DNA Links Four Grizzly Bears to Deaths of Mother and Daughter in British Columbia

British Columbia's Conservation Officer Service said Tuesday that DNA testing conclusively linked an adult female grizzly and her three yearling cubs to the deaths of Jennifer Balcarras, 48, and her 20-year-old daughter, Selah Reed, near Bella Coola. All four bears have been killed. They were captured over the weekend and destroyed under provincial human-wildlife conflict guidelines to protect public safety. Inspector Jeff Tyre told an online briefing that investigators believe the attack likely involved predatory behavior, which he called very rare, though officials do not know how it began. The women's remains were found about 150 meters apart near a trail outside the remote community, roughly 1,000 kilometers north of Vancouver. Family members raised the alarm after Reed missed a Saturday night call with her sister. Searchers found the mother first and Reed later in a bear cache. Tyre said these bears were not involved in last November's grizzly attack on about 20 elementary students and teachers in the area, which injured 11 people, two critically. Local authorities imposed a voluntary curfew in the Nuxalk Nation community.

Fox News, on the right, leads with the DNA link and the decision to kill the bears, cites the agency's Nov. 10 statement and the response guidelines, and features Tyre's words about a heartbreaking event and closure for the families, the Nuxalk Nation and Bella Coola. It adds that more than a dozen officers worked in difficult terrain and weather, and notes officials did not explain how the attack unfolded. CBS News, on the left, also leads with DNA confirmation but gives more on the search, the bear cache, the earlier school attack and the curfew with police escorts for children, and quotes Tyre on how rare predatory behavior is. The New York Times excerpt stresses the evidence and calls the victims hikers. The BBC largely matches both.