A Whitehorse teacher and her 10-month-old daughter are dead after a bear attack in a remote area of central Yukon.
Valérie Théorêt, 37, and her child, Adele Roesholt, were killed on Nov. 26 near their cabin in the Einarson Lake area, northeast of Mayo near the border with the Northwest Territories, according to a news release on Tuesday from the Yukon Coroner’s Service.
Authorities were notified about the deaths after Théorêt’s husband, Gjermund Roesholt, activated an emergency alarm at 3:45 p.m.
Gjermund, a trapper, was returning from a trapline around 3 p.m. when, about 100 metres from his cabin, he was charged by a grizzly bear. He was “forced to shoot the bear dead,” the release said.
As he approached, Gjermund found the bodies of his wife and child just outside the cabin.
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Théorêt and her child appeared to have gone out for a walk sometime between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. when they were fatally attacked by the grizzly.
The family had been trapping in the area for the past three months.
Théorêt was a Grade 6 late French immersion teacher at Whitehorse Elementary School, a department of education spokesperson confirmed, adding that grief counsellors will be present at the school for any staff and students who want support.
