An avid outdoorsman was killed in a suspected bear attack in Montana’s Glacier National Park — and his family believes he was hiking to a fire lookout tower to catch the sunset when he died.
Anthony Pollio, a 33-year-old from Florida, lost communication with his family on Sunday, when he did not return from the hike. His car was found near the Lake McDonald Lodge nearby, Local 10 reported.
Search and rescue crews found Pollio’s body and he had suffered injuries consistent of a bear attack.
The remains were found about two-and-a-half miles up the Mt. Brown Trail in a densely wooded area Wednesday afternoon, the Montana Free Press reported.
Officials haven’t officially named the hiker, but Pollio’s family identified him.
Pollio’s father, Arthur Pollio, told Local 10 that his son was “fearless” and that he “was an experienced hunter.”
“Tons of experience. Educated. Very smart.”
Pollio’s brother Nicholas believes he made a last-minute decision to go down Mt. Brown Trail to “see the sunset from the fire watch tower.”
Arthur posits that his son was intercepted by a grizzly and deployed bear spray in self-defense.
The father believes his son attempted to flee, but the bear pursued and seized him by the shoulder.
Arthur points to a bear spray canister recovered near the scene as the most compelling evidence for this sequence of events.
“He’s an educated man and the bear just attacked and killed him,” Arthur said.
The last fatal bear attack in Glacier National Park was in Two Medicine Valley in 1998, about an hour-and-a-half drive from Mt. Brown Trail, where Anthony went missing.
However, the last reported bear-related injury in Glacier occurred in August 2025.
In Glacier National Park, bears that attack humans or exhibit dangerously aggressive, food-conditioned behavior are often euthanized to ensure public safety. This policy follows the park’s Bear Management Plan, which prioritizes human safety when a bear is deemed a significant threat.
On the other side of Montana earlier this week, two hikers were seriously injured following a bear attack near Yellowstone’s infamous Old Faithful geyser.
