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Attorneys for the U.S. Forest Service alleged Thursday that the mother of an 11-year-old boy fatally mauled by a bear in American Fork Canyon in 2007 was intoxicated the night of the attack, which could have resulted in a messy campsite that attracted the bear to its victim.
Two Utah County sheriff's deputies testified in U.S. District Court that Rebecca Ives reeked of alcohol when they arrived at an undeveloped campsite a mile above the Timpanooke Recreation Area on June 17, 2007, following a report that Ives' son, Sam, had been kidnapped from the family's tent.
Sam's body was later discovered 200 yards from the tent, and authorities determined that a black bear killed him.
Ives, of Pleasant Grove, along with Sam's father and stepfather, filed a $2 million negligence suit against the Forest Service, claiming the agency had a duty to warn the family there was a dangerous bear in the area and that it earlier had attacked a site close to where they camped. They also believe the campsite should have been closed until the bear was killed, following a report from another camper that a bear had raided coolers and batted at him through his tent in the same area, roughly 12 hours before Sam's family arrived to spend the night.
Defense attorneys argued that the Forest Service isn't liable for Sam's death, and presented their witnesses on Thursday.
Detective Melissa Stout said Ives smelled of alcohol so strongly that Stout cracked the window of her police cruiser to let in fresh air as Ives waited in the vehicle with her 5-year-old son during the search for Sam.
"My whole truck smelled like a alcoholic beverage," she said.
Stout observed garbage at the family's campsite when she arrived. Investigators also later recovered a granola bar wrapper and open can of Coke Zero where Sam slept.
Stout's testimony presented a different picture than that given by Ives, who stated the family carefully cleaned around that campsite and packed up food before they went to sleep.
Ives and Sam's father, Kevan Francis, appeared distraught during testimony that blamed the family for the attack.
Ives shook her head in disagreement when deputies testified they believed based on her demeanor that she drank more than the one beer she reported.
Utah County sheriff's Lt. Darren Gilbert said he noticed the odor of alcohol when he interviewed Ives and had trouble making sense of her story about what happened in the moments before she realized Sam was gone.
Ives spoke of Sam wrestling with a neighbor boy outside the tent, Gilbert said. He added he noticed bite marks in Sam's sleeping bag, located nearby the tent, which led authorities to suspect a bear.
Ives' attorney, Allen Young, said she could have appeared disoriented to deputies because of her terror over her missing son.
Young argued Ives was not trying to hide from deputies the fact that she had been drinking.
Ives previously testified that Sam spoke in his sleep shortly before he disappeared, asking his friend Dillon to leave him alone. She said Dillon was a friend of Sam's who often tried to keep the boy up during sleepovers and thought that Sam, in a deep sleep, at first thought his friend was teasing him and didn't realize a bear was trying to claw at him through the tent.
Young suggested trash at the site may have resulted after Ives frantically gathered items to build a fire following Sam's disappearance. Ives said she built a campfire as high as she could with hopes Sam would see it and be able to return to the tent.
Defense attorney Amy Oliver has argued that Ives knew to take precautions when camping, including to keep garbage and food in her vehicle and not around the site — especially after her family earlier received camping education about staying in bear country during a trip to Yellowstone National Park.
Closing arguments are set for Friday morning before Judge Dale Kimball. Because the bench trial is a civil matter, Kimball will issue a ruling at a later date.
Black bear attacks in Utah rare
Kevin Bunnell, a mammals program coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, testified in U.S. District Court on Thursday that the state's black bear population is estimated at approximately 2,000. He said the death of Sam Ives on June 17, 2007, is the first known fatality of a human caused by a black bear in Utah.