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Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch reports that on July 8th at 10:49 p.m., the Cass County Sheriff's Office received a report of a medical situation in Ponto Lake Township, near Lake Ada in rural Pine River. Pine River Fire and Rescue, North Ambulance and Deputies arrived on scene and learned that an adult male, age 70, was complaining of stomach pain. He was treated on scene and transported to a Fargo Hospital by North Memorial Air Care.

The investigation into the incident indicates that on July 6th, the victim was attempting to scare a bear away from his yard and the victim was charged by another bear and thrown into the air, landing on the ground. There were no external visible injuries to the victim from the incident.

On July 9th, the Cass County Sheriff's Office was notified by a Fargo, North Dakota hospital that the victim has passed away at their facility. A preliminary autopsy was conducted at the Cass County North Dakota Medical Examiner's Office with the University of North Dakota Forensic Pathology and Autopsy Services.

The preliminary report indicates that the bear did not cause the death of the victim. There were no injuries or wounds discovered during the autopsy. The incident remains under investigation by the Cass County Sheriff's Office and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Conservation.[[In-content Ad]]

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