Canada manhunt: Bodies of fugitives Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod found

River guide who spotted sleeping bag on the riverbank claims it led police to teens’ bodies.

The bodies of the two teen fugitves have been found in dense bush.

A Canadian river guide has claimed he spotted a sleeping bag in the Nelson River that led police to their discovery of the bodies of the teens suspected of killing Australian Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy said early today authorities located two male bodies in dense bush who they believe are 19-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky. They were found not far from the shoreline of the Nelson River, near where a damaged boat was found earlier in the week by police helicopters.

Police had said that items belonging to the pair were found along the Nelson River close to the boat during a follow-up search in what authorities described as very challenging terrain. “It is very tough terrain,” A-C MacLatchy said.

Clint Sawchuk, owner of Nelson River Adventures, told Canadian broadcaster CBC he had spotted what seemed to be a sleeping bag caught in willows on the river shore and reported it to the RCMP. The dented boat was spotted shortly afterwards, and the bodies found nearby.

A-C MacLatchy said she was confident the bodies are those of the two fugitives but an autopsy will confirm the identities.

The search is over.  At 10am this morning, Manitoba RCMP officers located the bodies of two males, believed to be the BC suspects, near the shoreline of the Nelson River (approx 8km from the burnt vehicle). #rcmpmb pic.twitter.com/tZ7EBFsNDr

— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) August 7, 2019

Our officers knew we needed just one piece of evidence to move the search forward & on Friday, August 2nd, the items found on the shoreline of the Nelson River & directly linked to the suspects, enables officers to narrow down the search. #rcmpmb

— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) August 7, 2019

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

A-C MacLatchy said there was a sense of relief for families of the victims involved 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.

Ms Deese’s brother, British Deese, said the family needed time to process the news that the suspects’ bodies were apparently found.

“We are speechless,” Mr Deese said in a text message, declining further comment.

The teens’ rampage began on July 15 more than 3000km west of Manitoba in the Canadian province of British Columbia when Mr Fowler, 23, the son of a high-ranking NSW police officer, and his girlfriend Ms Deese, 24, were found shot dead and left in a ditch on the side of a BC highway.

The RCMP said the personal items led directly to the discovery of the boys’ bodies, which were found around 10am local time, 1km from the boat and around 9km from where their burned out Toyota RAV4 car was found on July 22 in the remote town of Gillam.

Four days later the body of Canadian man Leonard Dyck was found on another BC highway and 2km away from an abandoned and burning pick-up truck Schmegelsky and McLeod had been driving. The teens have been charged with second-degree murder in his death and were suspects in the shootings of Mr Fowler and his girlfriend Chynna Deese.

Schmegelsky and McLeod went on to drive a stolen grey Toyota RAV4 3000km east to Gillam before torching it and apparently fleeing into the wilderness. Survival experts said the teenagers would struggle to stay alive in the swampy, bug-infested wilderness for more than a week without the appropriate clothing and shelter.

A damaged aluminium boat was found on the shore of the Nelson river earlier this week.

Schmegelsky’s father, Alan Schmegelsky, said last month that he expected the nationwide manhunt to end in the death of his son, who he said was on “a suicide mission.” McLeod and Schmegelsky grew up together on Vancouver Island and worked together at a local Walmart before they set off together on what their parents thought was a trip to Yukon for work.

McLeod and Schmegelsky themselves were originally considered missing persons and only became suspects later.

AP