Bear Drags Boy From Tent, Kills — Trackers Slay Animal After ‘Rare’ Utah Attack

By Associated Press

AMERICAN FORK, Utah – An 11-year-old boy was dragged screaming from his family’s tent and killed by a black bear during a Father’s Day outing in the Utah wilderness.

The boy, his mother, stepfather and a 6-year-old brother were sleeping in a large tent Sunday night in American Fork Canyon, about 30 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, when the stepfather heard a scream.

The boy and his sleeping bag were gone. His body was found about 400 yards away, said Lt. Dennis Harris of the Utah County sheriff’s office.

Authorities said the bear, a male possibly 300 pounds, probably was the same one that was snooping around a different tent in the same area before dawn Sunday. Wildlife officers shot a black bear Monday and flew its remains out of the Wasatch Mountains for tests to confirm that it was responsible for the fatal mauling.

Authorities said the death was Utah’s first fatal attack on a human by a black bear.

“Truly a tragic event,” said Jim Karpowitz, director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. “Events of this type are extremely rare in Utah.”

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