Two teenagers thought to be missing after their burning car was found in a remote area of Canada are now suspects in a triple murder case.
Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, have been missing since July 19 and Canadian police believe they were involved in the deaths of an Australian tourist, his American girlfriend and an unidentified man whose body was found near the teens’ abandoned, flaming vehicle.
Lucas Fowler, 23, and Chynna Deese, 24, were found shot dead on July 15 on a highway in northern British Columbia, 12 miles from Liard Hot Springs.
The suspects’ burning car was found around 310 miles away, near Dease Lake, Reuters reports.
The body of a man the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are still trying to identify was found 2 km (1.2 miles) from the abandoned car.
It was not immediately clear to police whether the body was connected to the car and the missing teenagers, but the RCMP said they are now also considering McLeod and Schmegelsky as suspects in the man’s murder.
Police said he appeared to be in his 50s or 60s and released a sketch of the man, with a heavy build with a grey beard and grey hair, and asked for public help in identifying him.
RCMP Sergeant Janelle Shoihet said on Tuesday that McLeod and Schmegelsky left British Columbia and have been travelling in northern Saskatchewan in a grey 2011 Toyota Rav 4.
“The RCMP are now considering Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky suspects in the Dease Lake suspicious death and the double homicide of Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese,” Shoihet said
Shoihet said they are considered dangerous and urged the public not to approach them and to call police.
Police released surveillance photos of the two in Saskatchewan and said the two were travelling to Whitehorse in the Yukon to look for work and had not been in contact with their families for the past few days.
Fowler and Deese were found shot dead along the Alaska Highway near Liard Hot Springs, the Press Association reports.
Fowler, the son of a chief inspector with the New South Wales Police Department, was living in British Columbia and Deese was visiting him.
The couple had met at a hostel in Croatia before they ventured across the US, Mexico, Peru and elsewhere, the woman’s older brother said.
The couple was on a trip to visit Canadian national parks when they were killed. It is believed they must have had engine trouble in their van.