It appears that the 2 campers who died in a grizzly bear assault in Canada’s Banff National Park made one final determined try and get assist.
Doug Inglis and his longtime accomplice Jenny Gusse, each 62, have been “highly, highly experienced” backcountry campers, Doug Inglis’ uncle Colin instructed CBC News Tuesday. The couple had been updating him by way of textual content messages all through their five-day journey.
Colin Inglis instructed the Canadian outlet the couple was ready to do that because of a Garmin inReach, a two-way satellite tv for pc communicator with GPS that enables customers to textual content and ship SOS messages in distant areas.
Colin Inglis stated on the day of his nephew’s and Gusse’s deaths, he obtained a message that the 2 had not reached their last vacation spot for the day, however have been protected and establishing camp.
“They were probably making dinner and they were letting us know that they were OK,” he stated.
But later that evening, Colin Inglis stated he obtained a distressing SOS from the inReach.
“The message said, ‘Bear attack bad,’” Inglis stated.
viktor davare / 500px by way of Getty Images
Colin Inglis additionally spoke about what it felt wish to obtain this sort of message.
“That night was a start, obviously, of what’s continuing to be a grieving process. You have that notification, you know that something bad is happening. You don’t have a lot of information,” he stated.
Park officers additionally obtained an alert from the inReach of a bear assault round 8 p.m. Friday close to the park’s Red Deer River Valley. By the time assist arrived by floor at 1 a.m. Saturday morning, Doug Inglis, Gusse and the couple’s canine have been discovered lifeless, and a bear was noticed close by.
“The response team arrived on-site at 1 a.m. and discovered two deceased individuals,” Banff National Park stated in a statement on its Facebook web page. “While in the area, the response team encountered a grizzly bear that displayed aggressive behaviour, leading Parks Canada staff to euthanize the bear on-site to ensure public safety.”
Colin Inglis instructed the CBC he believes the couple — who lived in Lethbridge, Alberta, and had been collectively since their college years — have been sadly within the “wrong place at the wrong time.”
“They are a couple that loved each other and loved the outdoors,” he stated of the couple, who would camp no less than twice a 12 months. “And they were highly, highly experienced in being out back, whether it be serious treks or canoeing, whitewater canoeing in the North country.”
Colin Inglis stated the pair was doubtless of their tent with their canine in the course of the time of the assault, being that they’d a behavior of going into their tent to learn after it bought darkish.
Yet, the park’s group discovered all three our bodies exterior with their tent crushed and ereaders inside. Colin Inglis additionally stated the rescue group additionally discovered an empty bear spray canister and indicators they’d tried to scare the bear off.
“There was a struggle and the struggle didn’t stay in one place,” he stated.
