The driver who struck and killed a famous grizzly bear south of Grand Teton National Park earlier this week was not speeding and the bear’s death was an accident, law enforcement officers said Friday.

The death of grizzly No. 399 on Tuesday night in the Snake River Canyon south of Jackson saddened tourists, wildlife biologists and amateur and professional photographers who for years studied and captured images of the bear and her many cubs and followed her comings and goings on social media sites.

“The bear stepped right out into the road,” Lincoln County Sheriff’s Patrol Lt. John Stetzenbach told the Jackson Hole News & Guide on Friday. The driver “was unable to brake in time to avoid the bear, and the collision occurred.”

He said the collision “truly was an accident” and that the driver was not speeding or distracted and was not cited. The Subaru that hit the bear had to be towed from the scene, Stetzenbach said.

He declined to identify the driver, noting some online comments blamed the driver for the bear’s death.

At 28 years old, No. 399 was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Each spring, wildlife enthusiasts eagerly awaited her emergence from her den to see how many cubs she had birthed over the winter – then quickly shared the news online. The bear had 18 known cubs in eight litters over the years, including a litter of four in 2020. She stood around 7 feet tall and weighed about 400 pounds.

Named for the identity tag attached to her ear by researchers, the grizzly was often seen near roads in Grand Teton, drawing crowds and creating traffic jams.

Wildlife photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen previously described the bear as his muse.

“Her intelligence, her behavior, her beauty,” Mangelsen told “60 Minutes” in 2018. “The fact that she’s had all these offspring. There’s not many bears that I know of that’s had three sets of triplets.”

Grand Teton bear biologist Justin Schwabedissen said Thursday that he believes her yearling cub, which was apparently not struck, will survive on its own.

Authorities said 49 grizzly bears died because of vehicle collisions between 2009 and 2023. 

Grizzly bears generally live to be around 25, though some in the wild have lived for over 35 years, according to the Fish & Wildlife Service.

Before 1800, there were an estimated 50,000 grizzly bears living throughout 18 western States, including Wyoming, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. By 1975, the population in the 48 contiguous states was reduced to between 700 to 800. 

After decades of being listed as threatened in the lower 48 states under the U.S.  Endangered Species Act, the population has grown to at least 1,923 grizzly bears in the 48 contiguous states.

contributed to this report.

Two weeks after a camper in Montana was savagely killed in his tent, authorities say they are looking for a large axe and other items that were likely taken from the crime scene.

Dustin Kjersem, 35, was found dead in his tent earlier this month by a friend who reported Kjersem appeared to have been killed by a bear — but officials soon discovered the camper was actually the victim of a brutal murder.

In a social media post, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office said it’s continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the homicide and asked the public to be on the lookout for a large axe and several items that are “believed to have been removed from the scene of the crime.”

Specifically, authorities said they were looking for a blue and silver Estwing camp axe, likely with a 26″ handle, as well as a Remington 11-87 12ga shotgun and Ruger Blackhawk .44mag revolver. The sheriff’s office said it was also looking for an orange Tundra 45 cooler made by YETI.

“If you see these items, don’t touch them and immediately report them,” the office said in the post, which included images of the axe and cooler.

“We appreciate the information that has been provided by the community and multiple leads are being investigated,” the office added.

Earlier this month, a friend discovered Kjersem’s body in a tent at a makeshift campsite along Moose Creek Road and called 911, telling responders the death appeared to have been caused by a bear attack, the sheriff’s office previously said.

But a state wildlife official found no signs of bear activity, and investigators said they soon found evidence of a “vicious attack.” An autopsy later showed Kjersem sustained “multiple chop wounds,” including to his skull.

“He was brutally killed at his campsite and we need your help,” Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer said previously, adding that his detectives were working “all hours of day and night to find his killer.”

No suspects have been identified, and Springer said the remote area of the crime scene, where there is no cellphone service, was making the investigation more difficult than most cases.

“People have asked me if there’s a threat to this community and the answer is we don’t know. We don’t have enough information to know at this time,” he said.

Kjersem’s sister Jillian Price said her brother was a skilled tradesman and a doting father.

“I don’t understand why the world’s just not stopping and looking for who did this to him,” Price told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. “Please, I mean he deserves that. I need that.”

A GoFundMe set up for Kjersem’s children has raised more than $24,000.

