After discovering of a pair of bodies near the Nelson River last week, the RCMP was finally able to verify Aug.12 that these corpses belong to Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky, the two fugitives who triggered a nation-wide manhunt throughout late July and early August.
The Manitoba Medical Examiner also determined that the pair took their own lives “by gunfire” and that they were dead for at least several days before police discovered them Aug. 7.
However, the exact time and date of their deaths is still unknown.
Police also mentioned that they located two firearms near the deceased suspects and that they are conducting forensic analysis to determine if these weapons were used to commit three homicides in northern B.C.
Even though the pair was last seen driving north through Split Lake July 22, Monday’s press release suggests that McLeod and Schmegelsky were alive during the early stages of the extensive search in the Northern Manitoba.
While sightings of the pair ranged as far as Kapuskasing, Ontario, the reality is that McLeod and Schmegelsky only made it eight kilometres away from the site of their torched a Toyota Rav 4, which police discovered July 22 in the Gillam/Fox Lake Cree Nation area.
Over the weekend, police found another item in the area that could be relevant to the ongoing investigation, although they remained tight-lipped about what it actually is.
The RCMP will add this latest clue to the list of items they discovered along the Nelson River Aug. 2, which ultimately lead them to discover the suspects’ bodies five days later.
Investigators are now trying to piece together all the evidence they’ve collected in Manitoba and B.C. in order to gain more insight into what actually happened to the pair’s victims.
On July 15, Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese, tourists from Australia and the United States respectively, were found shot-to-death along the Alaska Highway in Northern B.C.
Four days later, University of British Columbia lecturer Leonard Dyck ‘s body was found two kilometres south of a burning vehicle on Highway 37 near Dease Lake, B.C.
Authorities initially began searching for McLeod and Schmegelsky as missing persons, but considered the two teens to be suspects in these deaths after they were spotted travelling through Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan July 21.
In Monday’s press release, the RCMP suggest that they should be able to complete their evidence review within the next few weeks, although they will be sharing the findings with affected family members first before releasing this information to the public.
