Mountain Lion Killed in Milford 'May Be The One' Spotted Near WC Airport

Greenwich police are confirming that a 140-pound male mountain lion killed on Route 15 in Milford Saturday morning "may be the one" sighted near the WC Airport on Sunday.

The animal "has been transferred to a DEP facility for further examination," according to a press release from Lt. Kraig Gray, public information officer at the Greenwich Police Department.

"This incident is still under investigation by DEP EnCon [Environmental Conservation] Police, part of which will be to determine if in fact the cat killed in the collision is the same cat seen in Greenwich," Gray said.

"Mountain lions can travel long distances and may have found its way to Milford," he said.

According to CBS Connecticut, state police reported that an SUV struck and killed a mountain lion on Route 15. The website, part of CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc, reports that the accident occurred around 12:40 a.m. Saturday near exit 55.

The mountain lion in Milford was pronounced dead on the scene, according to CBS Connecticut. The driver was unharmed, the website says.

It isn’t clear whether the mountain lion is the same one last spotted on Sunday in the King Street area of Greenwich.

Officials with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Greenwich police and state police could not immediately be reached for comment.

Greenwich police reported Friday that state officials from Connecticut and New York are working together to investigate the status of two permitted mountain lions in New York state that “are reasonably close to Greenwich.”

“Given that these animals can (and do) travel great distance reasonably close does not mean [they necessarily came to Greenwich from] the town right next door,” Lt. Gray said.

Though the Greenwich  now has its own , the beast has eluded further .

The lion hasn’t been seen since Sunday and police haven’t received any calls of the  outside of the King Street area, Gray said.

Reports emerged last weekend of sightings of a mountain lion, and Greenwich Police on Wednesday released a photo taken of the elusive animal, taken June 5 on the King Street campus of .

Officials of the private all boys school have placed the campus—which abuts the Westchester County Airport—off limits to activities and are allowing only faculty and staff on the bucolic acreage that is across the road from the  and just up the road from the town-owned .

DEP Deputy Commissioner Susan Frechette, has said it's very likely "a mountain lion that has been held in captivity and either escaped or was released."