TWRA is assisting the Blount County Sheriff’s Office with an investigation involving human remains located with black bears present in the area. Investigators say they do not believe that bears caused the death of the victim.
Last Friday evening, the body of 46-year-old Spence Andrew Webb was found by a member of the Blount County Special Operations Response Team in a heavily wooded area off Fence Rail Gap Road.
in Walland. Mr. Webb had been missing since April 12 and an unoccupied truck that he had been driving had been located in the area.
Investigators say that an adult black bear was observed in the area of the remains of Mr. Webb and that the carcass of another subadult black bear was also found near the body. Out of an abundance of caution, the adult bear was trapped and euthanized. The carcasses of both bears have been delivered to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for a necropsy to determine if they had been consuming the human remains.
TWRA Black Bear Coordinator Dan Gibbs said, “A bear that has scavenged human remains may be a future inherent danger to public safety. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, the adult bear was euthanized.”