Chynna Deese’s mum ‘speechless’ after bodies of suspected killers found

The mother of Australian Lucas Fowler’s American girlfriend Chynna Deese has reacted to the news their killers have been found dead.

The mother of murder victim Chynna Deese said she is feeling “torn” after hearing that the teens suspected of killing her daughter have been found dead.

Sheila Deese told News Corp Australia that while many of the questions surrounding why Chynna and her Australian boyfriend Lucas Fowler were killed may now never be answered, the deaths of Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky would not change the reality for her family.

“I was really torn as to wanting them alive or not,” she said.

“This current news does not change my outcome. I remain broken for my family and the Fowler family.”

Ms Deese said she and her family were gathered together and “overwhelmed” as they process the latest developments.

She said she was left “speechless” on hearing the news.

LATEST: BODIES OF TEEN SUSPECTS FOUND

Sheila Deese with her “mini me” Chynna and Lucas. Picture: Supplied

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced they discovered the bodies of fugitives Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmelgsky in dense bush near the Nelson River and the small town of Gillam, Manitoba, ending a 15-day manhunt across three Canadian provinces.

“I am speechless,” she said.

“It’s overwhelming. We need time to process,” she told News Corp Australia today.

In a two-hour sit-down conversation with News Corp Australia at her favourite coffee shop in Charlotte, North Carolina, Sheila Deese last month didn’t mention the suspected killers names once.

“I don’t want to hear more about the boys,” she said.

“Yes, I want them to be caught and I want there to be consequences but this story is about Chynna and Lucas.

“Chynna and Lucas’ whole story is like a novel, it is a romance,” she said.

Even in her darkest hour, Ms Deese had a luminance about her that she said is “what people would always say about Chynna”.

Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese were in love. Picture: Supplied

“She was always my mini me, except she was fearless,” Ms Deese said.

The 54-year-old wore a tie-died T-shirt which said “I am living my best life” and donned a sunflower in her hair — a tribute to her daughter’s favourite things but also items she confessed she already had in her own wardrobe.

“I just want the world to know Chynna was our angel. She was resilient and she was such a giver. Her kindergarten teacher … said to me years ago that Chynna would give away her snack every day to a troubled young child just because it would calm him.

“When she was packing for her trip with Lucas she had these size 12 boots for him and they were taking up the whole top of her suitcase. So despite the fact she wore size 8 women’s shoes she was going to wear them on the plane just so she could get them to him. That was the kind of person she was.”

Chynna, pictured with her mother, was “resilient and a giver”. Picture: Supplied

In the final CCTV footage of Chynna and Lucas at a petrol station, Lucas is wearing those boots.

“I have watched that video over 100 times. That last hug they give each other is such a gift for me. I can literally hear them say ‘Let’s do this’. It comforts me to know they were together and so in love,” she said.

As for Lucas, Ms Deese said he was like a son to her.

“I still remember my first conversation with him. Chynna called one day and she said ‘mum, just to let you know you are on speaker phone, the Aussie boy just wants to hear you speak’ and straight away I said ‘well, hey y’all’,” she said in her charming Dolly Parton-esque southern lilt.

“They were just screaming and I thought to myself, what a beautiful person. I said to her ‘baby, you picked a good one’,”.

“Lucas lived with us for three months. He was part of the family. I bought him matching pyjamas just like my kids for Christmas. All the boys had matching Old Navy pyjamas and the girls had matching Old Navy pyjamas,” she said.

MORE: Lucas and Chynna’s last idyllic days

Lucas and Chynna with her mother and brother British. Picture: Facebook

“Lucas helped my son paint the whole inside of his house. At Thanksgiving he wasn’t in the living room with everyone, he was in the kitchen helping me cook.

“Lucas was a gentle giant. A little more quiet then Chynna but he was very articulate and very intelligent,” she said.

Ms Deese said the Fowlers would forever be a part of her family.

“Someone said to me you are all now part of a club that no one wants to be a part of,” she said.

“My kids talk to Lucas’ brother daily. We will forever be attached.”

“Lucas and Chynna were really preparing on getting married. We should be planning a wedding,” Ms Deese said.

“I would joke with my friends and say ‘Australia is really far you know what if they move there?’ and ever since this has happened I wish with my whole heart I had that option. Get married, move to Australia, we will see you. I wish I had that option.”

Chynna and Lucas were planning to marry. Picture: Facebook

Ms Deese said she took inspiration from Chynna and her faith as she worked through her grief.

“I cannot allow bitterness and anger to change the person I am. Chynna would not want that. She was kind and generous and giving.”

Ms Deese, who works for a non-profit blood service, said Chynna was the only one of her four children who would donate blood.

“If I could tell people anything it would be to give the way that Chynna did. Pay it forward,” she said.

“My kids said to me ‘we have had an epiphany; Chynna was here for a purpose. She has travelled to so many places, now the whole world knows that love.”

Originally published as Chynna Deese’s mum ‘speechless’ after bodies of suspected killers found