Bear Kills Missouri Man Who Was Camping in the Arkansas Ozarks

A bear killed a 60-year-old man near his campsite in the Arkansas Ozarks. (Photo by Brundle Fly)

A Missouri man who was camping in the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas was killed by a bear that he’d photographed near his campsite earlier that day.

According to BBC, after not hearing from their 60-year-old father during his trip to Sam’s Throne Campground for a couple of days, his children reached out to police in Newton County.

A statement from the sheriff’s office said police found the man’s body several yards outside the campsite and that it appeared to have injuries inflicted by a large carnivore.

Sheriff Glenn Wheeler said in a statement that the bear, believed to have attacked the man, was killed after local hunters treed it using hounds.

A necropsy and other testing will be performed on the bear. An attempt to obtain DNA samples to match the victim will also be done.

"To be 100% certain, we will have to wait on possible DNA matches, but all indications are that this is the bear responsible for the fatal attack," Wheeler said.

The man had sent his family photos of a bear in his campsite before the attack. The photos of the young male bear matched the appearance of the bear that was killed.