MIDWAY, B.C. – Police are asking for the public's help in identifying a suspect involved in an alleged sexual assault in the village of Midway, B.C.

RCMP say in a news release that the alleged assault happened Tuesday morning at Boundary Creek Provincial Park in the West Kootenay region.

Police say a woman reported she was travelling in her vehicle on Highway 3, just west of Grand Forks, when a man in a newer silver Toyota SUV pulled up beside her, looked at her and then pulled in behind her.

Police say the 69-year-old woman reported being followed and decided to pull into a park to use a washroom.

The release says the woman told police she saw the man continue driving on the highway but when she exited the washroom, he confronted her and forced her back into the washroom where she was sexually assaulted.

Mounties say the woman reported she fought off the suspect and drove to the Midway RCMP detachment and that police conducted an extensive search of the area that was surveyed by helicopter while the park was shut down.

Staff Sgt. Annie Linteau says the suspect has been described as being in his 40s, with blond or brown hair and a greying moustache.