Clues found on riverbank in hunt for Canadian fugitives

Teenage fugitives Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmelgsky appear to have fled into the wilderness with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirming they found items "directly linked" to the duo on the shoreline of a river in northern Manitoba.

McLeod and Schmelgsky, both 19, are suspected of embarking on a murderous highway rampage in Canada last month that left Australian tourist Lucas Fowler, his US girlfriend Chynna Deese and botanist Leonard Dyck dead.

The discovery of the items on the edge of the Nelson River on Friday near the remote town of Gillam led the RCMP to send a dive team to search the waterway on the weekend.

The RCMP kept the discovery of the items a secret until Tuesday.

They declined to say what the items are, but they are personal items belonging to the duo.

"To ensure the integrity of the investigation, no further information about the items will be provided at this time," the RCMP said in a press release.

The items were found near where a damaged and abandoned rowboat was found.

The site was also about 9km from where the duo are suspected of setting fire to their Toyota RAV4 getaway car on July 22 near Gillam.

McLeod and Schmelgsky vanished, with no confirmed sightings announced by the RCMP since.

The RCMP said the divers undertook a thorough underwater search approximately 29m around the location where the boat was found but "the search did not uncover any additional items linked to the suspects".

After the discovery the RCMP set up a roadblock at the nearby ghost town of Sundance on Monday and sent in officers, but removed the roadblock later that afternoon.

Authorities continue to search the wilderness around Gillam.

The rampage began on July 15 more than 3000km west in the Canadian province of British Columbia when Mr Fowler, 23, the son of a high-ranking NSW police officer, and his girlfriend Ms Deese, 24, were found shot dead and left in a ditch on the side of a BC highway.

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• New theory emerges in search for teens accused of murdering Aussie tourist

• Third body 'found on highway' near where Lucas Fowler and girlfriend were murdered

Mr Dyck was discovered four days later on another BC highway and 2km away from an abandoned and burning pick-up truck Schmegelsky and McLeod had been driving.

Schmegelsky and McLeod drove a stolen grey Toyota RAV4 3000km east to Gillam before torching it and apparently fleeing into the wilderness.

Survival experts said the teenagers would struggle to stay alive in the swampy, bug-infested wilderness for more than a week without the appropriate clothing and shelter.

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