- Two Canadian teen murder suspects led the police on a 20-day manhunt across thousands of miles of wilderness before they were found dead on Wednesday.
- This map by INSIDER shows key locations on their still mysterious journey from one side of the country to the other.
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories.
Two Canadian teen murder suspects who led the police on a wild manhunt across thousands of miles were found dead on Wednesday.
The police said they found the bodies of Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, on the banks of the Nelson River in Manitoba, 5 miles from where their burned-out truck was found on July 22.
The discovery ended a 20-day saga that spanned several Canadian provinces – involving the military, drones, and search dogs – and put much of rural Canada on high alert.
The childhood friends were charged with murder in the death of Leonard Dyck, 64, a botanist. They were suspects in the killings of two backpackers, Chynna Deese, 24, and Lucas Fowler, 23.
The two teens were initially described as missing people when their truck was found abandoned but were later named suspects.
Here's a timeline of the case:
- July 12: McLeod and Schmegelsky left their homes in Port Alberni, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to search for work in Whitehorse, Yukon, Schmegelsky's grandmother said.
- July 15: The police found the bodies of Deese and Fowler with multiple bullet wounds at Liard Hot Springs off Canada's Highway 97. Nearby was a blue 1986 Chevrolet van that they were using for a road trip.
- July 19: The police found a burned-out Dodge truck belonging to McLeod and Schmegelsky near Dease Lake and declared the teens missing. They found a body 2 kilometers from the smoldering wreck.
- July 21: The two were seen in a hardware store in northern Saskatchewan. They had also been spotted driving a 2011 Toyota RAV4 in Alberta.
- July 22: That car was found near Gillam, Manitoba; it appeared to have also been set on fire.
- July 23: The police announced that McLeod and Schmegelsky were the sole suspects in the three deaths. Earlier, they had been allowed to pass through an alcohol checkpoint. Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported that a Nazi symbol had been found on a gaming account connected to Schmegelsky.
- July 24: The body that had been found by the teen's car was identified as that of Dyck, from Vancouver.
- July 28: The police headed to York Landing after a tip-off that the two were seen foraging nearby.
- July 30: The police ended the search in York Landing and returned to the main search area near Gillam.
- August 1: There were two unconfirmed sightings of McLeod and Schmegelsky in Ontario.
- August 2: The police found items "on the shoreline of the Nelson River & directly linked to the suspects." They also found a damaged boat thought to have been used by the two.
- August 7: Two bodies, thought to be Schmegelsky and McLeod, were found near the Nelson River.
