Police pursue new sighting of 'suspicious men' in hunt for teen murder suspects
There is a fresh lead, and perhaps the faint flicker of renewed hope, in the Canadian manhunt for two teen murder suspects.
Authorities have been investigating a potential sighting of the two men in the province of Ontario, more than 2000km from the current search area in the tiny town of Gillam.
Suspects Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, are charged with the murder of a Canadian man and also thought to be responsible for the brutal murders of Australian man Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend nearly three weeks ago.
Canadian police stopped wanted men before unwittingly letting them go
The remote area where Canadian fugitives are believed to be hiding
The two men have managed to evade a police manhunt involving dozens of officers, dogs, and drones with infra-red cameras and imaging radar.
The latest tip to police comes as the theory that the two men were killed by wildlife while on the run in the Canadian woods grows stronger with each passing day.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) told local media that they were investigating a sighting of two “suspicious men” that the complainant believed to be the murder suspects.
The potential sighting related to a white vehicle seen driving suspiciously through a construction site on Highway 11 in the northern Ontario town of Kapuskasing, local media reported.
“The OPP is continuing to investigate this incident and is actively looking for the vehicle,” a police statement said.
However officers have been quick to remind the public that they have not been able to substantiate the tip, or locate the vehicle.
“There have been no confirmed sightings in Ontario,” Sgt. Shona Camirand told Canada’s Global News.
Suspects could well be dead, locals say
Survival experts and Gillam locals said if the teenagers attempted to hide in the wilderness and did not have the appropriate gear or shelter for the swampy sub-Antarctic boreal forest, they would likely die from blood-sucking insects, tainted water, starvation, bears and other predators.
RCMP search teams had dogs attempting to find their scent but MacLatchy said she was not sure if the dogs were trained to find dead bodies.
"It's just a very tough place to find somebody who doesn't want to be found," MacLatchy said.
With AAP
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