Search teams in Canada have discovered the body of a 20-year-old woman and confirmed that both she and her mother were killed in an attack that conservation officers now believe could have involved multiple grizzly bears.
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officers → discover → bears
Late on Tuesday, conservation officers in British Columbia said the two women, who were reported missing over the weekend, were located near a trail a short distance from their home.
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who → say → home
The discovery has shaken a community where, earlier in the year, a grizzly attacked a group of schoolchildren and their teachers.
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grizzly → shake → schoolchildren
“Our thoughts are with the families of the victims during this tragic time,” inspector Jeff Tyre said in a video posted online.
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Tyre → say → video
Tyre later said the conservation service is probing the possibility that more than one bear was involved in the fatal attack.
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bear → say → attack
“We appreciate people’s concerns and the desire to assist but it is critical the public stay out of the area – both due to the danger and to allow officers to do their work,” he said.
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he → appreciate → work
Jenny Balcarras, an art therapist, and her daughter Selah Reed were reported missing by relatives over the weekend.
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Balcarras → report → 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.
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vehicle → post → Coola
Balcarras’s remains were found first and Reed was located a day later.
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Reed → find → ?
A fundraiser for Balcarras started by her family mourned a woman who had recently moved to Bella Coola, a community of roughly 2,100 people, for a new job and “to start a new chapter” of her life.
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who → start → life
She leaves behind three adult children and a grandchild.
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She → leave → children
“[Jenny] was working toward building a future and had not yet had the opportunity to establish savings or put aside funds to help her family with unexpected expenses such as these,” wrote relative Mary Melissa Smith.
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Smith → work → these
“Tragically, no one could have anticipated that her family would be faced with such an unimaginable loss.”
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family → anticipate → loss
The family also mourned 20-year-old Selah, who had her “whole life ahead of her” before the attack.
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who → mourn → attack
“She was only beginning her journey into adulthood, making this loss even more heartbreaking,” wrote Smith.
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Smith → begin → adulthood
Both Balcarras and Reed had lived in communities in remote and rugged parts of the province, as well as time in Alaska.
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Balcarras → live → Alaska
The suspected attack happened at the Snooka West trail area, about 8km (4.97 miles) east of Bella Coola, on the province’s central coast.
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attack → suspect → coast
Bella Coola, which sits at the end of a fjord along the province’s central coast, is a 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.
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which → sit → rainforest
Grizzly attacks in the province are exceedingly rare, but last November, 11 people, some as young as nine years old, were injured when a grizzly emerged from the forest near 4 Mile, a Nuxalk community, and attacked a school group on a lunch break alongside a walking trail.
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grizzly → injure → trail
Despite an extensive search, the bear was never located.
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bear → locate → search
Samuel Schooner, elected chief of the Nuxalk Nation, said on Tuesday: “Our thoughts are with the victim’s family as they learn of this tragic event.”
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they → elect → event
Schooner said a trapping effort to find the bear was under way and asked media to refrain from contacting community members.
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effort → say → members
The province’s premier-designate, Lorne Doerkson, called the news “heartbreaking” and said he was thinking of the victims’ family and the Nuxalk Nation.
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he → call → family
“At a time of such profound grief and uncertainty, my thoughts are with everyone who is hurting and with all those supporting one another through an incredibly difficult day.”
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who → hurt → day
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