Officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks believe someone may still be feeding the black bear that attacked and killed an elderly Ashley Lake resident in her home last month, but announced Thursday they were suspending efforts to trap the animal.

On Sept. 27, the juvenile bear entered Barbara Paschke’s home, attacking her and ransacking the house before exiting through a window. Paschke, 85, died later of her injuries at Kalispell Regional Medical Center Oct. 1.

Erik Wenum, a bear and lion specialist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, noted Thursday that while traps were being removed from the area around Paschke’s home, the investigation is continuing.

“The only big [question] that we have, and one of the reasons we suspended some of the trapping efforts, is we still believe there is someone that is feeding bears out there,” Wenum said.

After the attack, state wildlife officials set up multiple traps and wildlife cameras in an attempt to capture the young black bear. Wenum said he believes a bear that returned to the area two days later was the one that attacked Pashke, but it did not enter the traps.

Two other bears — also food-conditioned and frequent visitors to the residential area — were captured and put down in the following days. DNA comparisons to bear hair found in Pashke’s house led wildlife officials to determine that the target bear was still on the loose.

Both of the captured bears were yearling females and further DNA analysis concluded that one was a sibling of the killer black bear.

Both bears had bird seed and millet in their digestive tracts.

Pashke was believed to have been feeding bears in the area prior to being attacked and had been issued a citation for feeding bears in October 2012. That year, a sow and two cubs were captured and killed at the residence after Wenum determined they had become habituated and overly aggressive.

Paschke’s obituary stated that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2009, “which altered her perspective on how to preserve wildlife wisely and safely.”

Wenum said that the bear likely entered the house after being conditioned to the area, but did not appear to target Paschke as an additional source of food.

“I’m sure he was in a very agitated state because he was trapped in a house and didn’t know how to get out of it,” Wenum said, adding that the bear had caused extensive damage throughout the house, pulling down blinds and leaving pawprints in all but two rooms that had closed doors.

In the aftermath of the attack, wildlife managers’ attempts to capture the bear have been apparently complicated by someone else continuing to provide food to the animal.

“We don’t have definitive proof there, but based on the sheer lack of activity at the site ... I’m very surprised we haven’t had the target bear return to the site, other than one time, so I suspect that he’s being fed someplace else,” Wenum said.

Montana law prohibits people from feeding bears, which causes them to associate humans with easy food sources, and to become aggressive. The penalty for intentionally feeding bears includes up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks is asking that anyone aware that bears are being fed to contact Game Warden Wes Oedekoven at (406) 270-4220 or 1-800-TIPMONT.

Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.