Juvenile bear killed after returning to site of deadly mauling, Arkansas cops say
A bear believed to have fatally mauled a man camping in the Ozarks in Arkansas has been killed, according to authorities.
The bear was caught on camera Oct. 5 in Sam’s Throne Campground a few yards from where the victim — a Springfield, Missouri, man — was attacked days earlier, according to a news release from the Newton County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities said they compared that photo to one taken by the victim and sent to his family two days before his body was found, and determined it “appeared to be the same bear” based on size and facial colors.
Local hunters and hounds were called in to assist Newton County Sheriff Glenn Wheeler and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission track the bear, the sheriff’s office said.
After locating it, the hounds chased it up a tree, where authorities were able to get a better look at it and determine the probability of it being the same bear was “extremely high,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities won’t be able to confirm it’s the same until a necropsy and additional tests are completed, including trying to obtain DNA samples from the bear that match the victim, according to the release.
The man’s death has been ruled as an “animal mauling,” according to the sheriff’s office. The man’s identity has not been released.
“This is a relief to me and the community, and I thank God for this outcome,” Wheeler said in the release. “This was a dangerous bear.”
The bear is believed to have been a juvenile, weaned off its mother this year, authorities said, adding that it “was not a large bear.”
Authorities said Sam’s Throne Campground and the surrounding area “will remain closed pending DNA results to be certain the threat is gone.”
Son’s concern leads to victim’s body
The Newton County Sheriff’s Office was contacted Oct. 2 by the vicitim’s son after he didn’t hear from his father in days, McClatchy News previously reported.
Authorities performing a welfare check at the campsite found evidence of a struggle and drag marks into the woods, which led to the man’s body.
The victim sent his family photos of a bear in his campsite two days prior, authorities said.
It was the Arkansas’s second fatal bear attack in a month following a period of 25 years with no reported attacks, McClatchy News previously reported.
This story was originally published October 6, 2025 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Juvenile bear killed after returning to site of deadly mauling, Arkansas cops say."
