Two Canadian teenagers who were thought to have gone missing are now suspects in the deaths of three people.
CNN reports that Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, are now wanted for questioning over the shooting deaths of a young American woman and her Australian boyfriend, as well as in the death of an unknown man in rural British Columbia.
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The bodies of Chynna Noelle Deese, a 24-year-old American, and Lucas Robertson Fowler, her 23-year-old Australian boyfriend were found on July 15, about 12 miles south of Liard Hot Springs in northern British Columbia, say police.
Additionally, after police found a vehicle and camper belonging to McLeod and Schmegelsky on the side of Highway 37 on Friday, they discovered the body of an unknown man more than a mile away. The two teenagers are wanted in the deaths of all three victims.
City News says are “longtime friends and co-workers who didn’t seem to be on the [police] radar before they were reported missing”.
They attended the same high school and had worked at Walmart together. Schmegelsky’s social media presence suggest he’s a musician who, at one point, worked in construction with his father.
CBC News says Branden McHale, a friend of McLeod's, described him as a big gaming nerd and happy person. “He didn't have a lot of friends but he was really funny,” said McHale. He added that McLeod enjoyed fantasy video games like League of Legends.
McHale described Schmegelsky as more reserved. “Bryer was really quiet with people," he said. “He was really loudspoken in his friend group but pretty quiet in general.”
Earlier in July, they told their families they were heading north to look for jobs in Whitehorse and then disappeared. A police account tweeted yesterday that the two may recently have been spotted near Gillam, Manitoba – almost 3,000 kilometres away from where Deese and Fowler’s bodies were found.