The Real Story of ‘Cocaine Bear’ - The New York Times

Arts|Yes, ‘Cocaine Bear’ Was Real. Here’s the Back Story.

The trailer for a caller movie called “Cocaine Bear” was released connected Wednesday, and the film’s rubric is not a metaphor oregon clever wordplay: The movie is astir a carnivore precocious connected cocaine.

The bloody spree that follows the bear’s cocaine binge, as depicted successful the trailer, is fictional, but the communicative astir a precocious carnivore is precise real. Its lore is apt to turn with the movie, which was directed by Elizabeth Banks and is acceptable for a Feb. 24 release.

“Cocaine Bear” stars Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Ray Liotta, who died successful May, successful 1 of his last movie roles. It depicts the bear’s drug-induced way of panic and the victims helium leaves behind.

The existent communicative is little bloody.

It each began, arsenic you mightiness guess, successful the 1980s. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced successful December 1985 that a 175-pound achromatic carnivore had “died of an overdose of cocaine aft discovering a batch of the drug,” according to a three-sentence item from United Press International that appeared successful The New York Times.

“The cocaine was seemingly dropped from a level piloted by Andrew Thornton, a convicted cause smuggler who died Sept. 11 successful Knoxville, Tenn., due to the fact that helium was carrying excessively dense a load portion parachuting,” U.P.I. reported. “The bureau said the carnivore was recovered Friday successful bluish Georgia among 40 opened integrative containers with traces of cocaine.”

The carnivore was recovered dormant successful the mountains of Fannin County, Ga., conscionable southbound of the Tennessee border.

“There’s thing near but bones and a large hide,” Gary Garner of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation told The Associated Press astatine the time.

Dr. Kenneth Alonso, the state’s main aesculapian examiner astatine the time, said aft an autopsy successful December 1985 that the carnivore had absorbed 3 oregon 4 grams of cocaine into its humor stream, though it whitethorn person eaten more, The Associated Press reported that month.

Today, the precise aforesaid carnivore is said to beryllium connected display successful Lexington, Ky., astatine the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall. The promenade said in an August 2015 blog station that workers determination wanted to cognize what happened to the carnivore and recovered retired it had been stuffed. The blog station says the stuffed carnivore was astatine 1 constituent owned by the state vocalist Waylon Jennings, who kept it successful his location successful Las Vegas, earlier it was delivered to the store. (The New York Times could not independently corroborate this account.)

What happened to the carnivore successful its last days, oregon hours, aft the cocaine binge is simply a mystery, but the origins of the cocaine are not.

Mr. Thornton was a known cause smuggler and a erstwhile constabulary officer. He was recovered dormant the greeting of Sept. 11, 1985, successful the backyard of a location successful Knoxville, Tenn., wearing a parachute and Gucci loafers. He besides had respective weapons and a container containing astir 35 kilograms of cocaine, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported.

A cardinal successful Mr. Thornton’s pouch matched the process fig of a wrecked level that was recovered successful Clay County, N.C., and based connected Mr. Thornton’s past of cause smuggling, investigators guessed determination was much cocaine nearby, The News Sentinel reported. The investigators searched the surrounding country and recovered much than 300 pounds of cocaine successful a hunt that lasted respective months.

They besides recovered the dormant bear.