The Manitoba RCMP have called in an underwater recovery team to search a river near Gillam for two BC fugitives wanted in connection with three homicides in northern B.C.
To assist in the ongoing search for Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky of Port Alberni—the two suspects wanted in connection to homicides in B.C.—the Manitoba RCMP’s Underwater Recovery Team (URT) will be arriving in Gillam tonight (Saturday, Aug. 3).
Divers will begin to search a section of the Nelson River outside of Gillam on Sunday, Aug. 4. RCMP did not release details on why the team has been called to this particular site.
To assist in the ongoing search for the 2 BC suspects, Manitoba RCMP's Underwater Recovery Team (URT) will be arriving in Gillam tonight & divers will begin to search a section of the Nelson River tomorrow, Sunday, August 4. #rcmpmb pic.twitter.com/lns2qlLaxw
— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) August 3, 2019
Media will not have access to the dive area nor to the divers, who have specialized training and access to a range of advanced equipment to assist in their underwater searches.
No further specific information will be provided on the deployment of the URT to the area, according to an RCMP spokesperson.
READ: Military pulls back, RCMP ‘scales down’ manhunt for B.C. murder suspects
McLeod and Schmegelsky were last sighted near Gillam, MB on July 22. Despite multiple law enforcement and military resources searching 11,000 square kilometres near Gillam and York Landing, where there was an unconfirmed sighting in a nearby landfill, the pair have eluded police.
The pair are charged with second degree murder in the death of University of BC professor Leonard Dyck south of DeaseLake and wanted in relation with the deaths of international tourists Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese 12 kilometres south of Liard Hot Springs.
RELATED: Manitoba manhunt shows lack of resources for missing Indigenous women: advocates
The Canadian military pulled out of the manhunt in northern Manitoba on July 31, when RCMP scaled down the search. Although the majority of specialized RCMP and RCAF personnel and assets were withdrawn, a number of tactical resources and ‘specialized assets’ remained in the Gillam area, Manitoba RCMP assistant commissioner Jane MacLatchy said.
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