By Salma El-Sakka
A mother is dead and her 19-year-old daughter missing after a suspected grizzly bear attack near Bella Coola, British Columbia. The British Columbia Conservation Officer Service said it launched a search for the two over the weekend and found the mother’s body on Sunday. The search for the daughter continues.
The victims were identified as Jenny Balcarras, an art therapist, and her daughter. Relatives reported them missing after their vehicle was discovered at a trailhead near the Snooka West Trail, about 8 kilometres east of Bella Coola. Inspector Jeff Tyre expressed condolences to the families in a video statement.
Bella Coola, a remote community of roughly 2,100 people on the province’s central coast, is known as the Great Bear rainforest due to abundant grizzly bear sightings. Such attacks are exceedingly rare, but last November a grizzly injured 11 people, including children, near the Nuxalk community of 4 Mile. That bear was never located.
Samuel Schooner, elected chief of the Nuxalk Nation, said a trapping effort to find the bear is underway and urged media to respect the community’s privacy. He noted the trauma the incident inflicts on the victims’ family, last year’s victims, and the wider community.
