Autopsy: Former Pa. woman was attacked by animals

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.

An autopsy Thursday concluded that Candice D. Berner of Perryville, Alaska, formerly of Slippery Rock, died Monday of injuries suffered in an animal attack.

The investigation has determined that her death was not criminal in nature, and ruled it accidental with the specific cause being “multiple injuries due to animal mauling,” according to the state medical examiner.

After conferring with state biologists and the community of Chignik Lake, where the attack occurred, Alaska State Troopers concluded the animals most likely responsible for the attack are wolves.

The attack on Berner, 32, occurred while she was out running. She moved to Alaska last summer to become an itinerant special-education teacher for the Lake and Peninsula School District on the Alaska Peninsula.

Her parents are Robert A. Berner of Slippery Rock and Diana Berner of Grove City, Pa. She was a 1996 graduate of Grove City High School and received bachelor and master’s degrees from Slippery Rock University.

Funeral arrangements for Bender are pending at Cunningham Funeral Home in Grove City.