Truck drivers' selfless act to keep memory of murdered young couple alive
Two truck drivers are keeping the memory of murdered Australian Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend, Chynna Deese, alive by erecting a memorial for the young couple along Canada’s Alaska Highway where their bodies were found.
The memorial for the slain pair was started in August by Ed Grennan who placed an Australian flag and a US flag between two piles of rocks and a cross made out of flowers.
The memorial has since grown, according to local news outlet Langley Advocate, and earlier this week Mr Grennan was spotted at the memorial site again with fellow truck driver John Van Vyfeyken.
A video was uploaded to Facebook by Craig Humphries who was passing by the memorial site.
The man said he had to video the two truckies who had taken time out of their day to make the memorial permanent and erected a shelter so the site can withstand the Canadian winter.
“In the past few weeks I have been helping him with some new construction to keep the memorial’s delicate keepsakes under cover and out of the weather,” Mr Van Vyfeyken wrote on Facebook.
“The memorial is a place to keep the memory of this couple alive, and to help all those impacted by this tragic event find some solace and peace knowing that we are all keeping the lost and their families in our thoughts and prayers.”
Mr Van Vyfeyken explained on Facebook he made the crosses, which can be seen in the photos and video, and he asked for people to continue to keep the families involved “in your prayers and let them know we are thinking of them”.
Mr Grennan regularly passes the scene where Mr Fowler and Ms Deese’s bodies were found. He drove past when police were still at the scene and later decided something else should be done to remember the young couple.
“I thought, 'What can we do? Any little thing helps right?’” Mr Grennan told CBC back in August.
Mr Grennan described the memorial as being from all truckies who drive the Alaska Highway and have to pass the tragic spot.
“One fella told me yesterday that when he went by and saw the [memorial], he broke down... and cried," he said.
Mr Fowler and Ms Deese were found dead along the Alaska Highway in July.
The Australian man was the son of Hills District Chief Inspector Stephen Fowler.
“We have lost our dear Lucas Fowler, son, brother, grandson and friend in the most terrible of circumstances,” the Fowler family said in a statement released via NSW Police at the time.
“To lose someone so young and vibrant, who was travelling the world and just enjoying life to the full, is devastating.
“To know his beautiful girlfriend... also lost her life in this violent event is too cruel.”
Four days after Mr Fowler and Ms Deese’s bodies were found, the body of university botanist Leonard Dyck was discovered on another highway.
The deaths resulted in a manhunt for the killers who were later found dead in August this year.
The bodies of Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky were found in dense bush near Gillam, Manitoba.
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