A mother and her 20-year-old daughter have been pronounced dead. Investigators alleged that the duo was the victim of a Grizzly Bear attack in Canada.
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The search for the pair began this past Sunday (November 1). Their family had reported the two women missing. Conservation officers found one of the women's bodies on Monday (November 2). According to a Facebook statement obtained by PEOPLE.
Mother & Daughter Killed in Bear Attack
Canada's Conservation Officer provided another update on Tuesday (November 3). In it, they stated that a search team had recovered a second body.
The two victims were identified by their family as 48-year-old Jennifer Balcarras and 20-year-old Selah Reed, according to the CBC.
Josh Balcarras, Jennifer's brother, told the outlet that his sister and niece would routinely walk the trail that they were suspectedly attacked on. Describing it as a "casual walk" for the pair.
"It'so surreal. It doesn't seem real. It feels like a dream," he told the outlet. "The way it starts is a few hours of not hearing from them. That turns into a day, and then a night ... then a second night comes, and it becomes a real thing."
Mother Moved to Area to Begin "New Chapter"
Jennifer had recently moved to the area "to pursue a new career and begin a new chapter in her life," according to a GoFundMe set up in their honor.
"She was working toward building a future. And had not yet had the opportunity to establish savings. Nor put aside funds to help her family with unexpected expenses such as these," the GoFundMe reads. "Tragically, no one could have anticipated that her family would be faced with such an unimaginable loss."
At the time of writing, the GoFundMe had raised $43,472 of its $70K goal.
The bear responsible for the attack remains at large. But in a statement, the Conservation Officer Service also confirmed that an investigation into the incident is ongoing to find the wild animal.
"Any captured bear will be assessed. So, if it is determined to have been involved in the attack, it will be dispatched in accordance with provincial human-wildlife conflict response guidelines to protect public safety," they said (via PEOPLE).
