Man, 28, mutilated to death in possible mountain lion attack, Hood County Sheriff says

Hood County authorities suspect that a 28-year-old man was mutilated to death by a mountain lion in a wooded area near Lipan, about 85 miles west of Dallas.

Christopher Allen Whiteley was reported missing Thursday afternoon, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Office. He was last seen early Wednesday morning near the 15000 block of Howell Road in Lipan.

Hood County MPs found Whiteley’s body as they searched a nearby wooded area, according to the statement. His body was taken to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, where preliminary results suggest Whiteley was killed by an animal, possibly a mountain lion, the statement said.

The Hood County Sheriff’s Office is working with the Texas Rangers and a trapper from the US Department of Agriculture to find the mountain lion.

The people of Lipan are advised to keep young children and animals indoors and not to try to follow the lion themselves.

“The safety of the citizens of Hood County is my top priority, but please do not interfere with the animal location process and stay clear of the area actively worked by officials,” said the County Sheriff. Hood Roger Deeds in the press release.

Sightings of mountain lions are rare in North Texas. Often times, what people refer to as mountain lions turn out to be much smaller animals, like bobcats. A Texas parks and wildlife official has gone so far as to call the mountain lion “the Bigfoot of North Central Texas.”

However, officials from the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife recently confirmed a sighting of a mountain lion in Rowlett – over 100 miles from where the man was killed in Hood County. .

Since 2011, nearly 300 mountain lion sightings have been reported to parks and wildlife across the state. Most of the sightings could not be confirmed.