Family members have identified Jennifer Balcarras, 48, left, and Selah Reed, 19, as victims of an apparent grizzly attack in Bella Coola, B.C.Courtesy of family
Family members have identified a mother and teenage daughter as the victims of a suspected grizzly attack after both were found dead in the central coast region of British Columbia.
RCMP and search-and-rescue crews located the remains of Jennifer Balcarras, 48, in the Snooka West Trail area of Bella Coola about 430 kilometres northwest of Vancouver on Monday afternoon, according to the BC Conservation Officer Service and Ms. Balcarras’s brother, Matthew Balcarras. Her 19-year-old daughter, Selah Reed, was found deceased on Tuesday afternoon.
Evidence suggests that a bear was involved, said Inspector Jeff Tyre with the Conservation Officer Service in a video statement on Tuesday. If confirmed, the incident would mark the second grizzly bear attack on humans in the unincorporated community in just over a year.
Family members reported the pair as missing on Sunday after they failed to hear from them as planned.
Mr. Balcarras said his sister, an avid outdoors person, was located a short distance up a trail very close to her home. He suspects that the two had intended to go for a short hike when the attack occurred.
The Conservation Officer Service said it has deployed officers to locate and trap any bears involved and is working to collect and analyze any evidence. The service urged people to avoid the Snooka West Trail both for safety reasons and to allow its staff to do their work.
If a bear is determined to be responsible for the attack, it will be killed “to ensure public safety, as per provincial human-wildlife conflict response guidelines,” the Conservation Officer Service said.
“Our thoughts are with the family of the victims during this tragic time,” Insp. Tyre said.
BC Emergency Health Services said it was notified at 1:50 p.m. Monday about a possible animal attack incident near the 1100-block of Highway 20 in Bella Coola. An ambulance responded to the scene; no patients were transported to hospital, the agency said in a statement to The Globe and Mail.
Ms. Balcarras worked as an art therapist and spent many years living in coastal communities, including Bella Bella in B.C. and Prince of Wales Island and Juneau in Alaska.
A June 2023 posting from the Hailika’as Heiltsuk Health Centre Society in Bella Bella introducing her as their new art therapist said she had worked with a range of clients, from children to elders, and that she takes a trauma-informed approach in her work.
Her brother said she had always been sensitive to others’ emotional needs.
“My sister’s a smaller woman – she’s petite – but she’s incredibly strong and powerful,” Mr. Balcarras said. “And I think that’s sort of one of her strengths as an art therapist: gentleness with strength.”
Ms. Reed worked as an educational assistant, Mr. Balcarras said. She loved ballet and doted on her cat, Suga, whom she would carry around in a cat backpack with a bubble window.
The incident comes one year after a grizzly bear attacked a group of schoolchildren and teachers in the same community.
Eleven people were injured in that attack on Nov. 20, 2025. Four of them – one adult and three children – were badly mauled and airlifted to hospital in Vancouver.
The teachers had standard-issue bear deterrents, including pepper spray and bear bangers, and had tried to fend off the bear, which was believed to be with her two cubs.
At that time, there had been no other record of a similar attack.
Samuel Schooner, elected Chief of the Nuxalk Nation, offered condolences to the family of Ms. Balcarras and Ms. Reed.
“While the full circumstances are still unfolding, we understand first-hand the trauma this incident will inflict upon the victims’ family members, the victims of last year’s attack and the community at large,” he said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Premier-designate Lorne Doerkson offered his sympathies to the victims’ family, loved ones and the entire Nuxalk Nation.
“The news from Bella Coola is heartbreaking, and at a time of such profound grief and uncertainty, my thoughts are with everyone who is hurting and with all those supporting one another through an incredibly difficult day,” Mr. Doerkson said in a statement posted to social media.