A Newington driver struck a mountain lion in Milford early Saturday morning and officials believe it is the animal that has eluded authorities in Greenwich.
Sigred Lacson of Newington, was traveling on Route 15 northbound, just north of exit 55 in Milford, around 1:30 a.m. and hit the animal, which was in the left lane.
Officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection confirmed that the animal is a mountain lion, police said, and it was dead when they arrived.
Officials in Greenwich had been searching for a mountain lion after some sightings in the King Street area and that search expanded to New York after days passed with no reports of the animal, the Port Chester Patch reported.
DEP spokesman Dennis Schain told the Hartford Courant on Saturday that this is likely the Greenwich mountain lion.
This scene of the crash is about 40 miles away from those sightings, according to a Mapquest search.
The lion seen in Greenwich appeared to have been held in captivity and either escaped or was released, DEP Deputy Commissioner Susan Frechette said earlier in the week.
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The eastern mountain lion was declared extinct earlier this year and, until now, the closest confirmed mountain lion sighting was in Missouri, according to the DEP.
Since the reports came out earlier in the week, it appears that someone created a Connecticut Mountain Lion Twitter account. Thereis also a Facebook account.
DEP responded to remove the lion. Lacson was not hurt.
