Manitoba RCMP have located a pair of bodies August 7 believed to be those of Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky.
The duo were wanted by RCMP in connection to the violent deaths of three people in northern British Columbia - American tourist Chynna Deese, her Australian boyfriend Lucas Fowler and university lecturer Leonard Dyck.
The pair fled from the murder site through western Canada, into Saskatchewan and on to remote northern Manitoba, with search efforts being concentrated around the Gillam and Fox Lake Cree Nation areas.
“Over the last two weeks, our officers have worked tirelessly to find the suspects wanted in connection to the homicides in British Columbia,” said Manitoba RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy.
“While there were no confirmed sightings since July 22, we never gave up in our search efforts, following up on every lead, considering all options and using every available resource. We knew that we needed we just to find that one piece of evidence that could move this search forward.”
That piece of evidence came August 2 in the form of items linked to the pair of suspects, found near the shore of the Nelson River and within kilometres of where a burned-out vehicle connected to the suspects was located.
The discovery narrowed down the search, with RCMP dive and search teams searching the area near the river in what were considered “high probability areas.”
“This morning, at approximately 10 a.m., RCMP officers located two male bodies in the dense brush within one kilometre from where the items were found,” said MacLatchy.
“At this time, we believe these are the bodies of the two suspects wanted in connection with the homicides in British Columbia.”
Autopsies will be performed in Winnipeg to confirm the identity of the two corpses. The bodies were located about eight kilometres from the site of the vehicle fire. No previous confirmed sightings of the two fugitives had been reported by RCMP since July 22.
