Image Credit: The Canadian Press
NATIONWIDE MANHUNT

RCMP believe suspects in northern B.C. homicides still in Manitoba

Jul 25, 2019 | 2:00 PM

GILLAM, Man. — Mounties in Manitoba say there have been two confirmed sightings of a pair of teens suspected in the deaths of three people in northern British Columbia.

Cpl. Julie Courchaine says the sightings in the Gillam area on Monday and the lack of any stolen vehicle reports lead RCMP to believe the teens are still in the region.

Bryer Schmegelsky, who is 18, and his 19-year-old friend Kam McLeod are charged with second-degree murder in the death of one man and are suspects in the fatal shootings of a young couple.

Courchaine says the teens were last seen on Monday and more than 80 tips have come in to RCMP in the last 40 hours alone.

Police are asking people not to approach Schmegelsky and McLeod if they see them and to call police instead.

A burned-out car the teens were travelling in was found near Gillam this week and a police checkstop at an intersection on the only road leading into the town remains in place.

Courchaine says the search involving officers from across Western Canada and Ontario is challenging because of the difficult terrain.

Police charged the two young men Wednesday in the death of University of British Columbia lecturer Leonard Dyck, whose body was found July 19 near their burned-out truck in northwestern B.C.

The bodies of Australian Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese were found July 15 along a highway more than 450 kilometres from where Dyck was discovered.