Communities in Manitoba on high alert as Vancouver Island teens wanted for murder in B.C. remain on the run

By Monika Gul, Hana Mae Nassar, Lauren Boothby

GILLAM, Manitoba (NEWS 1130) – Normally quiet communities in northern Manitoba are being flooded with police officers as the manhunt for two Vancouver Island teens, wanted in connection with the deaths of three people in northeastern B.C., continues.

Canada-wide arrest warrants have been issued for 19-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky.

On Tuesday, the RCMP said they had “reason to believe” the pair had been spotted in the rural town. Mounties confirmed a day later that a burned out vehicle, found near the small, rural community town on the territory of the Fox Lake Cree Nation on Monday, belonged to the two suspects.

The two Port Alberni men were first reported missing after the bodies of Australian Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese were found on July 15 along the Alaska Highway, just south of Liard Hot Springs. Days later, the body of an unidentified man was found near Dease Lake, about 470 kilometres from the first scene, along with a burned out truck and trailer — which were later confirmed to be linked to McLeod and Schmegelsky.

The man has since been identified as Leonard Dyck, a sessional lecturer in UBC’s Department of Botany.

In a statement, Dyck’s family said they are heartbroken by the loss, and describe him as having been a loving husband and father.

Meantime, his employer said “The UBC community is shocked and saddened by this news and we offer our deepest condolences to Mr. Dyck’s family, friends and his colleagues at the university.”

McLeod and Schmegelsky have officially been charged with second-degree murder in Dyck’s death. No charges have been laid in connection with the two tourists’ deaths.

As the pair remains on the run, a number of extra police resources have been sent to the northern part of Manitoba, including extra officers from other parts of the province and country, police dogs, and even RCMP tactical armoured vehicles.

A police checkstop has been set up on the only highway in and out of Gillam — which is about 1,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

Many people in small, remote northern communities in Manitoba have been sharing information and pictures of the teens on social media, with rumours swirling about potential sightings, and many expressing hope that the pair are found soon.

Teens face rugged, ‘harsh’ terrain in northern Manitoba

The conditions in northern Mantioba are no joke. With hundreds of kilometres of forest, McLeod and Schmegelsky are sure to be faced with swamps, bugs, and wildlife — like black bears and wolves — if they’re wandering the wilderness.

“By all means, it’s very harsh,” said Clint Sawchuck, who lives in Gillam and owns Nelson River Adventures. “When I moved up here 12 years ago, I do a lot of hunting and I thought I could walk like I do everywhere else, but you can’t. You’d be up to your knees in water.”

Temperatures are known to swing, he added.

“It’s thousands of miles of bush and swamp and water — that’s about it,” he explained. “There’s one road in and one road out. The rail travels through here, heads up to Churchill, so that’s a dead end as well. Not favourable to keep travelling through, it’s a dead end.”

It’s unclear what the pair’s outdoor experience is, but without proper equipment, Sawchuck believes the men would have an extremely hard time trying to make it away on foot.

“If you don’t have bug spray or a bug jacket and try to head out there, if you’re not used to these little insects up here, they’re more dangerous than anything else. They’ll drive you insane.”

Sawchuck added with the swampy conditions, it would also be difficult to start a fire. He even noted it’s snowed in August there before.

On how the community is feeling, Sawchuck did not hesitate to say people are scared.

“They don’t know. They’re killers — they’re just kids, but obviously, a messed up situation they’re in. I think everyone’s just hoping they’re caught or they surrender,” he said.

Suspect’s father says son ‘wants his pain to end’

Schmegelsky’s father has said his son is in “very serious pain,” and that he expects the manhunt for the 18-year-old to end in the young man’s death.

Alan Schmegelsky has described Bryer’s upbringing as troubled, and said earlier this week that the teen had struggled through his parents’ acrimonious split in 2005.

“A normal child doesn’t travel across the country killing people. A child in some very serious pain does,” the father said in an emotional interview near his home in Victoria on Wednesday.

“He’s on a suicide mission. He wants his pain to end,” Alan said.

Related video: Father of B.C. murder suspect says son is on ‘suicide mission’

-With files from Dean Recksiedler and The Canadian Press

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