Free Republic

A Missouri man was found dead from a likely bear attack this week, just two days after he sent photos to his family of a bear at his campsite in Arkansas, according to officials. Police found the 60-year-old man’s body several hundred yards from his campsite near Mt. Judea, Arkansas, on Thursday. The area showed signs of a struggle and had drag marks away from the camp. The man's son had asked for a welfare check because his dad hadn’t checked in for a couple of days since sending the photos. His body has "extensive" injuries "consistent with those expected...

A Boy Scout troop leader was mauled by a bear after he and three Scouts stumbled upon the animal in northern New Jersey on Sunday, the Rockaway Township Police Department said. The three Scouts accompanying him were unharmed, officials said. The Boy Scout leader, Christopher Petronino, took the three Scouts to a cave at Split Rock Reservoir in Morris County, which is about 25 miles west of New York City. The 50-year-old had known about the cave since the 1980s but had never witnessed a bear using it before, according to CNN affiliate WCBS. When Petronino entered the cave Sunday...