Glacier National Park officials said Thursday that the body of a missing hiker was found with injuries that suggest a bear attacked him.
Rangers in the Montana park found the body at noon Wednesday, about 50 feet away from a trail in a wooded area surrounded by fallen timber, officials said.
They didn’t specify the exact fatal wounds that the man suffered, but did say they were “consistent with those sustained by a bear encounter.”
The man’s identity is being officially held until three days after his next of kin are notified.
On Tuesday, the park put out a release regarding Anthony Pollio, a 33-year-old from the greater Miami area who went missing and was last seen Sunday.
While the investigation continues, officials have closed off the trails in the area where the body was found.
If officials confirm that the man was killed by a bear, it will be the first time a bear has injured someone in Glacier National Park since last August and the first time a bear has killed someone there since 1998.
Both prior incidents are attributed to grizzlies, but Glacier National Park also hosts a black bear population.
