Investigators from the Park County Search and Rescue team discovered the 40-year-old’s remains near Yellowstone National Park.
A father-of-four died during a trek in a Montana national park due to a suspected grizzly bear attack.
On Wednesday, September 25, the Park County Search and Rescue team discovered the remains of Craig Clouatre, 40, near Yellowstone National Park. Clouatre was reported missing after going on a stroll in Paradise Valley’s Six Mile Creek area on Monday, September 23. Park County Sheriff Brad Bichler verified the hiker’s death in a statement issued Thursday, September 26. Clouatre leaves behind his wife, Jamie, and their four children. As of publishing, the family’s GoFundMe page had raised approximately $59,000.
“I write this update with a sorrowful heart. After a thorough search this morning, we found Craig,” Bichler stated. “It appears that he was killed by a grizzly bear. “Please keep his family and everyone involved in your thoughts and prayers,” he added.
After Clouatre failed to return after trekking on Wednesday morning, search teams, assisted by aircraft, explored the area. According to The Livingston Enterprise, he went with a companion to hunt for antlers, but the two separated at some point. “They split up later that morning. When the other man returned to their vehicle and his friend was not present, he contacted us, and we began searching Wednesday night,” Bichler said.
The Absaroka Mountains’ Six Mile Creek area, located about 30 miles south of Livingston, Montana, was the focus of search efforts. “We’re fortunate to have a group of experienced volunteers on our SAR [Search and Rescue] team and we’re thankful for the folks who have come to help,” Bichler told the Chicago Tribune. The Park County Sheriff later announced in a social media post that they were working to return Clouatre’s body to his family by Friday.
Clouatre’s father, David, told the Associated Press that his son grew up in Massachusetts and moved to Montana more than 20 years ago. He met his future wife Jamie there, and the two eventually settled down. “He was a joy to have as a son all the way around,” the distraught father added. “He was a good man, a good, hardworking family man.”
Meanwhile, Clouatre’s widow Jamie lamented on Facebook that she will need to “relearn how to be and who I am… for our kids.” She left a message: “I don’t have many words really right now and I’m not reaching back out to everyone who has reached out to me…but I appreciate every one of the sentiments and memories of the most amazing person I have ever known, my husband.” The bereaved wife stated, “I loved him with every fiber of my being….he was a vital part of me and our children, and it will be a struggle for the rest of our lives.” To say we’re broken is an understatement. I have to relearn how to be myself while remaining strong for our children. There is no easy way to say it; this is not fair, and they do not deserve it.
“The support in our town is wonderful, and I know it stems from Craig…who was a delight, a truly kind, nice, nice man. There is no one like him in the entire globe. Thank you for everything! “We all lost something, and the world is a lot darker,” she added.
The mountains where Clouatre died rise high above the Yellowstone River as it flows through Paradise Valley. He enjoyed hiking in the area during the summer and climbing the ice in the winter when he wasn’t with his family, according to his friend Anne Tanner. Her restaurant apparently hosted a benefit for the Clouatre family after their home burned down two years ago. “He was finally just getting their house together,” Tanner told AP. “It makes me angry that something like this could happen to such a nice guy…Of all the men I know, I can’t imagine he’d die in the wilderness. He was so muscular and so intelligent.”
The Daily Mail reports that grizzlies in the Yellowstone region have murdered at least eight people since 2010.
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