Messina used his phone to snap a quick photo before a mountain lion rushed him. The woman whose body was found Thursday on the same Crosier Mountain trail had “wounds consistent with a mountain lion attack,” said Kara Van Hoose with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. A search for a third mountain lion reported in the area was ongoing Friday, Van Hoose said. A mountain lion was nearby and they threw rocks to scare it away. Thursday's killing would be the fourth fatal mountain lion attack in North America over the past decade, and the 30th since 1868, according to information from the California-based Mountain Lion Foundation.

Source: ABC News January 03, 2026 15:41 UTC