By: News Intern Katherine Jones
UPDATE (09/05): Canadian authorities released the name yesterday of the Minnesota woman who was killed by a black bear on a remote island on Rainy Lake, Catherine Sweatt-Mueller of Maple Plain.
INTERNATIONAL FALLS- Authorities say a woman staying on an island in a lake that straddles the border between Minnesota and Ontario, Canada was killed by a black bear in what experts say is an extremely rare attack.
The 62-year-old woman was staying at a remote family cabin on Red Pine Island in Rainy Lake. The island, in Canadian waters, is about 10 miles northeast of International Falls.
The Star Tribune reports Ontario Provincial Police Constable Jim Davis says the woman, who was staying with her parents from Minnesota, went outside when she heard her two dogs barking Sunday evening and never returned. Davis says the parents called police who shot the bear after finding it standing over the woman’s body.
Minnesota wildlife biologist Andy Tri says a predatory attack by a black bear is “beyond extremely rare.”
