BANFF — Mounties say a hunter who had been missing in southern Alberta’s Kananaskis Country was found dead Monday after a fatal bear attack.
RCMP would not confirm the identity of the hunter but media reports said he was Rick Cross, a 54-year-old from Calgary who was reported missing by his family after he did not return from a sheep hunting trip near PickleJar Lakes on the weekend.
RCMP said a ground and air search was begun for the hunter on Sunday.
“Evidence was located suggesting that the hunter had been injured at a location approximately four kilometres east from the PickleJar day use area parking lot on Highway 40,” RCMP said in a news release.
“Search teams also encountered a female grizzly bear and cub in the immediate area.”
The search resumed Monday morning, when teams found the man’s remains in the same area.
“The hunter had suffered obvious trauma consistent with a bear attack and is believed to have died from those injuries,” said the release. “The hunter was alone at the time of the incident.”
Meanwhile, Mounties said snow in the Alberta Rockies was hampering the search for a hiker who has not been seen for a week.
RCMP said Ralph Greenaway, 40, told friends on Sept. 2 that he was going to the Mount Rundle area in Banff for the day.
Police found his vehicle in the area, but there was no sign of Greenaway, who’s described as an avid outdoorsman.