The constantly changing story about the San Francisco tiger attack (which has resisted my attempts at analysis so far) just keeps getting harder and harder to follow.

Reports are disappearing. To read this one, I had to resort to the Google cache to find the scubbed version, titled Report: Tiger Victims Were Carrying Slingshots:

SAN FRANCISCO -- Citing an unnamed source, a published report Tuesday said the two brothers who were mauled by a Siberian tiger at that San Francisco Zoo in a Christmas Day fatal attack were carrying slingshots.

The New York Post also reported that an empty vodka bottle was found in a car used by Amritpal Dhaliwal, 19, and his brother, Kulbir, 23, on the day of the mauling. Their friend, 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr., was killed in the attack.

The San Francisco police have released scant information about the two men, saying they were not cooperating in the investigation.

If the report was true, the discovery would seem to strengthen the theory that the three men were taunting the big cat before it began its deadly rampage.

The brothers were released from the hospital Saturday, leaving through a side door amid a crush of reporters hoping to clear up lingering questions about how the tiger escaped its enclosure Christmas Day and how the attacks occurred. They offered no comment.

Enter Geragos, and now the slingshot allegations vanish:

SAN FRANCISCO -- The two brothers who survived a Christmas Day tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo that killed their friend were denied help for at least 30 minutes by zoo security who did not take their claims seriously, the brothers' attorney said Tuesday. A zoo spokesman called the claim "unreliable."

Attorney Mark Geragos told The Associated Press that Paul Dhaliwal, 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 23, tried to get help for their friend, 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr., after unsuccessful attempts at stopping a 350-pound Siberian tiger that had attacked Sousa.

According to Geragos, the tiger initially attacked Sousa and Paul Dhaliwal at about 4:30 p.m. after escaping from its cage.

While Sousa was seriously hurt, Paul Dhaliwal escaped, and he and his brother ran 300 yards to a zoo cafe where they had eaten earlier.

Geragos said the brothers were "denied entry" to the cafe because the zoo was closing. At that point the brothers lost sight of the tiger.

According to the original account in New York Post, the source for the slingshot allegation is simply "a source":

SAN FRANCISCO - Two brothers who were injured when a tiger attacked them at the San Francisco Zoo had slingshots on them at the time, a source said.

An empty vodka bottle was also found in a car used by Amritpal Dhaliwal, 19, and his brother, Kulbir, 23, on the day of the mauling, which left 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. dead, according to the source.

The discoveries could be an indication that the brothers may have taunted the 350-pound Siberian tiger before it leapt from its grotto.

San Francisco cops have said since the Christmas Day incident that there was no indication the tiger was provoked.

The brothers have not commented since they left a hospital Saturday.

Am I allowed to rely on he, she, or it? Or should I be intimidated into silence by the Mark Geragos machine? No really; in this account, Geragos is described as a "pit bull" and he's quoted as calling reports of the trio taunting the tiger "an urban legend." However, Geragos does not yet appear to have specifically commented on the slingshot claim.

Not that any of this has much to do with the issue of inadequate security in the zoo, because even if we assume criminal mischief by the Dhaliwal brothers, that does not obviate the zoo's duty to ensure that the tiger could not escape. Logically, it wouldn't matter if they'd been shooting at the tiger with a .22, because an escaping tiger is a hazard to everyone, and not just its tormentors.

The problem is that it's now a week after the attack, and we still don't have the facts. That the zoo director has already been caught lying makes me suspicious of any unnamed "source."

I don't know what to believe anymore.

UPDATE (01/03/08): The "pit bull" now faces a "guru" hired by the zoo. Today's San Jose Mercury News says the story is turning into a "circus":

It happened at the zoo, but the story of the San Francisco tiger attacks is turning into a circus.

The Christmas Day mauling at the San Francisco Zoo that killed a San Jose teenager and injured his two friends has drawn international media from China to Brazil and sparked headlines in New York City tabloids. Celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos has signed on to represent the two San Jose brothers who survived the attack by Tatiana, the Siberian tiger. And San Francisco crisis-control guru Sam Singer was just brought in to be the zoo's frontman.

The case against the zoo and the city of San Francisco that funds it - both in court and out of it - is sure to be a doozy.

The case has led to rumors published in the New York Post and elsewhere that one or more of the young men - brothers Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal and their friend, 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr., who was killed - used slingshots to taunt the animal. But police told the Mercury News on Wednesday they had no evidence of either.

We may never know the exact details.

MORE: According to the latest from the New York Post, the allegations of slingshots originated with a San Francisco city official:

As the mauling investigation continued, cops denied that injured victims Amritpal Dhaliwal, 19, and his brother, Kulbir, 23, had slingshots.

"A slingshot was not found in their car at the hospital or in the zoo," said Sgt. Steve Mannina.

A city official with knowledge of the investigation told The Post about the slingshots, and also said an empty vodka bottle was found in their car.

Cops and zoo officials confirmed they discovered the bottle.

Mollinedo would not comment yesterday on whether the attack was provoked with a slingshot, but said there was little doubt some outside action incited the animal.

"All I know is something prompted the tiger to leap out," he said, adding that signs will be posted around the zoo urging visitors to be respectful of the animals.

Who is this "city 'official'"? If he or she worked for the zoo, I'm very skeptical.

MORE: Via Drudge, a report by an eyewitness at the zoo who earlier saw the Dhaliwal brothers taunting lions:

(01-02) 22:15 PST San Francisco -- Two victims of a lethal Christmas Day tiger attack were harassing the big cats at the San Francisco Zoo shortly before a 350-pound feline escaped its enclosure and mauled them, a woman told The Chronicle on Wednesday.

The revelation comes as the zoo reopens today, nine days after a visitor was killed and two of his friends were injured by the Siberian tiger, later shot dead by police.

Jennifer Miller, who was at the zoo with her husband and two children that ill-fated Christmas afternoon, said she saw four young men at the big-cat grottos - and three of them were teasing the lions a short time before the tiger's bloody rampage that killed 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr.

"The boys, especially the older one, were roaring at them. He was taunting them," the San Francisco woman said. "They were trying to get that lion's attention. ... The lion was bristling, so I just said, 'Come on, let's get out of here' because my kids were disturbed by it."

The public is entitled to know just what happened.

UPDATE (01/04/08): ABC affiliate KGO claims to have investigated and found there were no slingshots.

I don't know whether the Post is still standing behind its story.

MORE: But wait! Here's a later, um, "report":

San Francisco police said Thursday they found slingshots in the hip pockets of all three victims of the tiger attack. The slaughter was so unnecessary. Those boys would not have had slingshots if San Francisco had not cracked down on handguns.