Woman dead in California was victim of state's first known fatal black bear attack
A 71-year-old woman found dead in her small mountain community in the Sierra Nevada was the victim of California’s first-ever known fatal black bear attack, wildlife officials said this week.
A 71-year-old woman found dead in her small mountain community in the Sierra Nevada was the victim of California’s first-ever known fatal black bear attack, wildlife officials said this week.
When Patrice Miller was found dead in Downieville in November, the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office said it believed a bear went into the woman's home after she died. But an autopsy recently confirmed the bear killed her, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
“This incident is the first known, documented fatal attack by a black bear in California history,” the department said in a statement.
Miller was found Nov. 8 in Downieville, which has a population of around 290 and is about 50 miles northwest of Lake Tahoe, after sheriff’s deputies conducted a welfare check.
A preliminary investigation indicated she died before the bear went to the home, the sheriff’s office said at the time.
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