The road to Gillam. A small army of investigators hunting the suspects has done little to ease residents' fears. Photo / Aaron Vincent Elkaim, The New York Times
The road to Gillam. A small army of investigators hunting the suspects has done little to ease residents' fears. Photo / Aaron Vincent Elkaim, The New York Times
Heavily armed officers with dogs, drones and helicopters are hunting for two teenage suspects in bush, swamp and forest. It is an optimal place to hide — and a difficult place to survive.
Canadian police are searching for two teenagers suspected of killing an American woman and an Australian manthis week in an isolated part of British Columbia — sending waves of fear through a part of Canada where crime is relatively rare.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Kam McLeod, 19; and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18; were wanted in connection with the shooting deaths of Chynna Deese, of Charlotte, North Carolina; and her boyfriend, Lucas Fowler, of Sydney. Their bodies were discovered, police said, more than 480km from a burned-out camper that the suspects had been travelling in.
On Wednesday evening, the police said they had charged the teens with second-degree murder in the death of Leonard Dyck of Vancouver. Dyck's body, which was not identified until Wednesday, was found in a highway rest stop near the burned-out camper.
On Tuesday, after finding the camper, police initially said the men were missing persons but then said they were suspects in the deaths.
As the manhunt continued and expanded Wednesday, police warned on Twitter that the two appeared to be in Manitoba, three provinces east of the area where the killings took place.
Kam McLeod, left, and Bryer Schmegelsky, are being sought by police. The two are suspects in the murders of three people. Photo / Royal Canadian Mounted Police
During a brief news conference Wednesday afternoon, police said a burning vehicle discovered near Gillam, Manitoba, a small town near the shore of Hudson Bay, was linked to the two men. Officers from the national police force from several regions were descending on the community, which is connected to the rest of the country by two roads and a railway.
According to surveillance video, the pair visited a shop in Dease Lake, British Columbia. The shop owner, Claudia Bunce, said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that the killings had created fear in the area.
"Once you get into that fear and you go to that place, that dark place of mistrust, it's going to take a while to trust again and not be so fearful," Bunce said.
Throughout the week, police have offered few details about their investigation into the killings and have not offered any theories of a motive.
Two suspect were living in Port Alberni, on Vancouver Island, until July 12, when they left, telling their families they planned to look for work in Alberta. Photo / Melissa Renwick, New York Times
The men left Port Alberni, a paper and lumber mill town on Vancouver Island, to look for work in neighboring Alberta on July 12, said Schmegelsky's father, Al, in an interview with CHEK television in Victoria, British Columbia, on Monday. He said the pair took jobs at Walmart after high school graduation but quit after five weeks.
"This isn't cutting it. Let's go find the real money, Alberta is where the real money is at," Al Schmegelsky said, paraphrasing the two young men who he believed were heading to stay with relatives in Red Deer, Alberta.
Al Schmegelsky said he was surprised to learn from police that his son was still in British Columbia.
"They're just kids on an adventure," he told the broadcaster when police were still treating them as missing persons. "They're really good boys; they've been friends since elementary school."
One bond between the two men appeared to be video gaming. The elder Schmegelsky said in the interview that his son and his friend were game enthusiasts.
The two teens were living in Port Alberni, and had worked at Walmart for five weeks, when they decided to go on what they said was job-hunting trip. Photo / Melissa Renwick, The New York Times
In a still from a surveillance video released by police, McLeod is wearing a T-shirt that refers to a mythical creature created by horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft, variations of which have appeared in several video games.
Two and a half years ago at Christmas, Al Schmegelsky said, he gave his son a replica of an assault rifle that uses compressed gas to fire plastic pellets in a shooting sport known as airsoft. Its players often simulate military actions and wear camouflage.
He said his son told him that "me and the fellas, we like to get out in the woods and play war."
The couple whose remains were discovered July 15 were working and traveling through Canada, according to their families. They met about two years ago while traveling in Croatia. Fowler had been working at a lodge in British Columbia and was the son of a chief inspector in the New South Wales Police Force.
Written by: Ian Austen
Photographs by: Aarom Vincent Elkaim and Melissa Renwick
