A 60-year-old Missouri man died in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest in Arkansas died recently after being mauled. Local authorities believe a bear was responsible.

The victim’s son reported his father missing on Thursday and said the victim, unnamed by authorities, was camped out at the Sam’s Throne area of the national forest and had not called in a couple of days, the Newton County Sheriff’s Office said in a release.

Investigators found the victim’s car and campsite, along with signs of a struggle and drag marks leading from the man’s campsite into the woods. The victim was found a few yards away from the campsite, dead from wounds consistent with an attack from a carnivore. 

A subsequent autopsy of the victim confirmed he was mauled to death, and the sheriff’s office thinks a young male bear was responsible, though that cannot be confirmed until DNA results come back. The man had previously sent his family a picture of a bear he saw in the camp on Tuesday.

“We have an approximate size and estimated weight of the bear we believe is responsible and it has some identifying markings…. There is a lot of speculation circulating about the bear and I can say that the one believed to have attacked the man was not a large bear. We believe it to be a juvenile male that was likely weaned and kicked off its mother this year,” Newton County Sheriff Glen Wheeler said in a subsequent release.

The Sam’s Throne area and surrounding areas are closed while the search for the bear responsible continues. 

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.