A Fort William man who died after his car plunged down an embankment may have lain trapped for hours before being discovered.
Peter Campbell, 36, of Banavie, was found in his Lexus car among trees next to the A82 Fort William to Inverness road on Sunday night.
Police are investigating whether Mr Campbell may have crashed his car much earlier in the evening and appealed to anyone who saw a silver coloured vehicle leave the road, or down the embankment between 5.30pm and 9pm on Sunday to contact them on 101.
Mr Campbell is thought to have left Fort William at 5.30pm and it was 9pm when the car was seen by a member of the public.
It is understood concern about his whereabouts had been raised with the police earlier.
Officers said that the car was travelling north when the accident happened a mile south of Spean Bridge, only a 15-20 minute drive from Fort William.
The fatal accident happened only a few hours after six people were injured in a crash just 100 yards from where Mr Campbell went off the road.
The A82 was closed for seven hours to allow accident investigators to examine the scene.
Mr Campbell’s body had to be cut out of the wreckage by firefighters from Fort William and Spean Bridge.
Mr Campbell was previously employed by Nevisprint, which collapsed several years ago, however he more recently worked as a self-employed tradesman.
He and his wife Leanne celebrated their first wedding anniversary only weeks ago.
Mr Campbell was also an adult instructor with the local Air Training Cadet squadron and is understood to have cut his long hair recently so he could become a uniformed officer.
It is understood that Mr Campbell was driving to pick up some of the youngsters when the crash happened.
Friends of Mr Campbell posted tributes on a social networking page. Mark MacPherson said: “Some of my best memory’s with the air cadets are with you Pete. We had so many laughs together with all our friends in the ATC.
“The one thing I can guarantee is that whenever I think of you it will be with a big smile on your face dreaming up some wacky way of lighting a fire.”
A friend, who asked not to be named, said: “An absolutely brilliant guy, totally committed to the cadets. A great loss to the ATC and to all his family and friends. He made a massive contribution to young people in the ATC and was a natural teacher. Everyone is absolutely shocked and stunned.”
Mr Campbell was the second person to die on west Highland roads at the weekend. A 16-year-old girl was killed when the car she was a passenger in left the road and struck a tree on the A83 Tarbet to Campbeltown road on Saturday.