Is ‘Cocaine Bear’ Based on True Story? Did Bear Kill People in Real? – Cocaine Bear, a dark comedy action film written and directed by Jimmy Warden and co-produced by Elizabeth Banks, will be released in the United States shortly. In “Cocaine Bear,” movie an American black bear ingested a duffel bag full of cocaine. Ray Liotta, in one of his final performances, Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Kristofer Hivju, Hannah Hoekstra, Margo Martindale, and Kristofer Hivju are featured in the film. In case you were wondering, “Cocaine Bear” is based on a true story about a famous bear who got notorious for consuming cocaine in 1985, we got you cover.
What’s the Story Behind Cocaine Bear?
After swallowing a duffel bag full of cocaine, a 500-pound (230-kilogram) American black bear embarks on a killing rampage in a small Georgia town. A group of locals and visitors must band together to survive.
Yet, the events shown in the film are not totally accurate. The events leading up to the overdose death of the real-life Cocaine Bear are buried in mystery, although it is known that the bear did not commit any murders while under the influence of drugs.
Based on real events that occurred in December 1985, when a 175-pound (79-kilogram) American black bear died after ingesting cocaine from a duffel bag. Andrew C. Thornton II, a former narcotics officer turned convicted drug smuggler, was forced to dump the cocaine from his jet because it was too heavy. Thornton’s parachute did not deploy during his deadly fall from the aircraft. In northern Georgia, the bear and forty empty cocaine bottles were discovered three months later. In 2015, Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington, Kentucky, sold a teddy bear named “Cocaine Bear.”
Nevertheless, 3–4 grammes were sufficient to kill the bear, which after that experienced a cascade of health problems that ultimately proved fatal. The conditions indicated were brain haemorrhage, trouble breathing, high body temperature, kidney failure, heart failure, and stroke. Also, the medical examiner reported that the body was “filled to the gills with cocaine.”
Where is Cocaine Bear Today?
The medical examiner who did the autopsy on Cocaine Bear, Dr. Kenneth Alonso, desired to retain the animal’s body in a museum once the narcotics investigation was complete. Thus, he had the bear taxidermied with the assistance of a hunter and donated it to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. It was displayed there until a 1990 wildfire necessitated its relocation to another city. Ultimately, it disappeared from storage and ended up in a pawn shop in Nashville, where country artist Waylon Jennings purchased it.
Before gifting it to his friend Ron Thompson, the musician kept the bear at his Las Vegas home for a while. A Reno resident named Zhu T’ang apparently purchased the bear at auction and brought it home at the time of the latter’s death in 2009. In 2015, a group from Kentucky For Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington approached the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Dr. Alonso about purchasing the bear.
After a lengthy search, the mall located the prior owner in Reno. The bear was acquired from Zhu T’ang’s widow for pennies on the dollar and displayed in the Fun Mall in Kentucky, 720 Bryan Ave Lex KY Store.
Must Read: AppleTV+ ‘Sharper’ Ending Explained: Did Tom Die In The End?
