By Tim Petruk
The coroner and RCMP are investigating a bizarre and grisly find just south of Kamloops on the night of Wednesday, May 30.
Investigators believe a bear pulled a dead body from a car in a remote area off Long Lake Road, dug a hole in the ground and buried the corpse.
“The person actually probably overdosed on drugs and a black bear came along and dragged him out of the car,” said Kamloops Rural RCMP Cpl. Andre Mathieu of the incident near Knutsford.
“The black bear kind of dug a shallow hole and put the body in. This poor guy ended up buried by the black bear.”
Mathieu said the death was likely initially a suicide.
Investigators believe the man was dead before the bear came along.
“I would say so,” he said. “But, we can’t say for sure right now.”
According to Mathieu, hunters in the area first spotted the car last night. They then saw a mound of dirt nearby, along with the body in the shallow hole the bear had dug.
Mathieu said the black bear was still in the area, “protecting” the body.
Mathieu has heard of bears burying carcasses- usually deer – to help speed up the decomposition process.
Mathieu said the next step is to get a positive identification on the body, then notify the man’s next of kin.
As for the bear, Mathieu wasn’t able to say whether it had been located.
“I know conservation was out there,” he said.
“But, I don’t know what they found.”
