[6] On September 11, 1985, former Lexington police department narcotics officer turned drug smuggler Andrew C. Thornton II was trafficking cocaine into the United States.

After dropping off a shipment in Blairsville, Georgia, Thornton and an accomplice, Bill Leonard,[7] departed in a self-piloted Cessna 404 Titan.

En route, the duo dropped a load of 40 plastic containers of cocaine into the wilderness before abandoning the plane above Knoxville, Tennessee.

On December 23, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported finding a dead black bear that had eaten a large amount of the cocaine from the jettisoned containers and suffered a drug overdose.

[13][14] Dr. Alonso did not want to waste the body of the bear, so he had her taxidermied and gave it to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.