TRIMBLE, Colo. (KDVR) – Authorities have identified a 39-year-old woman killed in a bear attack Friday night as Laney Malavolta.
Her cause of death has been ruled as a penetrating wound to the neck and the manner of death was an accident.
When Malavolta’s boyfriend found her body around 9:30 p.m. after she went walking with her two dogs, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officers found signs of consumption on the body and an abundance of bear scat and hair at the scene.
CPW officers and a U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services dog team assisted with La Plata County deputies to search the area.
The dogs found a female black bear with two cubs nearby. The bears were euthanized and taken to CPW’s Wildlife Health Lab in Fort Collins for a necropsy.
Human remains were found in two of the three black bears euthanized.
Malavolta’s final autopsy report will be complete in 6 to 7 weeks.