A mother and daughter who vanished during a seemingly ordinary afternoon walk were killed in a rare grizzly bear attack in western Canada. Now, authorities have revealed new details about the deadly encounter.
48-year-old Jennifer Balcarras and her 20-year-old daughter, Selah Reed, were reported missing on Sunday, November 1, after they did not return from a walk on Saturday afternoon.
Authorities later confirmed that the two women were killed in a suspected bear attack near Bella Coola, British Columbia. They had gone along a trail located just a five-minute drive from their home.
According to the Conservation Officer Service, search crews located Balcarras’ body in the Snooka West Trail area on Monday. Her daughter was found the following afternoon.
Josh Balcarras, Jennifer’s brother, said: “It’s surreal. It doesn’t seem real. It feels like a dream,” according to CBC.
“The way it starts is a few hours of not hearing from them. That turns into a day, and then a night … then a second night comes and it becomes a real thing.”
He said they had just been out for “a casual walk.”
Mom and daughter killed in bear attack in Canada
Authorities have now provided an update on the attack, revealing new details about the horrifying incident.
Wildlife officials confirmed Tuesday that DNA testing conclusively identified a female grizzly and her three yearling cubs as the animals involved in what investigators believe was a rare predatory attack.
All four bears were subsequently euthanized to protect public safety, according to the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service.
“Our investigation also found that this attack likely involved predatory behavior, which I can tell you is very rare,” Inspector Jeff Tyre told an online briefing, according to New York Post.
“That is to say, we don’t know how it started, but we know how it ended.”
Read more:
