A final investigative report into the death of a Florida man who was savagely killed by a black bear reads like a horror movie script, providing harrowing new details of last year's fatal attack on the 89-year-old victim.
Robert Markel was enjoying a cigarette on his front lawn last year before he was killed in gruesome fashion by a 257-pound predatory black bear. Reports compiled by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and published by Smoking Gun detail the hideous last moments of Markel.
The publication reports how Markel's daughter Sue Story, 66, initially couldn't locate her dad in the early hours of May 5 the morning after the attack when she checked his trailer. Following a trail of blood, it did not take investigators long to locate the old man's body under a forest canopy.
The bear had clawed its way through the Florida property. It appeared that Markel's corpse had been dragged into the woods, with authorities finding his fatal wounds consistent with predation by a black bear as the skin was torn from his flesh and the bear fed heavily on the face, neck, chest, groin and arms.
Investigators found Markel's trailer completely trashed by the bear, who had knocked over the old man's dinner – baked beans – off the hob. Markel hadn't heard any of the commotion because he was hard of hearing.
Upon departing the trailer the bear appeared suddenly to Robert who sat in his chair lighting a cigarette. Startled, Markel triggered the bear's predatory attack response as he attempted to stand and run. The bear then delivered a powerful blow or bite to the neck killing him, investigators concluded.
Investigators tracked down the killer animal and euthanised it days after the horrific incident. The 15-year-old animal's stomach contained hair, human remains, plastic, cigarette butts, and grapes.
When Story had checked on her dad the morning after his death she encountered the bear killing their pet dog too.
