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A woman was killed during a camping trip in Montana after a bear she scared off earlier returned and attacked her in her sleep, a new report by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee found.
Leah Davis Lokan, a 65-year-old cyclist and retired nurse from California, was killed by the bear while camping in Ovando, Montana, in the early hours of July 6, 2021.
The 26-page report, which was published earlier this month, found that Lokan had chased away the bear one hour before it returned and killed her in her tent.
Lokan, who was traveling with her sister, was sleeping alone in her tent behind a museum when the attack happened, the report said.
Her sister was staying in a nearby hotel, but Lokan was tenting next to a couple named Joe and Kim Cole, the report said.
At approximately 3 a.m., Lokan woke up when a 417-pound bear "huffed" at her head from outside of her tent, the report said. She quickly alerted the Coles, who helped her scare the bear off by making loud noises, the report said.
Lokan immediately moved food out of her tent and armed herself with a can of bear spray, the report found.
The Coles then asked her if she wanted to stay in a hotel room for the night but she declined the offer and went back to sleep, the report said.
One hour later, at around 4 a.m., the couple was awoken again by a noise that sounded like Lokan was being attacked, although she was not making noise at this point, the report said.
Jay Cole told officials he saw the dark shape of the bear "pouncing up and down" on Lokan and her tent, as he tried to scare it away, per the report.
The bear broke Lokan's neck and severed her spine, and she was killed instantly, an autopsy cited in the report found. The bear did not attack anyone else and ran away, the report said.
DNA tests confirmed that the same grizzly bear also raided a chicken coop hours after the attack. The same bear, which was four to seven years old, was killed by officials several days later, the report said.
The report also included an image captured by a remote camera that shows a bear which officials believe to be the one involved in the attack.