Autopsy reveals how two Canadian teens died after 15 days on the run
Two teenage murder suspects who led authorities on a 15-day manhunt across Canada died of an apparent suicide by gunfire, a medical examiner has revealed.
In a statement released Monday afternoon, police said the autopsies confirmed that the bodies found near the Nelson River outside Gillam, Manitoba, last week belong to fugitives Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19.
Officials said two firearms were found with the teens, and it is unclear when they died.
‘However, there are strong indications that they had been alive for a few days since last seen in July and during the extensive search efforts in the Gillam area,’ the statement said. chmegelsky and McLeod were the sole suspects in the murders of North Carolina backpacker Chynna Deese, 24, and her Australian boyfriend Lucas Fowler, 23, as well as Vancouver botanist and father-of-two Leonard Dyck.
Forensic analysis is underway to confirm whether the firearms are connected with the three homicides.
The discovery of the bodies concluded a 15-day manhunt that began in the western Canadian province of British Columbia and spanned about 3,100 miles across five provinces.McLeod and Schmegelsky reportedly left their hometown of Port Alberni, British Columbia, on July 12 after telling family members they were going to search for work in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Three days later on July 15 the bodies of Deese and Fowler, who were road-tripping across Canada, were found in a ditch beside their broken-down 1986 Chevrolet van.
On July 19 Dyck was found dead on another BC highway some 300 miles away by Dease Lake. His Toyota RAV4 was missing and a Dodge pickup truck had been set on fire about a mile away.
Police determined that the Dodge belonged to McLeod, who had vanished along with his childhood best friend Schmegelsky.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported the teens as missing on July 19, fearing that they had been killed or kidnapped by whoever committed the murders of Deese, Fowler, and Dyck.
On July 24, RCMP announced that Schmegelsky and McLeod were suspects in the three murders after the RAV4 was found in flames near Gillam, Manitoba.
The killers ate the last meal of sardines, pork chops, and oranges before setting alight the car they had driven across five Canadian provinces and covered more than 3,000 miles with the police hot on their heels.
Their final hide-out in a densely-wooded area was found after local tour guide Clint Sawchuk spotted a blue sleeping bag tangled in some willows in the Nelson River last Friday.
Police discovered a wrecked aluminum boat linked to the suspects on the river bank the next day.
The boat, together with the sleeping bag, burned-out car, and scraps of pork and orange peels, formed a trail of evidence that led police to the bodies.
Officials initially refused to speculate about the cause of the teens’ deaths.
Local media suggested that the teens could have succumbed to the harsh terrain, where threats included water contamination, anaphylactic shock and dangerous predators ranging from blood-sucking flies to a variety of bears.
Residents living around Gillam who were on edge for over a week after the suspects were spotted in the area finally got some relief when the bodies were found.
While Schmegelsky and McLeod are currently the only suspects in the three murders, police say their investigation will not close until it is proven they were responsible.
Speaking in British Columbia on Wednesday, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Kevin Hackett said there is ‘significant evidence’ linking the scene of Fowler and Deese’s death to that of Dyck’s death, but none linking the victims together and no proof the murders were targeted.
