Police find two bodies, believed to be fugitives

Canadian police TORON TO said Wednesday they believe two fugitives suspected of killing a North Carolina woman and her Australian boyfriend as well as another man have been found dead in dense brush in northern Manitoba.

Authorities located two male bodies and are confident they are 19-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky, said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy.

She said an autopsy will confirm their identities and causes of death.

Critical evidence found last week when police discovered items directly linked to the suspects on the shoreline of the Nelson River helped locate the bodies, MacLatchy said. Following that discovery, authorities were able to narrow the search.

Police sent in specialized teams and began searching high-probability areas. On Wednesday morning, police located the bodies within about half a mile from where the items were found and about 5.6 miles from where they left a burnt-out vehicle July 22.

“We are confident that these are the bodies of the two suspects wanted in connection with the homicides in British Columbia,” MacLatchy said.

McLeod and Schmegelsky were charged with seconddegree murder in the death of Leonard Dyck, a University of British Columbia lecturer whose body was found July 19 along a highway in British Columbia.

They were also suspects in the fatal shootings of Australian Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese of Charlotte, N.C., whose bodies were found July 15 along the Alaska Highway about 300 miles from where Dyck was killed.

A manhunt for the pair had spread across three provinces. The suspects had not been seen since the burnt-out car was found July 22.

The bodies were found near Gillam, Manitoba — more than 2,000 miles from northern British Columbia.

Police had said Tuesday they were investigating all possibilities, including that the suspects might have drowned.

A police helicopter initially spotted a damaged boat along the Nelson River last week, and a follow-up search in the area uncovered the items directly linked to the two in what MacLatchy described as “very tough terrain.”

MacLatchy said there is a sense of relief for families of the victims and the communities in the area.

“It’s huge to be able to hopefully give some people the opportunity to exhale and to hopefully go back to being normal and not be afraid of who is out in the woods,” she said.