This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Officials from Wyoming's Game and Fish Department confirmed late Monday that a 31-year-old Utah man had been killed by a bear.
The body of Adam Thomas Stewart, 31, was found adjacent to two deer carcasses that bears had been feeding on in Bridger-Teton National Forest.
A release from the Wyoming wildlife agency said Fremont County Coroner Ed McAuslan "indicated the pathologist's preliminary report stated the individual suffered blunt force trauma from a probable bear bite."
Evidence collected at the site is being analyzed to try to determine if the bear that attacked Stewart was a grizzly or a black bear.
Fremont County Undersheriff Ryan Lee said Stewart, a native of Virgin, was in a remote area checking on a research plot earlier this month. He failed to return, prompting a search that started Sept. 8.
His body was found last Friday between his campsite and the research plot.
The Daily Ranger newspaper in Fremont County reported that Stewart was found in the Wind River Mountains near Dubois. Stewart had been working for Idaho-based Nature's Capital doing research on vegetation for the U.S. Forest Service.
Nature's Capital provides ecological assessment services for state and federal agencies, private corporations and nonprofit conservation interests, according to the company website.
The newspaper said Stewart's body was located about 3 miles north of a campsite near Brooks Lake. His family was notified Saturday.
"We will continue to do everything within our means to assist in the investigation and to ensure public safety," said Lander-based Regional Wildlife supervisor Jason Hunter. "We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victim."
Hunter said there are high densities of grizzly and black bears in the drainage where the body was found and there were tracks and signs of multiple bears in close proximity to the remains.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.