Paris — French actor Gérard Depardieu, who is facing trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, won’t appear before a criminal court in Paris on Monday due to health reasons, his lawyer said.

Depardieu, who previously has denied any wrongdoing, is accused of using “violence, coercion, surprise or threat” in the alleged assault, which prosecutors said took place on the set of “Les Volets verts” (“The Green Shutters”).

Lawyer Jérémie Assous said doctors say the actor’s health doesn’t enable him to appear for the opening of the trial on Monday.

Depardieu “is deeply affected and unfortunately his doctors don’t allow him to appear at the hearing,” Assous told France Info radio.

Assous said he will ask the court for the postponement of the trial because his client “wishes to come, wants to express himself.”

Prosecutors say that in both cases, victims reported that the 75-year-old actor trapped them between his legs and groped their buttocks, genitals, chest and breasts over their clothes.

The trial was scheduled as France continues to reckon with sexual violence in the wake of the #MeToo movement that struggled to find traction, especially in the cinema industry.

One woman’s allegations  

One of the victims has been identified as a 53-year-old production designer. The Associated Press doesn’t generally identify victims of sexual assault without their consent. Her lawyer did not respond to an AP’s email on that matter.

According to Paris prosecutors, the woman told investigators that she’d first heard sexual remarks from Depardieu and then one day, as she walked past him, he had “grabbed her, pulled her toward him, blocked her with his legs, and groped her waist, hips and chest, accompanying his gestures with obscene remarks.”

Three people witnessed it, prosecutors said, confirming that the woman made an attempt to break away from Depardieu’s grip and that she seemed “shocked.” A psychiatrist’s examination resulted in her being granted a seven-day leave.

After the incident, it was arranged for Depardieu to apologize. But in a TV interview aired Saturday, the woman said the actor was furious and blamed her for causing trouble. Prosecutors said witnesses confirmed that what Depardieu had said did not constitute an apology.

In the interview with French online news site Mediapart, the production designer – who spoke on camera but only gave her first name – said the alleged assault had taken a toll on her personal and professional life for at least 1 1/2 years. She said she could not sleep well, suffered anxiety attacks and lost weight.

The woman, according to prosecutors, said it had taken her a while to file a complaint but she decided to do so after hearing on television that there had never been an incident during the shoot.

Another woman’s allegations

The month before the alleged assault, another woman also working on the film’s set had complained about Depardieu, Paris prosecutors said.

A director’s assistant told investigators Depardieu had touched her buttocks on several occasions. She had expressed her disapproval and in return, Depardieu, she said, had been insulting toward her. She was also given a six-day leave by a psychiatrist.

Assous, Depardieu’s lawyer, told the AP in an email Saturday that “the witnesses and evidence (Depardieu) will produce will demonstrate that he is the target of false accusations.”

Despite the allegations against Depardieu, many have come out in his support, including French President Emmanuel Macron.

Late last year, 56 French performers, writers and producers published an essay defending the film star, saying that when “Gérard Depardieu is targeted this way, it is the art (of cinema) that is being attacked.

Prior allegations

Their call came just weeks after national broadcaster France 2 put out a documentary outlining accusations of sexual misconduct by 16 women against Depardieu and showed the actor making obscene remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea.

In the footage, Depardieu can be seen making groaning sounds and sexual comments in front of women, including a girl about 10 years old who is horseback riding. He can also be seen posing for a photo, saying he was “touching the bottom” of a North Korean interpreter by his side.

He was charged in 2021 with rape and sexual assault after authorities revived a 2018 investigation that was initially dropped, following allegations from actor Charlotte Arnould.

In an open letter published in the conservative-leaning newspaper Le Figaro, Depardieu said last year: “I have never, ever abused a woman.”

The actor was long seen as a national icon in France. He has been a global ambassador for French film and enjoyed international fame with several roles in Hollywood.

Earlier this year, actor Judith Godrèche called on France’s film industry to “face the truth” on sexual violence and physical abuse during the Cesar Awards ceremony, France’s version of the Oscars.

Godrèche had previously alleged two prominent filmmakers sexually abused her when she was a teen, sending new shockwaves through the industry.

More recently, the ongoing trial of 50 men accused of raping a woman who had been previously drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband shook the country. Protests spread nationwide last weekend in support of the victim, a mother and grandmother in her early 70s, who has become a hero to many victims of sexual violence for insisting that her trial be open to the public.