CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – The Massachusetts 10-year-old missing for five days in the White Mountains last week died of hypothermia, which is what authorities suspected when they found his body on Friday.

Searchers from around New England combed the woods around Lincoln from last Monday until Friday afternoon, when Patric McCarthy’s body was found.

Dr. Thomas Andrew, the chief medical examiner, identified the cause of death as hypothermia caused by exposure, his office said Monday. Andrew conducted an autopsy on Sunday.

Survival experts feared that Patric would succumb to a combination of rain, wind and cold that included nighttime temperatures in the 30s and 40s. Andrew’s report did not indicate when Patric might have died.

Officials said Friday that all signs pointed to exposure as the cause of Patric’s death. His body was found in thick vegetation more than two miles from the family condominium in Lincoln.

Patric, of Bourne, Mass., had been playing with his two stepbrothers while his father and stepmother packed the condo to head home last Monday. The boys decided to race the roughly 300 yards to the condo but became separated.

Search officials said Patric apparently took a wrong turn after crossing a stream and headed upstream when he should have gone down. The family searched for him at first, then called authorities.

The area had a drenching rain the next night and strong winds the following day, Wednesday.

The body was found about 21/2 miles from the condo and at significantly higher elevation.

AP-ES-10-20-03 1857EDT