A Manitoba MP and local Reeve say they have been deeply impacted and saddened by the recent death of an asylum seeker.

RCMP have confirmed the body of a 57-year old woman was found along a ditch in Noyes, Minnesota, west of Highway 75 and south of the Emerson U.S/Canadian Border crossing on Friday May 26th at 3 pm.

The woman was from Ghana, and was attempting to jump the border, according to U.S Customs and Border Patrol. A preliminary autopsy report indicated the cause of death was due to hypothermia.

Emerson-Franklin Reeve Greg Janzen says it's unfortunate it had to come to this.

"The federal government can no longer just sit here and monitor. We have now lost one person, and I feel sorry for her family. This woman was trying to seek asylum, and this is not what we want to happen going forward."

Provencher MP Ted Falk said this is one of the main reasons he has been calling for the closure of the loophole within the safe third party agreement.

"Canada has a safe, legal process in place for every land, air, and water border crossing for those needing to make a refugee claim. Tragically many people are being coached to cross illegally."

Falk added he feels closing the loophole will encourage individuals to enter Canada safely at proper ports-of-entry.

"We've been worried about something like this happening earlier this year when there was still snow on the ground and during flood season with high water, but now with the nice weather and green grass we were caught of guard, and really did not see this coming," explained Janzen.

Janzen added he agrees with Falk the loophole in the third party agreement needs to be closed, and we need to continue to promote legal border crossing and not encourage asylum seekers to put their lives at risk.