By: David Ross
| Black bear in Canada |
Rory Nelson Wagner, 53, was reported missing when he did not return to this residence in an apartment where he had to stay overnight while on probation, according to media reports.
Wagner’s body was found in the forests south of Kamloops, about 130 yards from his 1986 Volkswagen Jetta. The car had scratches, paw prints and a dent evidence that a black bear had been in the vehicle. Authorities believe that Wagner had been dead for days and the bear also took his body out of the car.
Wagner's body was covered with plant debris, an apparent effort by the bear to keep the body as a food supply.
Regional Coroner Mark Coleman said that street drugs were found in toxicology tests of Wagner.
Wagner, Rob Wagner and his brother Gerald Beaugrand pleaded guilty to the 1993 beating death of Anthony Kohlman, a Langley, BC, man.
Kohlman had been acquitted of molesting a child related to the Wagner family and was killed shortly after the acquittal, the media reported.
Conservation officials were hunting for the bear. Officials say that the bear should be killed if found.