70-year-old Park Ridge man killed by grizzly bear in Wyoming

A 70-year-old Park Ridge man was killed by a grizzly bear in the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, officials from the Park County, Wyoming sheriff's office said.

Erwin Frank Evert was mauled by the bear sometime before 7 p.m. June 17 in the Kitty Creek Drainage, about 10 miles outside of Yellowstone National Park, sheriff's officials said.

Evert was reported missing by his wife to members of the U.S. Geological Survey's Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team. Evert's wife had been working on the team in the Kitty Creek Drainage area to snare grizzly bears for research.

The team had captured a large grizzly, tranquilized the bear for research purposes, put a radio collar on it, and then packed up their equipment and left the area.

But after Evert was reported missing, team members returned to the capture sight and found Evert dead. Officials believe Evert wandered into the capture area at some point after the bear awoke and was fatally wounded.

With the aid of the electronic tracking device, the bear involved in the attack was found and killed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agents, officials said.