RFK Jr. makes shocking confession that finally solves Central Park's dead bear cub mystery

New York, New York - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. grossed people out this year with a story about a parasitic worm eating part of his brain. Now he's back with another doozy: revealing his role in the decade-long mystery of a dead bear cub in New York's Central Park.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed he was behind the decade-long mystery of a dead bear cub that was discovered in Central Park.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed he was behind the decade-long mystery of a dead bear cub that was discovered in Central Park.  © Collage: Jonas EKSTROMER / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP & ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR via REUTERS

The independent presidential candidate, conspiracy theorist, and anti-vaccine activist made the disclosure in a three-minute video posted Sunday on social media. RFK Jr. was apparently trying to get out ahead of a New Yorker magazine story that mentions the weird tale of roadkill and stealth from a decade ago.

In a conversation with actor Roseanne Barr, he recounted the saga.

He and friends were on a falconing trip in New York state in 2014, Kennedy claimed, when a van ahead of him hit and killed a six-month-old black bear.

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Eager to salvage the corpse for the meat, he put it in the back of his own vehicle.

"And you can do that in New York state. You can get a bear tag for roadkill bear," Kennedy explained.

But the falconing field trip ran late, so he could not get the remains back to his home in Westchester County.

So did a dinner he attended that evening in the Big Apple, and Kennedy realized he would have to go straight to the airport for a flight he was due to take.

"The bear was in my car, and I didn't want to leave the bear in the car because that would have been bad," he said.

That's when Kennedy and his friends hatched a plan that would leave New Yorkers stumped for years.

RFK Jr. tries to head off "bad story"

RFK Jr. made the confession in order to head off a story he says TheNew Yorker was preparing to publish.
RFK Jr. made the confession in order to head off a story he says TheNew Yorker was preparing to publish.  © REUTERS

Kennedy and company ended up taking the carcass to Central Park, where they left it under an old bicycle Kennedy had in his car, making it look like a cyclist had killed the animal.

"I wasn't drinking, of course, but people were drinking with me who thought this was a good idea," Kennedy said.

"Then I thought, you know, at that time this was the little bit of the redneck in me," the son of the late Robert F. Kennedy added.

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When the animal's body was eventually found, it became a huge news story.

"And I was like, 'Oh my God, what did I do?'" Kennedy said."I was worried because my prints were all over that bike."

He said the story remained dormant for a decade until a fact-checker from The New Yorker called to verify it for a feature on Kennedy. The piece has yet to be published.

"It's going to be a bad story," Kennedy predicted.

Cover photo: Collage: Jonas EKSTROMER / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP & ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR via REUTERS

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