Members of the Manitoba RCMP Emergency Response Team search the bush along Provincial Road 290 on Wednesday. A manhunt continues for two suspects in the deaths of three people in B.C.Photography by Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
RCMP are scaling back their search for two men wanted in the killings of three people in British Columbia after nine days of scouring the vast northern Manitoba wilderness.
In the small communities of Gillam and Fox Lake Cree Nation, where dozens of police officers descended into the streets and surrounding forests in search of Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod, residents were unsure what to make of the police retreat. With no confirmed sign of the homicide suspects in more than a week, many aren’t sure whether they will be able to return to their old routines and allow their children to play freely. “It would be nice to know what happened to them, whether they are dead, whether we don’t have to lock our doors any more,” Gillam resident Joyce Irwin said.
Mr. Schmegelsky, 18, and Mr. McLeod, 19, haven’t been spotted since the evening of July 22, when the grey Toyota RAV4 they are believed to have been driving was found burning in a ditch near Fox Lake Cree Nation.
They are suspects in the shooting deaths of American Chynna Deese, 24, and her 23-year-old Australian boyfriend Lucas Fowler, whose bodies were found near Liard Hot Springs, south of the B.C.-Yukon boundary, on July 15. And they are charged with second-degree murder in the death of Vancouver resident Leonard Dyck, 64, a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s botany department whose body was discovered on July 19 on a road near Dease Lake, about 500 kilometres southwest from the hot springs.
1
CANADA
2
3
4
5
B.C.
ALTA.
SASK.
MAN.
0
300
U.S.
KM
280
6
Stephens Lake
7
Gillam
MANITOBA
Split Lake
0
12
8
KM
July 15, near Liard Hot Springs:
Two bodies found on Alaska Highway
1
July 18, Jade City:
Suspects spotted
2
July 19, Dease Lake:
A body found two kilometres
from truck belonging to suspects
3
July 21, Cold Lake:
Suspects spotted
4
July 21, Meadow Lake:
Suspects spotted
5
July 22, Split Lake:
Band constables pulled the pair over
before they were named suspects
6
July 22, Fox Lake Cree Nation:
Suspects’ burned-out vehicle found
7
July 28, York Landing:
Unconfirmed sighting of the suspects
8
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: TILEZEN;
OPENSTREETMAP CONTRIBUTORS; HIU
1
CANADA
2
3
MAN.
4
5
B.C.
ALTA.
SASK.
0
300
U.S.
KM
280
6
Stephens Lake
7
Gillam
MANITOBA
Split Lake
0
12
8
KM
July 15, near Liard Hot Springs:
Two bodies found on Alaska Highway
1
July 18, Jade City:
Suspects spotted
2
July 19, Dease Lake:
A body found two kilometres from
truck belonging to suspects
3
July 21, Cold Lake:
Suspects spotted
4
July 21, Meadow Lake:
Suspects spotted
5
July 22, Split Lake:
Band constables pulled the pair over
before they were named suspects
6
July 22, Fox Lake Cree Nation:
Suspects’ burned-out vehicle found
7
July 28, York Landing:
Unconfirmed sighting of the suspects
8
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: TILEZEN; OPENSTREETMAP
CONTRIBUTORS; HIU
0
300
July 18, Jade City:
Suspects spotted
July 15, near Liard Hot Springs:
Two bodies found on Alaska Highway
KM
July 21,
Cold Lake:
Suspects spotted
CANADA
ALBERTA
SASK.
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
MANITOBA
July 19, Dease Lake:
A body found two
kilometres from truck
belonging to suspects
July 21,
Meadow Lake:
Suspects spotted
U.S.
0
12
KM
July 22, Split Lake:
Band constables pulled the pair over before they were named suspects
280
Stephens Lake
Gillam
MANITOBA
July 22, Fox Lake
Cree Nation:
Suspects’ burned-
out vehicle found
July 28, York Landing:
Unconfirmed sighting
of the suspects
Split Lake
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: TILEZEN; OPENSTREETMAP CONTRIBUTORS; HIU
Over the next week, the RCMP will scale down search efforts in northern Manitoba, withdrawing most specialized RCMP officers and air support, Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy said. The military’s aircraft have already been sent back. The police have also dismantled their checkstop at the intersection of roads 280 and 290.
