Report.
Multiple grizzly bears may have attacked and mauled a mother and her daughter while they were walking in the woods in Canada earlier this week, authorities said.
The two victims, who were identified by family as Jennifer Balcarras, 48, and Selah Reed, 20, were reported missing on Sunday, Nov. 1, according to the CBC and a statement from the provincial Conservation Officer Service.
A body was subsequently found on the Snooka West Trail near Bella Coola in British Columbia on Monday, Nov. 2, and the other was recovered on Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to an updated statement.
“It is not yet clear whether more than one bear was involved,” an investigator, Jeff Tyre, said in a video message on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
“Any captured bears will be assessed. 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,” he added.
In a Wednesday night news conference, Tyre said there are “numerous grizzly bears that live in the Bella Coola Valley,” and he confirmed that officials had received reports of sightings in the area.
Jennifer was an art therapist in Bella Coola and had four children, of whom Reed was the youngest. She is survived by three young adult children, a son and two daughters, as well as a grandchild, according to a GoFundMe page set up by loved ones.
She had recently moved to the area to “pursue a new career and begin a new chapter in her life,” the fundraiser stated.
Hmm …
Something about this report causes me to think there wasn’t much way it was going to work out differently. An art therapist and her daughter, neither of whom was armed, an afternoon stroll in the Canadian bush, and a government that prohibits going about armed.
Of note. I don’t plan trips or go places where I can’t be armed.