British Columbia conservation officers said a mother and her adult daughter were found dead near Bella Coola on the province's central coast after they were reported missing over the weekend, and the service is investigating the deaths as a suspected grizzly bear attack^1,2,3.

The women were identified as Jenny, or Jennifer, Balcarras, 48, and her daughter Selah Reed, whose age was given as 19 by al.com citing the Vancouver Sun and as 20 by Gray News citing CBC^2,3. Relatives reported them missing after they did not join a Saturday night family chat, according to al.com². Gray News said the family reported them missing on Sunday³.

al.com, citing the Vancouver Sun, said Balcarras's body was found Monday on the Snooka West Trail and that an animal appeared to have been involved, with Reed found Tuesday². The Guardian said search teams located Reed later and that both were found near a trail a short distance from their home, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) east of Bella Coola¹. Gray News, citing CBC, reported that Josh Balcarras, Jennifer's brother, said they knew the path and described it as a casual walk³.

Conservation Officer Service Inspector Jeff Tyre said in a video that thoughts were with the family and asked the public to stay out of the area so officers could work, according to accounts in The Guardian and al.com^1,2. The Guardian reported that Tyre later said the service was examining whether more than one bear was involved¹. Gray News said officers were working to track and capture any bears involved³.

The Guardian said Bella Coola is a remote coastal community of about 2,100 people in an area informally known as the Great Bear rainforest, where grizzlies are common, and noted a November 2025 attack on a school group near 4 Mile that injured 11 people¹. It also reported comments from Nuxalk Nation elected chief Samuel Schooner and premier-designate Lorne Doerkson¹. Those remarks were not in the al.com or Gray News versions^2,3.

What remains unconfirmed in the public record includes the number of animals involved, whether the same animal linked to last year's school-group attack is connected, and a final forensic determination of cause of death pending the conservation service and police investigation^1,2,3.