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A Rutgers University student out hiking with four friends was found dead at the Apshawa Preserve near West Milford, N.J. Sept. 21. He was killed by a 300 pound black bear who police said they had to kill because he was still circling the body hours later when they found the body of Darsh Patel, 22 of Edison, N.J. The last such incident was in the area was in 1852 according to news reports.
Patel was found the evening of Sept. 21, after his friends contacted the police department to say a fellow hiker was lost in the heavily wooded area of the Apshawa Preserve Township, a release from the West Milford Police Department said.
The group of five hikers all from Edison New Jersey encountered a black bear in the woods. The bear began following them and they fled in different directions out of fear. When they regrouped later they realized Patel was missing. After searching vainly for their friend they called the police.
The West Milford Search and Rescue unit was dispatched to the scene and found Patel at around 6 pm, according to a release from the West Milford Police Department. The 300 pound bear was still circling Patel’s body and police say they euthanized him.
The matter is being investigated by the New Jersey State Medical Examiner, The New Jersey DEP Fish and Wildlife and The West Milford Police Department, the police said in the release. Other agencies have joined in the investigation because of its rarity including the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department, Passaic County Sheriffs CSI Unit, Passaic County Sheriffs Search and Rescue Unit,
The West Milford Search and Rescue Unit and The West Milford Fire Department Company One.
Rutgers University Chancellor Richard L. Edwards said the university was grieving the tragic passing of the senior who was studying in the School of Arts and Sciences. Patel was majoring in information technology and informatics.
“As we grieve over his tragic passing, please know that our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones and to all his friends and fellow students at Rutgers,” Edwards is quoted saying in a release.
“Omg I knew him…we just took a class together over the summer. This is awful,” Patel’s former classmate Dan Horowitz said on the Rutgers Facebook page.
