Authorities have released additional information related to a now-confirmed mountain lion-related hiker death that occurred on a trail in Colorado’s Larimer County on New Year’s Day.

According to the Larimer County Coroner’s Office, the victim of the attack was 46-year-old Kristen Marie Kovatch of Fort Collins.

Per an autopsy that was performed on January 5, Kovatch’s cause of death was asphyxia due to external neck compression – in other words, insufficient oxygen due to pressure applied to the neck. This was determined to be consistent with what can be a fatal injury in a mountain lion attack.

The attack occurred on Crosier Mountain Trail in the Glen Haven area, about 7.5 miles northeast of Estes Park. Kovatch’s death was described as the first death related to a mountain lion attack to occur in the state since 1999 and the fourth since 1990.

When hiker’s first spotted Kovatch’s body, they used rocks to scare a mountain lion away from the area. A hiker then checked her body for a pulse and could not find one.

Once authorities arrived at the scene, two mountain lions found in the area were located and euthanized.

A Monday afternoon update from Colorado Parks and Wildlife released a portion of the necropsy results of the two mountain lions that were killed – two subadults estimated to be about a year old, one male and one female. Both were described to be in “very good” body condition with no signs of abnormalities. While no human DNA was detected on the female subadult, human DNA was found on all four paws of the male. The two subadults were believed to be members of a family group that was responsible for the attack, and while a third mountain lion was spotted in the vicinity, it was not located.

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