What Really Happened in The Georgia Forest? - The Truth Behind Cocaine Bear May Be Wilder Than Fiction

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In late 1985, an unnamed hunter found a dead bear in a Georgia forest in Butts County. He later told a friend about his finding. This is the type of story that tends to get passed around. As expected, word spread and eventually reached an employee of the State Game and Fish division who later told the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

When the GBI arrived, they found a bear's body close to an empty duffel bag. It was determined by the State's Chief Medical Examiner at the time, Dr. Kenneth Alonso, that the bear had about 3 or 4 grams of cocaine in its bloodstream. He couldn't determine for sure how much the bear ate. Cocaine has a sweet smell that is likely attractive to a bear and other wildlife.

The big question is, "Where was the rest of the cocaine in the duffel bag?" We still do not have an answer today, but it is hypothesized that one or more persons may have stumbled upon the duffel bag and assisted in the cocaine's disappearance. You would think the story ends here, but it doesn't.

Four additional duffel bags containing a total of 295 pounds of cocaine were found nearby. These are the events the GBI believes took place just months prior to the discovery of Cocaine Bear.

It is believed that a man named Andrew Thornton, who was a former Kentucky Narcotics Investigator, became a drug smuggler. On a flight from Colombia, he dropped the bags of cocaine from his plane in order to lighten the load. He had intentions of returning to reclaim the product. However, he never made it. He later parachuted with 77 pounds of cocaine and fell to his death. On discovery of Thornton's body, a key linking him to the unmanned crashed airplane was found in his pocket. Just a few days later, a pilot's logbook with the airplane's number along with clothes and a map of Colombia was found in Butt's County in the vicinity of 'Cocaine Bear.'

We may not know exactly what happened to 'Cocaine Bear,' but what we do know is the stuff movies are made of. It will be interesting to see Elizabeth Bank's take on these events.

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References

https://apnews.com/article/20b0a66fbc59ef243a2e910fb725b9aa

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/whats-the-real-cocaine-bear-story