Two bodies found on a mountain in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, have been identified as those of a father and his 6-year-old son who went missing in early May, police said Thursday.

The bodies, which a helicopter spotted on Tuesday, were confirmed as those of Koya Shibuya, 37, and his son Sora, who went hiking in the Gozu Mountain Range on the eastern border of the city of Agano on May 5.

The police and rescuers had been searching for the two since May 7.

Shibuya called his father on the afternoon of May 5 saying they were lost and called again the next morning, telling him they were making a descent.

The police initially believed the two were going to hike up two mountains, both about 500 meters high, but they extended the search area after finding a note at the foot of Mt. Matsudaira indicating the pair were heading to the top of the 954-meter mountain, unfit for novice climbers.