Texas Man Allegedly Killed by Mountain Lion

Allen Whiteley, 28, was found dead on December 3rd in a wooded area near his home. In the following weeks, there was a hotly contested debate over Whiteley’s cause of death. The USDA Wildlife Services officials, as well as the Texas Parks and Wildlife agency, found no evidence of any animal attack whatsoever. Despite their findings, the local Sheriff’s office still suspected a mountain lion attack as the leading candidate in their investigation.

This week the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office announced the autopsy found “injuries of the neck due to animal attack” as the cause of death. The Sheriff’s office subsequently closed the case stating they support the findings and saw no other evidence of foul play.

Fatal mountain lion attacks are very rare, with only two other instances occurring in the past decade. The last confirmed human death in Texas was over one hundred years ago in 1911 when a 3-year old child was killed. These statistics along with the earlier findings of state and federal wildlife officials have left the general public still divided on what exactly caused the death of Mr. Whiteley. The Tiger Tool will follow this story and provide any major updates.

Full story by Eline de Bruijn on WFAA