A Canadian mother and her adult daughter died in what authorities believe was a grizzly bear attack while hiking near their home over the weekend.
Jennifer Balcarras, 48, an art therapist, and her 20-year-old daughter, Selah Reed, disappeared Saturday after setting out on the Snooka West Trail, a short distance from their home in Bella Coola, British Columbia.
The family became worried after Balcarras did not appear for a planned online meeting that day, her brother, Matt Balcarras, told The Vancouver Sun.
Jennifer Balcarras, 48, and her 20-year-old daughter, Selah Reed, died in a suspected grizzly bear attack. (Facebook/Josh Kara Balcarras)
When relatives could not reach the mother and daughter, they contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Sunday morning and requested a welfare check.
Officers found Balcarras’ vehicle at the trailhead. Search teams recovered her body Monday, followed by Reed’s body on Tuesday.
A grizzly bear in Jasper National Park, Canada. Conservation officials say a woman and her daughter were killed in a suspected bear attack in British Columbia. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
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“There was evidence to suggest a bear may have been involved,” Jeff Tyre, an inspector with the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service, said in a video update shared on social media.
Tyre said officers were working to “locate and capture any bears involved,” adding that investigators had not determined whether one animal or more than one was responsible.
“Any captured bear will be assessed,” conservation officials said in a statement. “If it is determined to have been involved in the attack, it will be dispatched in accordance with provincial human-wildlife conflict response guidelines to protect public safety.”
Matt Balcarras said he was stunned that the attack occurred in an area his sister and niece knew well and where they had extensive experience.
“They were not naive city folks,” he said. “They were strong women living the life.”
The deaths occurred less than a year after a grizzly bear injured 11 people, including fourth- and fifth-grade students, during a school field trip near Bella Coola.