Terry died of a pulmonary edema

The 49-year-old from Normandy was found dead yesterday, having been missing since Sunday's second stage of the event.

Organisers said Terry's body was found around 100 meters off the road.

"He was in a place very hard to access in the middle of heavy bushes, some 15m from his bike. He had his helmet off and had found some shadow," the ASO said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Dakar organization had started a search after Terry launched an emergency signal, but the search was halted after organisers were wrongly informed that the Frenchman had turned up at the end of the fourth stage.

An autopsy carried out on Wednesday revealed that Terry had died of a pulmonary edema.

"He died of a pulmonary edema, which caused a respiratory and cardiac arrest," Julio Acosta, a police official, told Argentine media. "His body showed no signs of blows or dehydration."

The police report also said Terry had died between Sunday night and Monday morning.

Terry was the 26th competitor to die in the Dakar rally.