Authorities in Florida are investigating a bear attack after an elderly man and a dog were found dead Monday morning.
Deputies with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a bear attack in Jerome at around 7 a.m.
The 88-year-old man and the dog were killed in separate attacks near the man’s home in the area of State Road 29 and U.S. 41, investigators said.
The man, later identified as Robert Markel, and the dog were reportedly found within a couple of hundred yards.
Markel’s daughter saw the bear attack the dog and started looking for her father, who was killed “some time” earlier.
Authorities warned residents and visitors that the bear may still be roaming in the area.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission killed two bears in the area and is testing DNA to confirm their involvement in the fatal attacks.
“We do know it was a bear attack. We don’t know if it was the same bear or multiple bears,” FWC Spokesperson George Reynaud.
