Mother and Daughter Killed in Possible Multi-Bear Attack in British Columbia

Jenny Balcarras, 48, and her daughter Selah Reed, 20, lost their lives on a nature trail near Bella Coola, British Columbia. The attack was brutal. Investigators now believe more than one grizzly bear may have been responsible for the carnage.

The women were reported missing on Sunday. Royal Canadian Mounted Police and conservation officers launched a search that stretched into the weekend. Balcarras’ body surfaced Monday afternoon. A second body, identified as Reed, was found Tuesday.

Insp. Jeff Tyre of the conservation authorities told CTV News that the possibility of multiple bears remains open. He noted it is "not yet clear if more than one bear was involved." Any bears captured in the vicinity will face assessment as part of the ongoing probe.

The family is reeling. Mary Melissa Smith, a relative, organized a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the costs. She described Reed as a young woman "with her whole life ahead of her." Smith explained that Balcarras had recently moved to Bella Coola to start fresh, pursuing a new career as an art therapist.

"She was working toward building a future and had not yet had the opportunity to establish savings or put aside funds to help her family with unexpected expenses such as these," Smith wrote in the fundraiser description. The surviving family members are battling the emotional shock and the financial burden of arranging two funerals. By Wednesday afternoon, the campaign had gathered $33,514 CAD against a $35,000 goal.

Balcarras leaves behind three young adult children, a son and two daughters, plus a grandchild.

This tragedy echoes a previous incident in the same region. Nearly a year ago, a grizzly bear ambushed a group of elementary school students and teachers. That attack left one adult and three children seriously injured. The British Columbia Conservation Officer Service deployed 24 officers over two weeks to find the animal. Some officers drove overnight to deliver samples to a forensic lab at the University of Alberta.

Insp. Kevin Van Damme called that earlier incident unprecedented. "This was an extraordinary response to an extraordinary attack, our investigation determined the behavior and actions of this bear were aggressive and unlike any other documented grizzly bear attack we have seen in B.C. or Canada," he said then.

Authorities have not yet confirmed whether one or multiple bears caused the latest deaths.