What looked to some like a human body that released an overpowering stench on Wednesday turned out to be the skinned carcass of a black bear dumped in the alley behind a small business complex in Anchorage.

"The smell was foul and it was crazy," said Darien Carter, owner of nearby Second to None window tinting shop. "The whole area was just engulfed in rotten-carcass smell."

The bear carcass, missing its hide, head and paws, was dumped near Arctic Boulevard and 59th Avenue, Alaska Wildlife Troopers reported on Saturday. They're asking for the public's help finding the culprit.

Whoever dumped it could face charges of "wanton waste of big game" because no meat was salvaged. Wanton waste carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $10,000 fine, according to the state Department of Fish and Game.

Carter said he saw part of the carcass from a distance after the wildlife officer had arrived to launch an investigation.

"It looked like a human lying on its back," he said. "Gruesome."

It's not the first time this has happened in Anchorage. In June 2006, three bear carcasses were dumped behind a hair salon off Tudor Road, missing paws, heads and skin.

The carcass that showed up on Wednesday appeared to have been pushed out of the back of a truck in an area used by businesses for parking.

Employees at the Qwik Cup Espresso café were "shocked that someone would do that," said Mike Fuller, whose wife owns the café and whose family owns buildings in the area.

"My daughter called me freaking out, saying, 'Something is happening out there, Dad,'" said Fuller.

When he arrived, Fuller said the carcass was partially covered with a tarp, with some reddish flesh visible. Peeling back the cover, he thought the animal was a partially butchered moose about 4 feet long. He guessed it weighed 200 to 300 pounds.

But Fuller, who called the troopers, said an officer who responded identified it as a bear. The trooper, using a metal detector, believed it had been killed by a shotgun blast, said Fuller.

"I have no idea why someone would do that, unless they were trying to hide something," he said.