By: Sheriff Glenn Wheeler

Newton County Sheriff's Office

870-446-5124   gwheeler@newtoncountysheriff.org

October 5th, 2025        

            Newton County Sheriff Glenn Wheeler said a bear has been killed that is believed to be responsible for the fatal attack on a Springfield, Missouri man.

On Sunday, October 5, 2025, a bear was caught on cellular camera in Sam's Throne Campground, just a few yards from where the victim was attacked a few days earlier. Arkansas Game and Fish personnel, along with personnel from the Newton County Sheriff's Office, looked at the photos and determined the bear appeared to be the same bear photographed by the victim, and encountered by another man at a roadside overlook just outside the campground in September.

Local hunters were called and brought hounds to where the bear was photographed. The dogs began trailing the bear, treeing it shortly afterward. Sheriff Wheeler and an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Employee accompanied the hunters in pursuing the bear. After the bear was treed by the dogs, the hunters, Sheriff Wheeler and Arkansas Game and Fish personnel were able to get a better look at the bear and determine there was an extremely high probability it was the same bear.

As soon as the bear was brought out of the area, it was transported to Little Rock so officials can perform a necropsy and begin other testing on the bear, including attempting to obtain DNA samples to match to the victim.

Sheriff Glenn Wheeler said, "I feel extremely confident this is the bear we have photographs of from the scene of the attack. We knew the bear in the photos was a male and this one is too. It matches the size of the photographed bear and has the same facial colorations. Not to mention it was back in the same area where the attack happened. That area is so heavily used by humans that most bears will avoid it. To be 100 percent certain, we will have to wait on possible DNA matches, but all indications are that this is the bear responsible for the fatal attack. This is a relief to me and the community, and I thank God for this outcome. This was a dangerous bear."

Sam's Throne Campground and the surrounding area continue to be closed as there are still traps and other equipment in the area. It will remain closed pending DNA results to be certain the threat is gone.

 

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