(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources ended a two-week effort to trap a black bear involved in a Barron County attack after not locating the bear.

The DNR, Barron County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Department of Agriculture – Wildlife Services had game cameras and live traps on the property and trapped and released two male black bears, two yearling bears and two sows that were determined to be unrelated to the incident.

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The black bear allegedly attacked 69-year-old Karen Frye in her backyard in Comstock on the early afternoon on July 12.

“After two weeks of round-the-clock surveillance on the property and no additional signs of the sow involved, our current options are exhausted,” said Randy Johnson, DNR large carnivore specialist.

Officers found a cub in a tree after the attack, which they say indicate the attack involved a sow and cub, but did not find the bear.

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The DNR also found a dead female black bear nearly a mile away from the attack that had been hit by a car. But there was no evidence it was the same bear.

The DNR said there are an estimated 24,000 bear in the state and that “black bears are generally secretive, not aggressive and tend to avoid humans as much as possible but bears are sometimes known to be aggressive if cubs are present and feel threatened.”