DNA links four grizzlies to fatal British Columbia attack

DNA testing has linked a female grizzly bear and her three cubs to the deaths of a mother and daughter in British Columbia, wildlife officials said Tuesday. Conservation officers captured and killed all four bears to protect the public.

Jennifer “Jenny” Balcarras, 48, and her daughter Selah Reed, 20, died earlier this month after setting out for an afternoon walk in a trail area in Bella Coola, the BBC reported. “Evidence from the investigation as well as animal DNA was analysed and conclusively linked to a sow and its three offspring,” said Jeff Tyre, an inspector with the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service.

Investigators believe the attack likely involved predatory behavior, which Tyre called “very rare.” They could not establish how it began. “We don’t know how it started, but we know how it ended,” he said at an online briefing, according to CBS News.

The women’s remains were found about 150 meters (490 feet) apart near a trail outside Bella Coola, CBS News reported. Relatives raised the alarm when Reed missed a routine Saturday night call with her sister. Searchers found Balcarras first, then Reed in a bear cache, a place where bears store food, the outlet reported.

More than a dozen conservation officers worked on the investigation over the past week despite difficult terrain and weather, Tyre said, according to the BBC. He said the bears were killed under provincial guidelines for responding to conflicts between people and wildlife. Bears involved in fatal attacks cannot be rehabilitated or relocated because they pose an extreme risk to public safety, he said, according to CBS News.

DNA testing also ruled out the four bears in a separate grizzly attack on a school group in the Bella Coola area in November 2025. Eleven people were injured in that attack, two critically. The bear responsible was never found, the BBC reported.

The latest deaths have shaken the Nuxalk Nation community, which is still recovering from the earlier attack. Local authorities imposed a voluntary curfew, and police escorted children to school, CBS News reported.

“This attack has been deeply re-triggering for our community members as we continue to recover from last year’s attack,” said Samuel Schooner, the Nuxalk Nation’s elected chief. He thanked conservation officers for their work and said his thoughts remained with the victims’ families, according to the BBC. Community support services would remain available as long as needed, he said, according to CBS News.

Balcarras and Reed were “two peas in a pod” who shared many hobbies, Balcarras’ brother Josh told CBC, according to the BBC. “When Jenny hiked, Selah was right there beside her,” he said.

“This was a heartbreaking event for the families, the Nuxalk Nation and the Bella Coola community,” Tyre said. “We hope the efforts of everyone who responded, along with these findings, bring some measure of closure.”