Indiana DNR probes report that mountain lion killed pet cat

NASHVILLE, Ind. (AP) - State wildlife officials are investigating a southern Indiana family's report that a mountain lion killed their pet cat.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says it received a report March 11 that an animal, possibly a mountain lion, attacked and killed a domestic cat in Brown County.

DNR staffers collected the pet's carcass and are examining it. The agency says a search of the reported attack site found no tracks associated with a mountain lion.

James Halcomb of Nashville tells WXIN-TV the predator wasn't a bobcat but an "extremely fast, large brown cat, long tail" that was the size of a deer.

The DNR says mountain lions vanished in Indiana by the late 1800s, but there have been confirmed sightings in 2009 in Clay County and 2010 in Greene County.