Manhunt on for Port Alberni teens
Pair suspects in three murders, including tourists, unidentified man
In a stunning twist to the Alaska Highway multiple murders case, two Port Alberni, B.C. teens said to be “just out on an adven-ture” by one’s father have been named suspects in the double slaying and are the subject of a nationwide manhunt.
The RCMP say Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, are dangerous. If you see them, “do not approach, take no action and call immedi-ately 911,” Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The teens are wanted in the murders of Australian Lucas Fowler, 23, and American Chynna Deese, 24, whose bodies were found at the side of the Alaska Highway near Liard Hot Springs on Monday, July 15.
The couple, boyfriend and girlfriend, had been shot. The last time they’d been seen was the evening of Sunday, July 14.
Police say the two teens are also suspects in a third death, an unidentified man discovered at a turnout on Highway 37 two kilometres from where the teens’ burning camper-truck, a red and grey Dodge pickup, was found.
The latest sighting of Schmegelsky and McLeod was in northern Saskatchewan, police said. They were in a grey 2011 Toyota RAV 4. Police said Tuesday afternoon, there was a report of a sighting in Gillam, Manitoba.
“(Investigators) have made the determination that Kam and Bryer are now suspects in relation to the Fowler-Deese double homicide and the man’s death in Dease Lake,” Shoihet said. “How they’ve made that determination, I can’t speak to … I can just tell you that we’re confident now in saying they’re suspects in those three investigations.”
The young men had re-portedly left Port Alberni on July 12 to find work in Yukon.
Alan Schmegelsky, father of Bryer, told the Victoria Times Colonist the two had been best friends since they were kids. Both are described as six-footfour and 169 pounds, Schmegelsky with sandy hair, McLeod with dark facial hair and brown eyes.
The boys were into video games that involved warfare, hunting and camouflage, Alan Schmegelsky said.
“They’re best friends who did everything together,” the father said. “They even got jobs together at Walmart. They were just out on an adventure.”
According to the now-defunct Alberni Valley Times, McLeod helped sell cookies as an elementary school student in 2010 to raise money for children in Nicaragua.
The North Carolina-based family of Deese has created a GoFundMe page hoping to raise US$10,000 to cover a funeral and memorial. It includes a moving tribute to a young wo-man brimming with life, a young couple so obviously in love and having the time of their lives.
“Chynna Deese was taken way too early by a random act of violence,” the testimonial reads. “She was a daughter, sister, girlfriend and friend. She was described as a bright, welcoming and infectious soul!
“She had love for travel and adventure. There are no words to describe the pain that her family is feeling. There is a reason that God needed her home.”
In issuing their alert, the RCMP said the Port Alberni pair are likely to continue driv-ing, though police do not know their destination.
“We’re asking the public, if you spot Bryer or Kam, consider them dangerous,” Shoihet said.
The sudden development was “a testament to how dynamic and ever-changing the information is,” she said.
On July 15 RCMP went to a location 20 kilometres south of Liard Hot Springs on the Alaska Highway, Hwy. 97, after Deese and Fowler’s bodies were found alongside their blue Chevrolet van. The pair was dating and had been travelling northern B.C. on a road trip.
Four days later, RCMP were called to a spot south of the Stikine River Bridge on High-way 37 where a red and grey Dodge pickup truck that had been driven by the two teens was found on fire. A man’s dead body was found two kilometres away from the truck on a high-way pullout.
The RCMP refused to release any other information.