Around two years ago, Craig Clouatre’s family lost their home in a house fire. This month, they lost Craig in what authorities believe was a grizzly bear attack.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I am writing this update,” said a Facebook post from Park County Sheriff Brad Bichler in Montana.
“After an extensive search this morning we have located Craig. It appears he had an encounter with a grizzly and unfortunately did not survive. We will continue to work through the afternoon to bring Craig home. Please keep his family and all those involved in your thoughts and prayers.”
Craig, 40, of Livingston, Mont., is survived by his partner and four children.
“We are raising money for a proud wonderful family of six that had a house fire in Livingston,” said a GoFundMe page set up for the family in 2020 after they lost their home. “Everyone is safe but the road ahead is going to be tough.”
The page said Clouatre was known as “Sysco Craig” and encouraged Park Country residents to donate $15,000. As of this month, the page exceeded that goal at more than $17,000. According to an Associated Press report, said he worked for commercial food companies.
Sheriff Bichler announced the search for Clouatre in a Facebook post. He said ground teams and helicopters had been working on a search and rescue mission for an overdue hiker in the Six Mile Creek area of the Absaroka Mountains, around 20 to 25 miles north of Yellowstone National Park.
“After flying thermal imaging late into the night, the search for Craig continues this morning,” Bichler said later. “We have horse teams, ground teams and overhead helicopters again today.”
Clouatre grew up in Massachusetts and moved to Montana two decades ago, his father told The Associated Press.
“He was a joy to have as a son all the way around,” David Clouatre said. “He was a good man, a good, hardworking family man.”
Clouatre often hiked in the mountains, said Anne Tanner, a friend.
She also said he was just starting to recover from the fire.
Bichler told CNN that Clouatre was hiking with a friend Wednesday in the Six Mile Creek area. They decided to split up and meet later on. However, Clouatre never showed up.
Bear attacks have occurred in the area before, but Bichler said that they usually are not fatal.
According to Field & Stream, human conflict with bears is on the rise in the continental U.S. The outlet compiled a list of attacks from last year, including several brown bear – or grizzly bear – attacks.
Grizzlies are described by the North American Bear Center as “bears that can be found in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories; and the US states of Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, and Montana,” and the Kodiak grizzly can be up to 10-ft. tall and weigh over 1,000 pounds.
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