"Dangerous" teen suspects in Canada highway murders could be thousands of miles away
There's a major new development in the investigation into the deaths of three people in Canada, including an American woman and her Australian boyfriend. Police say 19-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky, who were originally reported missing, are suspects — and could now be on the run.
Police say the teens could be armed and may have changed their appearance. They also have reason to believe the pair are already thousands of miles away.
"If you spot Bryer or Kam, consider them dangerous," said Sgt. Janelle Shoihet of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. An intense manhunt is now underway for the teens, who are suspects in three deaths on rural roads in British Columbia, Canada.
The search comes more than a week after the bodies of North Carolina native Chynna Deese and Australian Lucas Fowler were found near their van on the side of the road. The young couple, seen hugging at a gas station two days before their bodies were found, were on a road trip.
Curtis Broughton and his wife Sandra say they met the couple shortly before they died, leaving the young travelers only after they felt the couple knew how to repair their broken-down van.
"They were happy and they were smiling," Curtis said.
"They were on their road trip," Sandra added. "They just seemed like a young couple in love."
The mystery deepened late last week when another body was found some 300 miles away, also on a remote Canadian road. That man has not been identified, but police released a sketch of him. Police say they had found a truck on fire, that belonged to the Canadian teen suspects about a mile from the man's body.
"We believe that they are likely continuing to travel," Shoihet said. The suspects were last seen driving a 2011 silver Toyota Rav4. Police believe they've left British Columbia and may be in Manitoba, thousands of miles away. Investigators won't say what evidence connects the teens to the killings.
For Lucas Fowler's father Stephen, the loss is unimaginable. "As a police officer, you work with families all the time..." he said. "But nothing prepares me, nothing prepares my family for what we are going through now."
The families of the teens say they haven't seen them in several days. They believe the teens were out on the road looking for work.