A mother is dead and her daughter is missing in western Canada after a suspected grizzly bear attack in the same community where a bear attacked a group of schoolchildren earlier in the year.
On Tuesday, the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service said in a social media post that it had launched a search for the two missing people on the weekend, and that during the search on Sunday an officer found the mother’s body. The search for her ۱۹-year-old daughter is ongoing.
“Our thoughts are with the families of the victims during this tragic time,” Inspector Jeff Tyre said in a video posted online.
Jenny Balcarras, an art therapist, and her daughter were reported missing by relatives over the weekend. A family member posted on Facebook about them, later updating it after the conservation service announced the suspected attack to indicate that their vehicle had been found at a trailhead near Bella Coola, British Columbia.
The suspected attack happened at the Snooka West Trail area, about ۸km (۴.۹۷ miles) east of Bella Coola, on the province’s central coast.
Bella Coola, a community of roughly ۲,۱۰۰ people, sits at the end of a fjord along the province’s central coast. Its remote location and abundant food sources mean that grizzly bears are a common sight in the region, which is informally known as the Great Bear rainforest.
Grizzly attacks in the province are exceedingly rare, but last November, ۱۱ people, some as young as nine years old, were injured when a grizzly emerged from the forest near ۴ Mile, a Nuxalk community, and attacked a school group on a lunch break alongside a walking trail. Despite an extensive search, the bear was never located.
“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,” said Samuel Schooner, elected chief of the Nuxalk Nation, on Tuesday. “Our thoughts are with the victim’s family as they learn of this tragic event.”
Schooner said a trapping effort to find the bear was under way and asked media to refrain from contacting community members.