Assistant Commissioner MacLatchy asked the public to remain vigilant and to contact their local police if they know anything about the pair’s whereabouts. She added she’s not surprised police haven’t found the fugitives, noting the region is vast and remote. “It’s just a very tough place to find somebody who doesn’t want to be found,” said Assistant Commissioner MacLatchy, who is the Manitoba commander of the RCMP. “I am hopeful we have further developments, but at this point, this is where we are.”
She said the search for the homicide suspects is not ending and a number of tactical resources and specialized assets will remain in the Gillam area. "I know that today’s news is not what the families of the victims and the communities of northern Manitoba wanted to hear,” she said. “But when searching for people in vast, remote and rugged locations, it’s always a possibility that they’re not going to be immediately located.”
RCMP had initially declared Mr. Schmegelsky and Mr. McLeod missing after their pick-up truck was found on fire outside Dease Lake. But after the grey Toyota RAV4 was found on fire about 3,000 kilometres away in northern Manitoba, the police said the pair were now considered suspects in the three deaths.
An intense manhunt began July 23, as RCMP officers descended upon Gillam and later plunged into the insect-laden bush to scan the train tracks, power-line trails and river shores for any traces of the pair such as boot tracks, tarps or remnants of a cookout. Sniffer dogs, drones, helicopters and ATVs were used. So were two military aircraft: a Canadian Air Force CC-130H Hercules plane and a CP-140 Aurora outfitted with an infrared camera and imaging-radar systems.
But after combing through more than 11,000 square kilometres, 100-plus abandoned buildings and some 250 tips, Assistant Commissioner MacLatchy said Wednesday it was time to curtail the police search. At this point, the Mounties don’t know whether Mr. Schmegelsky and Mr. McLeod are alive or dead.
Manitoba RCMP officers offload a helicopter in Gillam, Man.
A police dog assists in searching the bush along Provincial Road 290.
The RCMP advise anyone who sees Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky, shown in an RCMP handout photo, to call 911 immediately.
Friends since childhood, Mr. Schmegelsky and Mr. McLeod have been on the move for more than two weeks since they left Port Alberni, B.C.
There have been multiple unverified sightings of the pair since police declared on July 23 that they were wanted in the homicides of three people in Northern B.C.
The latest reported sighting was on Wednesday in Kapuskasing in Northeastern Ontario. The Ontario Provincial Police were called at 10:35 a.m. about a vehicle with two men who appeared suspicious driving through a construction zone. The report, however, was not substantiated, acting OPP Sergeant Shona Camirand said.
“The OPP has received numerous calls like this over the last week and they have all been investigated and have been unfounded,” she said. “There have been no confirmed sightings of these suspects in Ontario.”
On Wednesday, police officers and a sniffer dog returned to the site where the Toyota RAV4 was found burning. RCMP Inspector Kevin Lewis, the incident commander, said police are revisiting areas searched previously on the lookout for new clues. He said they also planned to search again the many fly-in hunter cabins in the region.
“We’re going to treat it as if they’re still out there, or at least try to find bodies, if they are,” Insp. Lewis said.
Police search vacant trailers in Gillam.
Assistant Commissioner MacLatchy said there is still a possibility the suspects had help fleeing the area and the RCMP is examining that prospect.
Police have gone door-to-door in Gillam and Fox Lake Cree Nation, checking to see if residents know anything about the suspects’ whereabouts and seeking advice about potential hiding spots. About 1,200 residents live in Gillam and another 500 at Fox Lake Cree Nation. The communities are more than 700 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
At Fox Lake Cree Nation on Wednesday afternoon, the community was preparing to make s’mores over a bonfire – a way to bring the children out of their homes. Many have been stuck mostly inside since the manhunt began. Another bonfire was planned for the evening, with tea and bannock being served. Crisis workers remain in the community, as do the nightly patrols by volunteer members.
“We’re still apprehensive,” Fox Lake resident Raymond Neckoway said. “We’ll have to try to go back to normal as much as possible and be vigilant.”
Dwayne Forman, mayor of Gillam.
Gillam Mayor Dwayne Forman said he understands why police are scaling back their search and appreciates that extra officers will remain in the community. He expects some residents will be opposed to the RCMP’s decision, while others will support the move.
The mayor, as with so many others across the country, is wondering where the fugitives are.
“I’m simply baffled by how they are evading capture,” he said. “Where could they be? Nobody knows that answer.”
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