Michael Todd sent a farewell text message to members of his family in the minutes before he died on a wind-swept mountainside, it has emerged.

The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police is believed to have taken his life in Snowdonia because he was troubled by a series of affairs and was concerned that his tangled private life was unravelling.

A near-empty bottle of gin was found beside the body, indicating that Mr Todd, 50, an experienced climber, could have been trying to hasten the end with the onset of hypothermia. It was not known whether he had taken an overdose although no pills or bottles were found.

He was discovered face down in a gully in relatively gently sloping ground at Bwlch Glas, close to Snowdon’s summit, suggesting he had not plunged to his death. His waterproof jacket was missing and his clothes were in some disarray as if he had stumbled. His warrant card was found in a pocket.

One source said that the father of three was “reeking” of gin and that it appeared he had used his mobile phone shortly before death to send messages to his family. “There were loads of text messages,” he said.

The sudden death of the chief constable, described as a “copper’s copper” and a charismatic leader who led by example, has deeply shocked all but his closest colleagues to whom he had confided his problems and spoken of suicide. It was concern for his wellbeing that prompted the full-scale search on Monday morning.

Sources have suggested it was an “open secret” that he had at least one extramarital relationship with a female Metropolitan Police officer who had his child.

There are suggestions of a more recent relationship with a female recruit to the force. Rumours also abound of more lurid revelations about to be exposed in a Sunday newspaper.

The Times has learnt that rescuers had been looking in completely the wrong place for Mr Todd for more than 12 hours but it is not known whether he could have been saved if he had been found sooner. The Llanberis mountain rescue team received a call from North Wales Police at 1am on Tuesday to say they were concerned about Mr Todd’s wellbeing.

Information from a cell site analysis, carried out to pinpoint Mr Todd’s mobile telephone, was wrong and sent rescuers to the Menai Strait and to Port Dinorwic, a small town about ten miles from where he was eventually found.

The coastguard, search and rescue dogs and the North Wales Police helicopter were involved in the fruitless hunt for Mr Todd until about 1.30pm when walkers on Bwlch Glas found “personal items” belonging to him.

His body was found shortly afterwards, lying in the snow within 100 metres of the summit of Bwich Glas where it was possible for him to get a signal on his mobile telephone.

It is not yet know whether he made or received any calls while on the mountain.

Mr Todd left his home on Monday for his mountain walk fully prepared for a change in the weather. His backpack contained a change of clothing.

He parked close to the bottom of a tourist path, about a two-and-a-half-hour walk from where he was found. The vehicle was taken away yesterday to be examined. Ian Henderson, secretary of the Llanberis mountain rescue team, said that Mr Todd was found near the Snowdon mountain railway. He said: “There were no obvious signs of death.”

Greater Manchester Police have opened an online book of condolence on their website.

Mr Todd, a fitness enthusiast who worked long hours, lived in a canal-side apartment behind Piccadilly, in Manchester, during the week and spent weekends at his family home in Nottinghamshire with his wife Carolyn, 47, his daughter and twin sons. A police officer was stationed outside both properties yesterday.

Dewi Pritchard-Jones, the coroner for North Wales, revealed last night that the postmortem examination had not highlighted any obvious cause of death. Meanwhile a chemist has been asked to carry out toxicology tests to determine the presence in his body, if any, of alcohol or prescribed drugs.

A senior police source has dismissed a rumour that Mr Todd was being blackmailed over his private life.

But the source said: “Michael Todd was well known to enjoy the company of ladies. He was well liked by many but he was also a good friend and colleague to them. He was a flirty and friendly guy.”

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