A black bear mauled and killed a 16-year-old who was participating in an Alaska mountain race, Alaska State Troopers and a race official said.
The boy had texted a family member waiting at the finish line that he was being chased by a bear, reports the Alaska Dispatch News.
"The bear was remaining in the area where the young man was laying", Tom Crockett, a park ranger, told the Alaska Dispatch News.
As of Sunday night, Rangers and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game were still looking for the wounded animal to capture and kill it. A team of runners, police, rangers, and race officials found his body and the bear believed to be responsible. Luckily, no one was injured.
The teenager was a participant in the juniors division of the Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb race between Anchorage and Girdwood on Sunday, the Alaska Dispatch News said.
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Brad Precosky, the director of the popular three-mile, 250-person race, said that the mountain running community was stunned by the fatal mauling. This is the limit for the juniors' race and is approximately halfway up the mountain.
"This is the worst thing that could happen", he said. "He was very shaken and had received this communication".
After and extended search, the boy's body was eventually located off the main trail, about a mile up the path. "The bear came by me, maybe about 10 feet away, and then I saw him".
"There was a brown bear sighting, there was a black bear with cubs sighting", Precosky said. "You can't predict which bear is going to be predatory".
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