



PORTLAND, Ore. — The body of missing hiker Diana Bober, 55, was found and the medical examiner's office said her injuries are consistent with a suspected cougar attack, authorities said Tuesday.



This would be the first recorded fatal cougar attack in Oregon history.



Bober, an avid hiker from Gresham, Oregon, was reported missing on Aug. 29.



Her body was found Monday off of the Hunchback Trail in the Mount Hood National Forest in Welches, Oregon, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.



While a cougar attack is suspected, "positive identification of the responsible genus of animal will be determined using DNA samples that have been flown by the Oregon State Police to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon, the sheriff's office said.



The Oregon Trail School District has been contacted and made aware of the incident, the sheriff's office said.



“This is a terrible tragedy, and our sympathy goes out to Diana’s family and friends,” said Brian Wolfer, watershed manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “All of us at ODFW are thinking of you today.”



This event is the first verified fatal attack by a wild cougar in Oregon, the ODFW said.



"Wildlife managers will attempt to kill the cougar responsible for the attack. ODFW wildlife biologists and Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife officers went to the scene earlier today to assess the situation and decide how best to locate the cougar," the sheriff's office said.



Her car was found at the Zigzag Ranger Station about 17 miles east of Sandy.



Bober's body was found several miles away from the same ranger station off the Hunchback Trail near Welches.



Bober often hiked in the Mount Hood and Columbia River Gorge area.



