Canadian police head to new area in the hunt for thrill killers Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky
More details have emerged of where cops are searching for the teen fugitives wanted in connection to the murder of Sydney tourist Lucas Fowler and his girlfriend, after they were spotted “scavenging” through a rubbish dump.
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The manhunt for two suspected teen killers of Sydney tourist Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese is closing in after they were spotted “scavenging” through a rubbish dump.
Canadian police are in the remote community of York Landing in Manitoba, located along the bank of the Nelson River.
Winnipeg-based James Favel, executive director of the Bear Clan Patrol whose members believe they spotted teen fugitives Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky in York Landing, said police were searching for the teens in an area the size of a football pitch.
He said: “We flew seven of our team into the area on Saturday to help reassure the community because of the manhunt.
“At about 4.15pm two members thought they saw the suspects rummaging in a rubbish tip.
“They looked as though they had been walking for a few days and were desperate looking.
“They looked tired, hungry and cold.
“To be trying to find food and supplies in a rubbish tip you have to be desperate.
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“Somehow they must have walked there but it is a long way from where they were last known to be.
“They called in locals who looked for them and the police arrived soon after at the airport.
“On Sunday night the officers had narrowed the search area to the size of a football pitch.
“It doesn’t sound like much but that is difficult land, very thick with plants and swamp.
“The Bear Clan members are staying in a community centre and the local community is helping provide food.
“Most families are locked in their homes tonight.
“There were rumours shots were fired but our people there can’t confirm that.
“There’s no phone coverage on the island but we occasionally can get through via Facebook Messenger.”
The new search area is nearly 1000km north of Winnipeg and about 200km southwest of Gillam (90km by air).
Sylvia Saunders, a First Nation Safety Officer in the town of Split Lake a two-hours ride to York Landing, said locals were shocked at the drama unfolding over the water.
“There’s a police helicopter in the air and drones, people have been told to stay indoors,” she told News Corp.
“It’s a small community, about 500 people. There is a radio station there and no internet or phone service. The only phone service and Wi-Fi is by the airport.
BREAKING: The RCMP say the two B.C. homicide suspects may be in York Landing, Man. They have sent backup to the area. We saw a ton of cops leave the RCMP station in Gillam about an hour ago. #cbcmb
— Austin Grabish (@AustinGrabish) July 28, 2019
“People there fish, that’s how they make their money. No-one ever expected these boys to turn up there. It’s such a remote and difficult place to get to.”
Police officers have been arriving at York Landing by plane and helicopter this evening.
McLeod, 19, and Schmegelsky, 18, have now been on the run for nearly a week leading police to call them “little Houdinis”.
A member of Winnipeg’s Bear Clan patrol group sighted two men near the landfill and water-treatment plant in York Factory.
The area isn’t one that locals frequent and there were bears around, said Trevor Bighetty.
Bighetty told CBC News he and his partner spotted two “tall, slender individuals” moving very quickly — possibly spooked by the sound of the truck Bighetty was in.
“They fit the description of what was given in the RCMP report,” Bighetty said.
“It didn’t click right away, it took a few moments.”
He couldn’t tell what the two figures were up to. “(I) kind of figured they were scavenging or something.”
About a half-hour later, RCMP wearing tactical gear began coming into the community, along with police dogs. Helicopters were also in the air, assisting in the search.
A local community leader, Leroy Constant, posted to Facebook heavy winds are limiting helicopter and drones.
“We are urging everyone to remain indoors with windows and doors locked. Patrols of the community will be done on a 24 hour basis,” he said.
Locals have taken to social media to say they spotted the suspected killers on a ferry leaving from Split Lake, a community in Manitoba on the Nelson River.
“There’s a FB convo of folks in the Gillam area saying there is a burnt Toyota at Sundance and that they’re spotted on the ferry to York Factory, leaving from Split Lake. Wild!,” one post shared by Leroy Constant reads.
Despite conflicting social media reports about the suspects being surrounded by police, Manitoba police tweeted: “Despite reports — there is no one in custody at this time. RCMP officers remain in the community of York Landing & continue to investigate the reported sighting of the two suspects. All required resources are being used in this ongoing investigation. Updates to follow.”
The teen fugitives’ grey 2011 Toyota Rav4 was found burnt out in a ditch about 50km north of Gillam, Manitoba, last Monday night.
Up to 1000 officers across Canada are now trying to track down the suspects wanting in connection to three homicides.
In a post on Twitter, the RCMP urged the public to “Please do not disclose officer locations by posting photos of our officers in the community to social media.”
Earlier the RCMP said the intense search in and around Gillam, which included using drones and dogs, could last several weeks.
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Officers visited 250 homes in the area to see if any local may have picked them up believing them to be hitchhikers and taken them outside the area.
Much of the terrain outside the town is known as ‘muskeg’ — swamp — and difficult to access.
Investigators are also looking into 200 tips they have received over the past five days.
They have also issued a plea for witnesses to contact them directly rather than to post what they know on social media.
The Royal Canadian Military Police headquarters in Winnipeg also said from the tips they have received “none have established that the suspects are out of the Gillam area.”
An officer involved in the investigation said: “We call them little Houdinis. They’ve vanished.
“The search is still intense and could last several weeks. We are trying to cover a huge, huge area.”
In a series of tweets, the RCMP said: “Canadians with tips about the suspects should immediately contact their local police.
“Multiple tips of sightings have been posted to social media & NOT directly reported to police.
“If the tips are valid, it could create a substantial delay in response by police.”
They added: “Investigators have now received over 200 tips in the last five days.”
“Officers are searching cottages, cabins, waterways and along the rail line for any signs of the suspects.
