Colorado Woman Likely Killed by Bear While Walking Her Dogs

A Colorado woman out for a walk with her two dogs in Durango was likely killed by a black bear last week.

"This is a tragic event and a sad reminder that bears are wild and potentially dangerous," Colorado Parks and Wildlife Southwest Region manager Cory Chick said in a statement.

CBS News reports the 39-year-old woman told her boyfriend she was going out for a walk with her dogs the morning of Friday, April 30. The boyfriend told the La Plata County Sheriff's Office that when he returned to their home that evening, his girlfriend was not there but the two dogs were. When he went out to search for her, he found her body near a local highway and called 911.

At the scene CPW wildlife officers and La Plata County Sheriff's deputies discovered signs of consumption on the woman's body and bear scat and hair.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services conducted a search with dogs and discovered a female black bear with two young bears nearby. All three bears have been euthanized and have been taken to CPW's Wildlife Health Lab for a necropsy.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the bears were removed for public safety," Chick said. "We ask the public to report any encounter with an aggressive bear to CPW."

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