Police have found items linked to two B.C. murder suspects on the shores of a Manitoba river on Aug. 2.
In a Tuesday update, Manitoba RCMP said their dive team found “several items directly linked to the suspects” on the shoreline of the Nelson River on Friday, nine kilometres away from where Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, dumped a stolen, torched SUV on July 22.
The items were found on the same day as a damaged boat. RCMP said they searched 29 metres around the boat on Sunday but did not find any more items linked to the suspects.
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Mounties said the roadblock on the road headed into Gillam, Man., has been removed but police remain in the area.
The search was prompted by a helicopter spotting an abandoned boat on the shores of the river. Some have said the boat was abandoned there last year, but Manitoba RCMP did not comment on the issue.
The Saskatchewan RCMP were investigating a tip that McLeod and Schmegelsky were spotted near Moose Jaw, Sask. on the weekend. That tip was not credible, RCMP Cpl. Rob King said.
“There was what was thought to be a sighting over the weekend. The sighting was investigated and…was determined to not be the two suspects,” King said.
“The sighting was false. There’s no indication they are in the Moose Jaw area in any way, shape or form.”
The two Port Alberni men have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of University of B.C. lecture Leonard Dyck near Dease Lake on July 19, and remain suspects in the double homicide of tourists Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese near Liard Hot Springs on July 15.
There have been no confirmed sightings of the suspects since July 22. McLeod and Schmegelsky were declared suspect on July 23.
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Editor’s note: Manitoba RCMP initially said the items were found on Aug. 3, not Aug. 2. The above story has been updated with the most up to date information.
