Black Bear Killed Woman In CA's 1st Known Fatal Attack

DOWNIEVILLE, CA — A woman found dead in her Northern California home last year was attacked and mauled by a black bear, according to a recently completed autopsy.

Deputies discovered Patrice Miller, 71, while performing a welfare check at her home in Downieville, a small community in the Sierra Nevada about two hours northeast of Sacramento.

The Sierra County Sheriff's Office forced their way inside the home and found evidence of a bear encounter, but investigators initially believed the woman died before the animal arrived.

According to The Mountain Messenger, the full autopsy revealed Miller was mauled to death by the bear. State wildlife officials told KCRA 3 the incident was the first time on record that a black bear fatally attacked a human in California.

"It's a big deal," Steve Gonzalez, a spokesperson for the Department of Fish & Wildlife, told KCRA. "That doesn't happen in California. Normally a bear is going to stay away from you, a bear that hasn't been normalized to human behavior."

The sheriff's office said Miller's daughter told them her mother had repeated problems with bears trying to get into her house. Another bear that was a nuisance to the town tried to break into a school gym and was euthanized.

Investigators eventually secured a permit to trap and euthanize the bear suspected of killing Miller, which DNA tests later confirmed to be the culprit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.