LONGWOOD, Fla. -- Reports of repeated bear sightings in Longwood came to an unexpected end Wednesday when a man found a bear dead in the backyard of his house in Mandarin Estates, just west of I-4 near Markham Woods Road.

Wildlife officials said the bear could've been hit by a car or even fallen out of a tree, but they're not sure. Somehow the bear ended up in plain view right in the backyard of the house.

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RECENT LOCAL BEAR REPORTS:

November 27, 2007: Bear Spotted In Another Part Of Orlando

November 26, 2007: College Park Bear Still At Large

November 21, 2007: Crews To Try To Catch Bear In College Park Neighborhood

November 9, 2007: Neighborhood On Edge After Aggressive Bear Attacks Dog

ANIMAL NEWS: More Stories Of Animals In The News

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"When we pulled the truck up, my dad saw the bear laying there," said Michael Mecklenburg, who found the bear.

The black bear looked almost peaceful enough to be sleeping, but despite no obvious signs of injury, Mecklenburg discovered it was dead in his backyard in Longwood.

"I was sad. We live next to this wildlife preserve and we like to keep the animals around, you know," Mecklenburg said.

Mecklenburg said he first heard splashing in his pool overnight and, if it was the bear, he didn't make it far. The bear was found dead less than 25 yards away.

"We were trying to take a picture of him," Mecklenburg said.

Overnight, neighbors in the same Mandarin Estates subdivision said they saw a similar black bear alive and well.

"He went around my car and he went after my garbage cans and he was there for a few minutes," said neighbor Raul Castillo.

It's just the latest in a number of sightings in the area. People only a few miles away in Lake Mary recently spotted a bear.

Wildlife officials say bear sightings in the area are common, but neighbors can only wonder if the bear found dead is the same one they've seen before.

"I never saw a bear around here before. This is a first. Considering we saw this bear now and now we found another bear in the same subdivision dead. It might be, it might be the same bear," Castillo said.

Florida Fish and Wildlife experts picked up the dead bear Wednesday afternoon. Experts said it was a female, about 6 years old. They have no plans to do a necropsy since there were no signs of foul play.