Police said the two mountain climbers were last seen in the San Valentino Valley, near a mountain hut named Casina Dosson, at the base of the south face of Mt Care Alto.
Harris’ body was found at the foot of a cliff in deep snow on the south face of Mt Care Alto after rescuers were able to trace him through his cellphone.
Worsening winter weather late on Wednesday forced rescuers to discontinue their search for his friend as heavy fog and winds hampered any continuing efforts.
The search for the other hiker is continuing on foot and alpine rescue teams are using sniffer dogs to scour the area.
Temperatures in the area were expected to drop below zero overnight and rain and snow were being forecast during the next 48 hours.
Harris’ body was recovered by helicopter at an altitude of 2600 metres and transferred to the nearby village of Spiazzo, with investigators continuing to look into the cause of his death.
Ben Harris, the brother of Harris and owner of a tour company in Panama, told the Telegraph he was made aware of the discovery of a body only minutes before it was published by the media.
He said he had been phoned by a friend on WhatsApp who had been following updates on the pair’s disappearance.
“I pray it is not how the rest of my family had to find out. I live on a remote island in Panama myself and so am now making plans to get home to my parents, and also trying to see if I should be looking at flights to Italy or the UK first as I don’t know if I need to go and ID my brother.”
Ben Harris said he had not been informed whether the body found by Italian rescue services was that of his brother or Ziriat.
He added: “I am very grateful though to the search teams and how much effort and resources has gone into finding them
“A lot of people came out to help I understand. I would love the chance to thank each and every one of them at some point. For now, I need to help my mum and dad survive this.”
The alpine rescue service said: “The dynamics of the accident are still being investigated by law enforcement officials, but it is possible that the mountaineer fell from above.
“As soon as a window of good weather permits, the search for the second climber will resume.”
The pair did not check into their return flight on Monday, prompting a huge search and rescue operation with around 25 alpine rescue experts, firefighters and police, who focused their efforts on the area around the Adamello mountain range.
The discovery came shortly after Italy’s alpine rescue service confirmed it had found the rucksacks and other possessions of the two missing hikers at the Malga Dosson bivouac, where they had been staying in the Dolomites.
The rescue service said the hikers’ backpacks, sleeping bags, and cell phone chargers had been found, indicating that Ziriat and Harris had intended to return after their hike.
Psychologists have provided support to relatives and friends of the hikers who had arrived from the UK to help with the search, the alpine rescue service added.
On the day of their disappearance, the two hikers had shared footage of themselves discussing plans to scale 3000m mountains with friends.
In the 45-second-long clip, Ziriat can be seen filming the range they intended to climb and a stone shelter where the pair were believed to have stayed overnight.
Speaking into the camera, he says: “Happy New Year! Woken up to some delightful sunshine, blue skies. There has not been a cloud in the sky since we got here, which is slightly unnerving but also quite jokes.”
Gesturing to the mountain range, he adds: “I want to attack this today, get up into some of the 3000 bits, which are up yonder.”
The camera then pans to the mountain lodge and Ziriat comments: “We just spent the night in this little bivacco [mountain shelter], absolute quality little set-up, a World War One bunker, it is a bit icy, I am only wearing my flip flops.
“Looking forward to a day scampering, we are not taking our packs today, for the last two days lugging up this God-forsaken valley, another day frolicking before schlepping over to the next valley.”
