Man's body dragged into woods by bear after fatal car crash in Massachusetts

A bear dragged the body of a Massachusetts man into a forest after he was killed in a car crash, authorities said.

After a motorist spotted the crashed car in the woods and called the state police just after 11 a.m. Sunday, first responders found victim Daniel Ducharme, 31, of South Hadley.

The bear fled once the scene was disturbed, said Massachusetts State Police spokesperson Dave Procopio, according to local news site WCVB-TV.

Mr. Ducharme was traveling south on I-91 when he lost control of his 2016 Honda Civic, hit the guardrail repeatedly, slid down an embankment and struck multiple trees.

Evidence suggested that, while the bear had at some point interacted with the corpse, Mr. Ducharme had  been partially ejected from the vehicle and died as a result of the crash, Mr. Procopio told the Associated Press.

There were no passengers in the car when it crashed. An investigation is ongoing.

State environmental officials euthanized a bear in Hatfield on Monday, although they did not specify whether it was the bear found near the crash site.

“The Massachusetts Environmental Police and MassWildlife euthanized a bear in Hatfield. There is no threat to public safety,” the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs told WGGB-TV.