Allen Young, the family’s attorney, said, “This very bear had been in that very campground that very morning and had been determined by the state and federal government to be a nuisance bear.”
The family insists they knew the dangers of bears in the wild. But they believe that the fact the bear was causing trouble and nothing was done to warn the public warrants the lawsuits seeking millions in damages.
“If there wasn’t an attack the night before, we wouldn’t be here arguing it. I mean, we know bears exist,” said Kevan Francis, Sam’s father.
Ives’ mother, Rebecca, said, “Why wasn’t that done? We would have known something was up if there was just some yellow tape, a piece of plastic, and I would still have my son.”
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2955918
A piece of yellow tape and they’d have packed up and abandoned their camping trip? On questioning they’d have been told by the park service that they’ve never seen a bear return to a site that way? That they’d pursued it for hours and couldn’t locate it? That they’d never had a death from that kind of bear?
They were there for Father’s Day and the children were looking forward to camping. I’d bet a bit of money that right now we’d be reading about the parents who lost a son after ignoring warnings of a bear in the area.
From what I’m reading in other stories and people commenting who have been in the area, the family may have also been outside the designated camping area, and that there are warnings signs for bears all over the area already.