'End of the road': Manhunt for teen murder suspects focuses on remote town
The manhunt for two teenagers suspected of fatally shooting Australian Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend, Chynna Deese, has zeroed in on a small town in Canada.
Gillam, in a wild and remote area of Manitoba – in northern Canada – with a population of just 1265, is so isolated the mayor describes it as "the end of the road".
Royal Canadian Mounted Police are swarming the area and locals – some who believe they have encountered Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, in recent days – have been warned to be careful.
A silver Toyota which the teens were understood to be driving during their cross-country escape was found torched in a reserve 55km northeast of Gillam, police confirmed on Wednesday (local time).
Gillam mayor Dwayne Forman said there was only “one road in and one road out” of the area and if on foot, the teens would come into serious difficulty.
"It's pretty rugged for them if they're trucking through the tree lines,” he told Canadian news outlet CBC.
Mayor Forman told the National Post he was surprised the suspects chose to drive to Gillam because they would have to turn around and go back along the provincial road they drove in on to get out of the town.
Alternatively, they could catch a train north to the town of Churchill.
"We're the end of the road," Mr Forman said.
"You can't go any further beyond us."
Suspects may have changed their appearance
Lake Cree First Nation Chief Walter Spence said “an all-night patrol for the community has been prepared as a caution”.
"The RCMP are carefully conducting their work with a large presence and I would like to ask all community members to report anything of concern directly to RCMP,” he said.
RCMP said the teens may have changed their appearance as they continue to evade authorities.
Gillam is 2943km east of Liard Hot Springs, British Columbia, where Sydney’s Mr Fowler, 23, and North Carolina’s Ms Deese, 24, were found shot dead and left in a ditch near their broken down van nine days ago.
McLeod and Schmegelsky are also suspects in the death of a man whose body was found near a British Columbia highway.
The identity of the man is yet to be confirmed.
McLeod and Schmegelsky first came on the RCMP's radar on Friday when their Dodge pickup truck was found burning near the dead man and the duo were missing.
On Tuesday, the RCMP named the teenagers as suspects in what appears to be a murderous rampage across northern Canada.
Surveillance camera photos of the duo and a grey 2011 Toyota RAV4 they were believed to be driving were released by the RCMP in the hope of generating leads.
Mr Fowler, the son of a senior NSW police inspector, and Ms Deese were on a Canadian road trip when their van broke down.
Teens visit remote petrol station
A petrol station attendant at Split Lake, about a two-hour drive west of Gillam, told CBC News she served the teenagers.
McLeod paid for CAD$20 (AUD$21) of fuel while Schmegelsky asked if they could consume alcohol in the community.
The community is dry.
"The guy who paid for the gas – he was quiet, he didn't say anything, he was just looking down," Mychelle Keeper said.
"They seemed like, I don't know, normal.
"I'm just so nervous right now thinking about it."
With AAP
