A grizzly bear roams near Beaver Lake on July 6, 2011, in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart, File)
A woman was found dead in Montana on Saturday after coming into contact with a grizzly bear on a trail west of Yellowstone National Park.
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said in a statement on Sunday that the woman was found deceased on a trail near West Yellowstone, a Montana town nestled in the Custer Gallatin National Forest just west of Yellowstone National Park.
They said the woman was found deceased “following an apparent bear encounter” based on what investigators determined were grizzly bear tracks at the scene. The department said the investigation into the grizzly attack was ongoing.
Rangers issued an emergency closure of the area where the woman was found, which is popular with hikers.
Though the department's statement said the death appeared to have followed the woman's interaction with the bear, it did not confirm her cause of death.
The attack comes amid a rise in Montana's grizzly bear population and an increase in sightings.
The department put out a news release last week warning visitors that staff had confirmed grizzly bear sightings throughout the state, “particularly in areas between the Northern Continental Divide and the Great Yellowstone ecosystems.”
They implored those camping and visiting parks to carry bear spray, store their food while outside and tend to their garbage.
Police on Wednesday evening arrested a man accused of opening fire inside the waiting room of an Atlanta medical practice, killing one woman and wounding four others earlier in the day.
Cheddar's own Shannon LaNier gets a taste of old-school dining with a visit to Lexington Candy Shop, an Upper East Side establishment known for egg creams, "butter burgers," and homemade soda.
The Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital on Tuesday opened in the Coney Island neighborhood of New York City. The facility, built with $923 million in FEMA funds, is the first new public hospital to open in the city in more than 40 years.
A four-day manhunt in Texas for a gunman accused of killing five neighbors ended Tuesday when authorities, acting on a tip, said they found the suspect hiding underneath a pile of laundry in the closet of a house.
Vermont on Tuesday became the first state in the country to change its medically assisted suicide law to allow terminally ill people from out of state to take advantage of it to end their lives.
