The body of a man killed in a car crash in the US was found a short-distance away after being dragged from the vehicle by a bear, police say.
Police in the US state of Massachusetts said they received a call about 11.30am local time Sunday from a passing trucker on Route 91 south in Hatfield, a town in Hampshire County in the US state of Massachusetts, who had just seen a partially obscured vehicle in the woods on the side of the road.
Responding troopers found a heavily damaged 2016 Honda Civic in the woods amid several trees.
A man’s body was found outside the car, and a bear was observed in the woods near the scene.
Evidence shows the bear had at some point made contact with the body.
The driver has been identified as 31-year-old Daniel Ducharme, of South Hadley, the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office said on Monday afternoon.
Preliminary investigation showed that at some point several hours before 11am, the Honda was driving south on Route 91 when, for reasons still under investigation, Ducharme lost control of the car, struck the guardrail multiple times and went off the roadway to the right.
The car then travelled down an embankment, entered the woods and struck several trees.
State police said evidence and observations at the scene suggest that Ducharme likely died as a result of the crash and was either fully or partially ejected from the car and later dragged from the vehicle by the bear. The bear left the area while first responders were at the scene.
Hatfield is a town with about 3300 residents in Hampshire County, about five miles (8km) northeast of Northampton.
The investigation into Sunday’s crash is ongoing by state police assigned to the district attorney’s office.