Lucas Fowler murder: Fugitive hunt moves after sightings
The manhunt has intensified in a remote Canadian community after the suspected killers of Lucas Fowler were sighted.
A remote Canadian community is in lockdown after two “tall, slender individuals” matching the description of the suspected killers of Australian tourist Lucas Fowler and his US girlfriend were spotted foraging at a dump.
Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, have evaded a six-day manhunt across Canada.
They are both 193cm tall and weigh just 77 kilograms.
The tall, skinny frames and the desperate act of foraging in a landfill caught the attention of two members of the Bear Clan, an indigenous community policing group checking the York Landing dump near a water-treatment plant on Sunday.
All efforts are being made in York Landing to apprehend two individuals matching the description of the suspects. The safety of community members is our priority. We remind residents to stay inside & check all doors & windows to ensure they are closed & locked. #rcmpmb
— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) July 29, 2019
“They fit the description of what was given in the RCMP report,” Bear Clan member Travis Bighetty told the CBC.
“It didn’t click right away, it took a few moments.”
Town swarmed
Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers wearing tactical gear responded by swarming the town of fewer than 500 residents while helicopters flew overhead and frightened residents were told to lock their doors and windows.
Canadian police moved “multiple resources” to the community as the manhunt intensifies for the suspected killers of Australian Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend, and warned locals to expect a “heavy police presence.”
Multiple RCMP resources are being sent to York Landing, MB, to investigate a tip that the two suspects are possibly in, or near, the community. A heavy police presence can be expected in the area. We will continue to update you as information becomes available.
— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) July 28, 2019
The York Landing dump is about 90 kilometres southwest of the town of Gillam, where the duo allegedly torched their Toyota RAV4 getaway car on Monday and were presumed to have fled into bushland on foot.
Locals predicted they would struggle in the harsh wilderness with rain, insects, bears, wolves and a lack of food.
The Royal Canadian Air Force has also flown in a CC-130H Hercules and a CP-140 Aurora patrol plane equipped with infra-red cameras and imaging radar to help with the search.
McLeod and Schmegelsky are considered armed and dangerous after allegedly beginning a killing spree in Canada’s western province of British Columbia two weeks ago.
They are accused of shooting dead Mr Fowler, 23, from Sydney, and his North Carolina girlfriend Chynna Deese, 24, on the side of a freeway. The old Chevrolet van Mr Fowler and Ms Deese were driving broke down and left them stranded.
Four days later and 470km away, botanist Leonard Dyck was found dead on another BC highway.
McLeod and Schmegelsky then drove 3000km east to the Gillam area. The teenagers were school friends who until recently worked at a Walmart on Vancouver Island.
They were originally declared missing when the three bodies were first found, but the RCMP last week charged the duo with Mr Dyck’s second-degree murder. They were also dubbed suspects in the shooting deaths of Mr Fowler and Ms Deese.
“All efforts are being made in York Landing to apprehend two individuals matching the description of the suspects,” RCMP Manitoba tweeted. “The safety of the community members is our priority.
“We remind residents to stay inside and check all doors and windows to ensure they are closed and locked.”
York Landing Mayor Leroy Constant asked locals to stay indoors with their doors locked after the unconfirmed sighting of the suspects near a landfill site.
‘Bolted across the road’
James Favel, the executive director of indigenous patrol group Bear Clan, told local media two men were seen scavenging for food in a local rubbish dump but when they realised they had been seen the “bolted across the road … and disappeared.”
He said the men stood out because everyone else in the community was locked inside their homes. “The community’s been on lockdown for the past 24 to 48 hours so it’s like ghost town. Everybody is hiding and stressed out right now,” he said.
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
The large police and military contingent searching for the suspected killers faced the threat of polar bear attack over the weekend as a military aircraft was called in to scour the wilderness near Gillam, northern Manitoba.
RCMP, which believes the two went bush last Monday after torching their stolen vehicle, at the weekend distributed a photograph of a polar bear encountered by searchers 200km north of the town. “Just some of the wildlife that can be found in northern Manitoba,” RCMP tweeted.
Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale announced the air force involvement, which followed a request from RCMP chief Brenda Lucki.
The C-130 Hercules arrived at Gillam on Saturday with a federal police officer directing the search.
Agencies
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