“The search of remote areas is being conducted both on foot and in the air.
“The terrain is immense and varied with lakes, lands muskeg etc.”
It comes as the family of Mr Fowler announced details for a service to celebrate his life.
“As we return to Australia our thoughts turn to celebrating Lucas’ life. We will be holding a service for Lucas at Turramurra Uniting Church on the morning of Friday the 2nd of August. Time to be confirmed,” a message on Facebook says.
The family have asked family and friends instead of sending flowers to make a donation to a charity “close to your heart and notate the donation for Lucas and Chynna”.
MANHUNT ‘BACK TO SQUARE ONE’
Earlier Canadian police said they went “back to square one”.
Twelve camouflaged officers armed with automatic weapons and accompanied by a police dog were seen by News Corp at the 600-room Keewatinohk Lodge yesterday, the closest shelter to where the suspects’ burnt-out grey 2011 Toyota Rav4 was found just after 7pm last Monday, July 22, 15 miles (24km) to the west.
Since then a vast area hundreds of square miles around Gillam, northern Manitoba, has been searched by scores of Emergency Response Team officers using drones, dogs and a giant Hercules air force plane equipped with a powerful thermal-imaging and high-definition cameras.
Armed officers were seen gathering at the lodge, which was first searched last week, just before noon.
After a short debrief during which some of the officers checked the target sights on their weapons, they began their search.
One armed officer at the scene said: “We’re back checking the building again. We’re doing all we can to find them.”
The huge building is dotted with CCTV cameras but it is not known if they are operating.
A worker at the nearby electrical plant told us: “It’s odd that they’re back here checking the lodge again.
“It’s like they’ve gone back to square one.
“I stayed at the lodge and it’s like a five-star hotel in there. It really is something inside.
“There’s gyms, restaurants, internet. Everything.
“For someone on the run it would be a great place to hide out, if you can get in.
“With these guys still on the run it’s worrying for us because we haven’t been told what’s going on and it’s scary to think these boys could have been hiding out here.
“We’ve got no guns, no protection, no security. All we’ve got is our shovels.
“We stay in groups of two or more and close to our pick-up trucks.”
The giant building was erected five years ago to house workers building a nearby plant.
It is about to be taken down and moved piece by piece to Houston, Texas, to house workers at another building project.
Police have said it is possible the duo changed their appearance and fooled a local into driving them out of the area.
The Hercules plane was also continuing its sweep of the area yesterday despite heavy rain and lightning.
The increased army presence in the search came as local police appeared to use the tragedy to promote tourism in the rugged Canadian wilderness near where the teenage suspects were last seen.
POLICE DEFEND POLAR BEAR TOURISM TWEET
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police tweeted a picture of a polar bear, saying it was “just some of the wildlife than can found in northern Manitoba”.
A polar bear was spotted during the search for the suspects earlier today – about 200km north of Gillam. Just some of the wildlife that can be found in northern Manitoba. pic.twitter.com/Z1hbbtOCxw
— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) July 27, 2019
However locals at a community gathering in Gillam, the remote town that has become the epicentre of a national manhunt over the past week, described the post as distasteful.
“The tweet is inappropriate. It shouldn’t be sent out when people here are worried about two killers being on the loose. Folks are having to lock their doors for the first time and others are too scared to go out,” said massage therapist Eryhn Wicks, 34.
“Polar bears are actually dangerous and you need to be very careful of them. They’re not cute teddy bears.”
Despite criticism of the polar bear tweet, a spokesman for the RCMP said it ”was not at all about tourism”.
“We have received literally hundreds of media inquiries asking to describe the search environment for the two suspects. We have been repeatedly asked what our officers are encountering, not only the terrain but also the wildlife,” the spokesman said.
“We have wolves, black bears and polar bears in abundance here in northern Manitoba where the search is currently underway. Our effort with the tweet was to demonstrate just how dangerous northern Manitoba can be and the very real possibility of what may be encountered.”
He added that the social media platform was possibly “not the best way to convey all of this”.
Locals in Gillam held a barbecue to get scared residents out of their homes, some for the first time in days.
The event was attended by more than 100 adults and kids at the small town’s community building called The Gazebo.
An officer from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police also attended.
“The idea is to get people outdoors and especially the kids,” said George Fletcher, 41, one of the organisers.
“Lots of the children haven’t been out of their homes for days because their parents don’t want them to go out unsupervised so we want to get them out and playing together.”
A community spokeswoman said: “This is to help reassure the community, too. People have not been feeling safe and they’ve been scared.
“We want to ask the police some questions, too, just to make sure we know everything is being done to catch these two kids.”
The military C130 Hercules plane has scoured an area hundreds of square kilometres north of Gillam, where the suspected teen killers are thought to be hiding out.
After the pilots were briefed on the search it took off to sweep the wilderness in Manitoba, with its powerful thermal imaging camera.
An officer helping to lead the police search teams in Gillam said: “The Hercules is going to be a huge help covering a big distance in a short space of time. It’s fitted with all kinds of sensors to pick up movement and body heat.”
McLeod and Schmegelsky, longtime school friends from Vancouver Island, allegedly embarked on their killing spree on July 14 near Liard Host Springs, in northern British Columbia, when they encountered Mr Fowler and Ms Deese.
The old Chevrolet van Mr Fowler and Ms Deese were driving broke down on the Alaska Highway and left them stranded.
Their bullet-riddled bodies were found in a ditch near the van.
Four days later and 470km away University of British Columbia botanist Leonard Dyck was found dead on another highway.
Originally published as Canadian police head to new area in the hunt for thrill killers Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky
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