A Canadian woman and her daughter were killed in a suspected grizzly bear attack over the weekend while hiking on a trail near their home, according to authorities.
Jennifer Balcarras, 48, an art therapist, and her daughter, Selah Reed, 20, went missing Saturday after going for a walk on the Snooka West Trail, just minutes from their home in Bella Coola, British Columbia.
Loved ones grew concerned when Balcarras failed to show up for a scheduled online meet-up on Saturday, her brother, Matt Balcarras, told The Vancouver Sun.
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After failing to reach the pair, relatives asked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for a welfare check on Sunday morning.
Authorities discovered Balcarras’ vehicle parked at the trailhead. Her body was recovered Monday, and search teams found Reed’s body on Tuesday.
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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 posted to social media.
Tyre noted that officers were actively working to “locate and capture any bears involved” and said it was not immediately clear if more than one animal was responsible.
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“Any captured bear will be assessed,” conservation officials added 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 expressed shock over the location of the attack, emphasizing that his sister and niece were experienced in the region.
“They were not naive city folks,” he said. “They were strong women living the life.”
The tragic encounter came 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.