Sierra Blogging Post Archives

An autopsy has concluded that a runner in Alaska was killed by wolves while running about 500 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Candice Berner's body was found after snowmobilers came across a set of footprints, a pair of gloves and drag marks that led into the woods. The coroner determined Berner had been attacked by wolves and ruled out other causes of death, although there's no way to know whether she was injured before the attack or if she was stalked and attacked while running.


Locals living near the area where Candice Berner was killed say wolves have been coming dangerously close to the village lately and they're not surprised by the attack. They'd even been sending men out to hunt them. "We approached them last night, but we ended up losing them," Fred Shangin, 32, who is among the hunters. "They were right by the village again. They started running, we started chasing them but they came up to a creek we couldn't get across."

Candice Berner, a 32-year-old runner and schoolteacher from Pennsylvania, had been teaching and traveling in Alaska. "She's a person of adventure. She likes travel," said her father, Bob Berner. "She wanted to see Alaska, and she thought this would be a good way to do that."

Wolf attacks on humans are rare. There were only between 20-30 wolf attacks in the 20th century total - and only 3 of those were fatal because the wolves were rabid. You're much more likely to become involved in a confrontation with a bear - or another person. Still, that's pretty scary.