Manitoba RCMP say they have found several items linked to the two northern B.C. murder suspects from Port Alberni.
Police have not said what the items were but said they were found on Aug. 2. on the Nelson River shoreline, approximately nine kilometres from where the suspects’ burned-out Toyota RAV4 was found in the Gillam, Man. area on July 22.
“We have confirmed that these items are directly linked to the suspects,” Cpl. Julie Courchaine said Tuesday in Winnipeg.
A damaged aluminum boat was also discovered on the shore Friday afternoon during a helicopter search.
This is the damaged aluminum boat found by RCMP officers on the shores of the Nelson River during a helicopter search on friday afternoon.
Posted by Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Manitoba on Sunday, August 4, 2019
An RCMP dive team did an underwater search approximately 29 metres around the location where the boat was found. Police said the search did not uncover any additional items linked to the suspects.
Nathan Neckoway, a councillor for Tataskweyak Cree Nation, about 87 kilometres southwest of Gillam, posted online that he believed the boat belonged to a family member. He said it was already damaged and he doubts whether anyone could have used it.
The Gillam area has been the focus for more than a week in the hunt for Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, who are wanted in connection with the killings of three people last month in northern B.C.
The two are both charged with second-degree murder in the death of University of British Columbia lecturer Leonard Dyck, whose body was found at a highway pullout near Dease Lake on July 19.
Police also consider the men suspects in the shooting of Australian Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese, who were found dead on the Alaska Highway near Liard Hot Springs, B.C. on July 15.
RCMP said last week they would scale back the manhunt in the Gillam area but officers would remain in the area.
The search was supported by specialized military aircraft and RCMP also used all-terrain vehicles, drones, helicopters and planes. Officers had searched more than 11,000 square kilometres of wilderness and canvassed more than 500 homes before resources were pulled back.
Investigators have said it’s possible the suspects are dead or inadvertently received a ride out of the region.
With files from The Canadian Press
CHEK News
