MT Officials Kill Grizzly Likely Involved in Tuesday’s Attack
On Friday, July 9, the Powell County Sheriff's Office provided an update regarding the search for a male grizzly bear responsible for attacking and killing a woman early Tuesday morning at a campsite near Ovando, Montana. The victim has been identified as 65-year-old Leah Davis Lokan, of Chico, California.
Officials with the Powell County Sheriff's Office and Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks have received multiple reports of bear sightings since the attack. On Thursday night, The Powell County Sheriff's Office received a call about a resident who came home and found her door ripped off and the presence of large claws marks. Early Friday morning, a large male grizzly bear was shot and killed less than two miles from Ovando.
The bear was killed at the scene of a second chicken coop raid that was very similar in nature to the one that happened in Ovando the night of the fatal attack.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials believe this is the same bear but confirming DNA analysis will take a few days.
Details surrounding the circumstances of the attack indicate the bear entered the town of Ovando, Montana early Tuesday morning and was seen in an area near the post office at about 3:00 a.m. The victim was sleeping in a tent, and another couple in her party was in another tent nearby.
The bear initially woke the campers but then ran away. The three campers removed food from their tents, secured it, and went back to bed.
The bear was captured by a video camera at a business less than a block away at about 3:15 a.m.
At about 3:30 a.m. the two people in the tent adjacent to the victim were awakened by sounds of the attack. They exited the tent and sprayed the bear with bear spray. The bear left the area, leading officials on a multi-day search.
The bear pulled the victim from the tent during the attack.