Gillam-area residents relieved after RCMP discover bodies By: Tessa Vanderhart and Katie May Posted: 2:20 PM CDT Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019 Last Modified: 7:40 AM CDT Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019 Updates

July 15 — The bodies of a man and a woman are found near a blue van on the Alaska Highway, also known as Highway 97, near Liard Hot Springs, B.C.

July 17 — RCMP say the deaths are suspicious.

July 18 — RCMP announce Australian Lucas Fowler, 23, and his 24-year-old American girlfriend, Chynna Deese, are homicide victims. Meanwhile, in Jade City, B.C., Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, are spotted in a store where they stopped for free coffee. Jade City is about 350 kilometres from where the two bodies were found.

July 19 — Police announce the body of a man has been found two kilometres from a burned-out truck belonging to McLeod and Schmegelsky near Dease Lake, B.C. The two teens are missing. Dease Lake is about 470 kilometres from the first crime scene.

July 21 — McLeod and Schmegelsky are spotted in Cold Lake, Alta., where a local resident, not knowing who they are, helps them free a stuck Toyota Rav 4 they are driving. The are also captured on security camera footage at a store in Meadow Lake, Sask.

July 22 — Mounties say Fowler and Deese were shot. They release composite sketches of a man seen speaking with the couple on the highway where they were found dead and a sketch of the unidentified man found dead near the burned truck. Fowler’s father, an Australian police inspector, pleads for public help in the investigation.

At the same time, band constables with Tataskweyak Cree Nation at Split Lake in northern Manitoba talk with McLeod and Schmegelsky at a checkstop, unaware of who they are. The constables see camping gear and maps in their vehicle.

July 23 — RCMP announce Schmegelsky and McLeod are suspects in the three deaths. They release photos of the men and a 2011 grey Toyota Rav 4 they may have been driving. Fox Lake Cree Nation says a burned-out vehicle is found near Gillam, Man., about 170 kilometres east of Split Lake. Police search that area.

July 24 — RCMP confirm the burned-out vehicle near Gillam is the Toyota Rav 4 the suspects are believed to have been driving. The third victim is identified as 64-year-old Leonard Dyck of Vancouver. He was a lecturer in the University of British Columbia’s botany department.

July 25 — Manitoba Mounties confirm two sightings of Schmegelsky and McLeod in the Gillam area. RCMP say the sightings, along with no reports of stolen vehicles, lead investigators to believe the suspects are still in the region. They say they are investigating a photograph of Nazi paraphernalia allegedly sent by Schmegelsky to another user on a video game network. Schmegelsky is also pictured in military fatigues brandishing an airsoft rifle and wearing a gas mask.

July 28 — RCMP descend on York Landing, an isolated community southwest of Gillam, after it’s reported the suspects were seen at the local dump.

July 29 — RCMP are unable to confirm the sighting and pull back to Gillam.

July 31 — Police announce they have done everything they can and are scaling back the search, although not ending it.

Aug. 2 — RCMP say they found a damaged rowboat on the Nelson River.

Aug. 4 — RCMP dive team conducts underwater search “of significant areas of interest.”

Aug. 6 — RCMP say they have found several items linked to Schmegelsky and McLeod on the shore of the Nelson River in northern Manitoba. The Mounties would not disclose what the items are but say they were found nine kilometres from the vehicle they were driving.

Aug. 7 — Police say they believe they have found the bodies of McLeod and Schmegelsky in dense brush in northern Manitoba. RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy said the bodies were found earlier in the morning near the shoreline of the Nelson River, within a kilometre of where several items linked to the two suspects were found. Autopsies are scheduled to confirm their identities.

Here is a look at the three people whose deaths were linked to the two fugitives.

CHYNNA DEESE

The 24-year-old from Charlotte, N.C., was travelling in Canada with her Australian boyfriend, Lucas Fowler, when she died.

An online obituary about her says she is survived by her mother, father and seven siblings.

“Chynna was a loving free spirit who travelled the world; she had a genuine passion for the well-being of all people,” her obituary reads.

“She always had a positive outlook on life and she unfailingly brought joy to all that came in contact with her.”

A private celebration of her life was July 27 in North Carolina.

LUCAS FOWLER

The father of the 23-year-old from Sydney, Australia, has said his son was having the time of his life and the family was overjoyed when he met Deese.

Chief Insp. Stephen Fowler of the New South Wales Police Force told media last month that their deaths marked a tragic end to a love story.

His father said his son had saved up his money after working in Sydney so he could travel to B.C. and join Deese there.

“Our son Lucas was having the time of his life travelling the world,” Stephen Fowler said.

“He met a beautiful young lady and they teamed up, were a great pair and they fell in love.”

LEONARD DYCK

The 64-year-old University of British Columbia lecturer, affectionately known as Len, has been described as someone who loved his work.

Patrick Martone, a professor in UBC’s botany department, said last month that Dyck’s gruff exterior belied a natural curiosity and enthusiasm.

“His passion for learning about bizarre and beautiful organisms that few people ever get to see inspired our students to feel that same passion and awe,” Martone said.

Dyck began working for the university as a sessional lecturer in 2003 and completed his PhD the next year.

His behind-the-scenes efforts in the department, his field collections and his work with students in the classroom make him irreplaceable, Matrone said.

“He held his cards close to his chest, but as soon as you realized how much passion he had for his work, he was so much fun and a joy to be around.”

-The Canadian Press