The Larimer County Coroner’s Office has identified 46-year-old Kristen Marie Kovatch of Fort Collins as the victim of last week’s fatal mountain lion attack northeast of Estes Park.
An autopsy performed Monday determined that the injuries sustained were consistent with the attack. It ruled the death as accidental by asphyxia due to external neck compression. No other information was released.
The results come after the U.S. Forest Service has reopened trails and trailheads in the area of the attack.
A group of hikers found Kovatch lying next to a mountain lion on a Crosier Mountain trail, northeast of Estes Park, on New Year’s Day. The hikers threw stones at the mountain lion until it ran off.
Kovatch was determined to be deceased and was later taken to the Glen Haven Fire Station. She was believed to be hiking alone at the time of the attack. The Larimer County Coroner’s Office has scheduled an autopsy on the woman for this week.
Since then, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers and law enforcement encountered and euthanized two mountain lions. Crews searched for a third mountain lion that was seen near the site of the attack, but couldn’t find the animal.
Scientists conducted necropsies on the animals to determine whether they were involved in the attack. Human DNA was found on all four paws of the male mountain lion, but no human DNA was found on the female mountain lion. The animals also came up negative for rabies.
Mountain lion attacks are considered rare in Colorado. There have been 28 recorded attacks in the past 35 years. The last fatality came in 1999 when a 3-year-old boy went missing from a group hike about 60 miles west of Fort Collins. His death was later ascribed to a mountain lion attack.
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