Belgian police have said a body has been found in the search for a fugitive far-right soldier who was the target of a huge manhunt. Hundreds of security forces scoured a swath of north-east Belgium after the disappearance on 17 May of Jurgen Conings, who was on an anti-terrorism watchlist, had threatened a senior virologist involved in the country’s Covid-19 programme and had hoarded heavy weaponry. A body was found on Sunday in the woods in Dilserbos, in eastern Belgium, by the mayor of another town who noticed the smell during a bicycle ride. Police said initial evidence indicated it was Conings and that he killed himself. Conings, 46, had a three-decade career behind him as an expert marksman before he started making threats and racist remarks on Facebook. He was handed disciplinary sanctions but still allowed to work with weapons. The hunt dominated newspaper headlines in the country, with some labelling Conings the “Belgian Rambo” after the 1980s action film starring Sylvester Stallone. Among the people Conings had threatened was Marc Van Ranst, Belgium’s best-known virologist and an adviser to the government on its tough Covid restrictions. The scientist has become a target for conspiracy theorists, Covid-sceptics and the Flemish far-right in Belgium during the coronavirus crisis. With Conings still at large, Van Ranst and his family had been moved to an undisclosed location. “My thoughts go out to the relatives and children of Jurgen Conings. For them this is very sad news, because they lose a father, a relative or a friend,” Van Ranst tweeted on Sunday. The affair has been an embarrassment for the government as it was revealed that Conings was on a watch list for his far-right views three months before he went awol. Conings, 46, had hidden anti-tank missile launchers and other heavy arms in an army barracks before disappearing. He had threatened several people in recent months, including the virologist, and landed on the federal anti-terrorism watchlist in February. He also drew support online with Facebook shutting down a page supporting Conings, which had garnered 45,000 members in just a few days. Belgium’s defence minister Ludivine Dedonder decried the online backing for the fugitive - condemning in particular support coming from within Belgium’s armed forces.