DNA expert likens B.C. bear attack investigation to crime scene

A forensic DNA expert said investigators assessing the scene of this week’s deadly bear attack in Bella Coola, B.C., will likely use techniques to identify the culprit animal very similar to those used at a crime scene involving human DNA.

“It is pretty much exactly the same techniques. It’s just we’re reading a different book,” said Dean Hildebrand, who oversees the accredited forensic DNA lab at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

“In this case, it’s a grizzly bear genetic book instead of a human genetic book, but the tests are all analogous to what we use all the time.”

The BC Conservation Officer Service has been trying to trap the animal or animals that killed Jenny Balcarras and her adult daughter, Selah Reed, in Bella Coola, and announced Friday that a grizzly had been captured.

The service said testing would help determine if the captured bear was involved in the attack, noting it uses “a range of tools to help determine which bears are involved in attacks, including forensic DNA matching, distinctive physical measurements and other animal-specific characteristics.”

“Any bear confirmed to be responsible will be dispatched to protect public safety; unrelated bears will be released,” the service said.

Though he is not involved in the case in Bella Coola, Hildebrand said investigators collect samples, including saliva, blood or hair, to be tested in a forensic lab. The lab would then compare the DNA sequence with any animals captured.

“They’re going to document the scene with drawings and photographs and notes, and then they’re going to collect DNA samples the same way they would at a human scene,” he said.

The main difference, he said, is that investigators at animal scenes don’t need to worry about cross-contaminating bear samples with their own DNA.

The bodies of school art therapist Balcarras and Reed were found on Monday and Tuesday about 150 metres apart, near a set of trails. They had been reported missing on Sunday.

The Conservation Officer Service has previously said DNA from the attack would be compared against samples collected in the same area last year, after a grizzly attacked a group of about 20 elementary school students and teachers, leaving an adult and three children badly injured.

The animal involved in that attack was never captured.

In its statement Friday, it said evidence from the 2025 attack would also be compared with evidence from any captured bears.

It said a team of conservation officers remain in Bella Coola as trapping efforts continue, noting that bear sightings near the site of the attack had been reported.

It said the public is urged to avoid the West Snooka Trail area.

Local authorities imposed a voluntary 8 p.m. curfew this week, with RCMP brought in to escort children to school.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2026.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press