old Winnipeg man missing for five days in rugged terrain east of the Manitoba capital was found alive and in good condition on Monday.

Joseph Kuz, 86, was found in a swampy bush area near Hadashville, about 100 kilometres east of Winnipeg, by an RCMP officer on an all-terrain vehicle.

RCMP Const. Miles Hiebert said Kuz was found at around 9:30 a.m., tired and dehydrated. He had been reported missing Friday after being dropped off last Thursday for a hike into a remote cabin.

"Our missing man, Mr. Kuz, was located by RCMP members patrolling by ATV," said Hiebert. "He was brought out of the forest at 10:42. And initial reports are that he is actually in very good shape. He is tired and dehydrated."

Kuz was taken to hospital in Ste. Anne.

'I just walked over to him and said, "Are you Joe?" '—Staff Sgt. Mike Hengen

RCMP Staff Sgt. Mike Hengen, a 30-year member of the force, was the officer who found Kuz. Hengen told CBC News that his ATV was stuck in swampy mud as searchers fanned out for a fourth day of searching for the elderly man.

Deep in the swampy bush, Hengen turned off the engine of his ATV and — just as he was struggling to push the machine free — he heard a moaning sound a few metres away. Hengen struggled on foot through 40 metres of bush and found Kuz, flat on his back, in a hollowed-out area full of spruce trees and moss.

"I just walked over to him and said, 'Are you Joe?' He moaned. I reached over and shook his hand and he wouldn't let go. I knew he had enough strength in him and I knew he'd be OK. I felt I'd won the lottery."

Kuz told the Mountie he'd had nothing to eat or drink since getting lost last Thursday. Kuz said he'd heard aircraft overhead and knew searchers were in the area but had become too weak to cry out.

"I could see he was very exhausted and dehydrated," said Hengen. "He said to me, 'I don’t know if I could've made it any longer.' "

Hengen could see tears welling in the old man's eyes — tears of exhaustion, relief and gratitude.

It was the second time in just a few days that searchers have found missing seniors.

On Friday, 66-year-old Nadia Monaco, also of Winnipeg, was found alive and well in the Belair Provincial Forest about an hour north of the city after spending two nights in the bush. She had gone missing while mushroom picking.

More than 40 ground searchers were joined by an air patrol in the search for Kuz. Many of the same searchers, including Hengen, were involved in the search for Monaco.