The Dead Rotten Corpse of Michael Cavallari, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler's brother-in-law and the brother of reality TV personality Kristin Cavallari, found a short distance from his abandoned car

SALT LAKE CITY -- A body believed to be that of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler's brother-in-law was discovered in a steep and rocky area in an isolated part of southern Utah, almost two weeks after his car was found abandoned nearby, authorities said Thursday.

The remains that investigators think are Michael Cavallari, the brother of reality TV personality Kristin Cavallari, were found Thursday morning, Grand County Sheriff Steven White said.

The body was sent to the Utah medical examiner to confirm the identity and determine the cause of death, a process that could take as long as two months, White said.

The body was found near the bottom of a steep hillside filled with boulders, about 3 miles northwest of where Michael Cavallari's car was discovered the morning of Nov. 27, White said.

There were no bullet holes, stab wounds or other signs of foul play. It's now up to the medical examiner to determine how he died, with toxicology reports certain to play a factor, White said.

The frigid temperatures in the area might have been a factor, White said. Temperatures in the area were at or below freezing every night since the car was found up against a small embankment.

"I don't know what his mental state might have been, with possible hypothermia," White said.

Kristin Cavallari wrote in an Instagram post Thursday that her "heart is in a million pieces." She posted a picture of the two of them when they were small children and wrote, "I could always count on you to make me laugh. You had such a good heart and will be forever missed."

Authorities had been searching for Michael Cavallari since his car, a 2014 Honda Civic, was found with the engine running and air bag deployed the day after Thanksgiving off a dirt road some 200 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Evidence shows that the car hit a couple of big rocks and washes, probably causing the air bag to deploy, White said. Michael Cavallari's cellphone and laptop were inside the car.

Investigators believed he was passing through Utah but didn't know where he was headed or what he was doing in the state.

Michael Cavallari, 30, was arrested in Southern California on an allegation of making threats four days before his car was found. He was bailed out of jail Nov. 25. Two days later, a rancher discovered the vehicle near a dirt road about 5 miles from Interstate 70.

Kristin Cavallari rose to fame in the mid-2000s when she appeared in the MTV reality series "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills." She is married to Cutler, and the couple has three children together.