Distress signal initially thought to be from crashed aircraft led team to man mauled by grizzly, sheriff says

A distress signal initially thought to be from a crashed aircraft led searchers to a backpacker who'd been mauled by a grizzly bear in a remote Wyoming wilderness, according to sheriff's officials.

No plane or helicopter had crashed but a crew preparing to search the Francs Peak area on Monday learned the signal received by the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center was from a personal locator beacon (PLB), the Park County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Tuesday. Officials said a PLB is "not typically carried by hikers."

The 68-year-old Buffalo, New York, man on a multi-day backpacking trip had activated the device after being severely mauled by the grizzly.