Jennifer Balcarras

Jennifer Balcarras, known to her family as Jenny, was a 48 year old Canadian art therapist who died alongside her 20 year old daughter, Selah Reed, in a suspected grizzly bear attack near their home in Bella Coola, British Columbia, in early November 2026.

Balcarras had recently moved to Bella Coola, on British Columbia's central coast, to begin a new chapter in her life and pursue a new career as an art therapist. She was remembered by her family as a creative and deeply present mother and grandmother, a mother of four whose youngest child was Selah. Her brother Matthew recalled that she painted murals in her relatives' homes, and her family described her as a book lover who also loved playing guitar, singing, painting and the outdoors. She was, in her brother Josh's words, a central figure in the family.

Selah Reed, who worked as a teaching assistant, shared her mother's love of hiking, art and the outdoors, and the two were described by an uncle as two peas in a pod who got along really, really well. The pair were close companions on the trail, and when Jenny hiked, Selah was right there beside her, according to Josh Balcarras.

On the Saturday afternoon of October 31, 2026, Balcarras and Reed set out for what was expected to be a short walk on the Snooka West Trail, a well known route roughly a five minute drive from their home and described by family as not remote. When Balcarras failed to appear for a scheduled online catch up, concern grew, and relatives reported the pair missing on November 1. A multi day search involving the RCMP, search and rescue crews and the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service followed.

Balcarras's body was found in the Snooka West Trail area on the afternoon of Monday, November 2, 2026. Searchers located Reed's body the following evening, Tuesday, November 3. Conservation officials said evidence suggested a grizzly bear, possibly more than one, may have been involved, and set traps in the area while a hunt for the animal continued. The Central Coast Regional District called the deaths heartbreaking for the valley and thanked the searchers, while the community noted that a bear encounter in the same general area had seriously injured several people roughly a year earlier. Balcarras's family said she had not yet had the chance to build up savings after her recent move, and relatives launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover funeral costs for her and for Reed, describing Reed as someone who had her whole life ahead of her and was only beginning her journey into adulthood.