Bear kills hiker, mauls searcher

The same brown bear who killed a hiker in Alaska has attacked a volunteer who was looking for him, investigators believe.

Michael Soltis was found dead Wednesday in the Eagle River area near Anchorage, two days after he went missing. The unidentified searcher was mauled nearby.

"We believe the bear that attacked the volunteer was the one that attacked and killed the missing man," police spokesman M.J. Thim said.

Soltis' cousin Wendi Yohman was with the male volunteer when the bear attacked, and said he saved her life by getting between her and the bear.

"I've never been so scared in my life," Yohman told the Anchorage Daily News.

The 44-year-old Soltis' body was found near the end of a mountainous road filled with homes.

Authorities believe the bear was protecting the body when it attacked the male searcher, who was hospitalized but is expected to survive. However, other possibilities are not being ruled out.

"A person could have tripped and fell or had a medical condition," Alaska Fish and Game spokesman Ken Marsh said. "Until a full investigation and medical examination is done, I don't know that we can say necessarily, for sure, 100%, the cause of death."

Soltis was last heard from Monday, according to the Anchorage Daily News.