Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Serving the Hub of the North since 1960
Volume 59 • Issue 31
B.C. homicide suspects remain fugitives after week-long search in Northern Manitoba BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
LONGTIME THOMPSON TEACHER GRACE BINDLE DIED JULY 22 NEWS PAGE 2
THOMPSON ATHLETE COMPETING IN PARAPAN AM GAMES SPORTS PAGE 3
LYNN LAKE FOREST FIRE BURNS DOWN CAMP NEWS PAGE 6
BEAR TRANQUILIZED ON ELK BAY NEWS PAGE 8
A week-long search for B.C. homicide suspects Kam McLeod and Bryer Shmegelsky in the area of Gillam, Split Lake and York Landing has resulted in a couple of confirmed sightings and an unconfirmed one but police had yet to lay eyes on or arrest the pair as of July 29. “After a thorough & exhaustive search, #rcmpmb has not been able to substantiate the tip in York Landing,” Manitoba RCMP said on social media around 3 p.m. Monday. “RCMP resources will continue to be in the York Landing & Gillam areas. We thank the community for their patience & understanding & ask them to continue to be vigilant.” Manitoba RCMP said earlier July 29 that they “have not made contact” with two people spotted near York Landing July 28 who matched the descriptions of McLeod, 19, and Shmegelsky, 18. “Officers searched the York Landing area through the night and continue their efforts today,” Manitoba RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Julie Courchaine said. “The goal today remains to safely locate and apprehend the individuals and confirm their identities. We’re using as much resources as possible, putting them in the area to confirm that.” Churchill-Keewatinook Aski NDP MP Niki Ashton said in a satement July 29 that the search for the fugitives has caused fear, stress and worry for many people in Northern Manitoiba, particularly in Gillam, Split Lake, War Lake and York Landing. “This is a real ordeal for people who are now holed up in their homes with helicopters hovering overhead,” Ashton said. “This is unbelievably difficult.” RCMP received the tip that two men who matched the description of McLeod and Shmegelsky were seen in the York Landing area around 5 p.m. Sunday. The people who reported seeing the two fugitives were members of the Winnipeg Bear Clan Patrol who travelled to First Nations in the area to conduct patrols and act as ambassadors
while RCMP were going door-to-door in Fox Lake Cree Nation and in Gillam starting July 27, where Bryer and Schmegelsky were last seen July 22. “They saw two guys near the dump and at first it didn’t strike them as odd because they thought it was associated with the work going on at the water treatment plant,” Bear Clan Patrol executive director James Favel told Global News. “When they noticed the truck associated with those activities wasn’t present then they kind of went ‘Uh oh, this might be something else,’ so then they were careful to get a description of the gentleman that they saw, their exact location and the direction of travel after that and it seems to have helped the search.” York Factory First Nation Chief Leroy Constant posted in a statement on Facebook at 8:41 p.m. Sunday that the suspects remained at large and that RCMP were remaining on scene with dogs, helicopters and the emergency response team assisting the search. At that time, heavy winds were limiting police’s ability to use aircraft to assist in the search. “We are urging everyone to remain indoors with windows and doors locked,” Constant wrote. “Patrols of the community will be done on a 24 hour basis.” “This is a fluid situation. Everyone wants this to end today in a safe and controlled manner. Our prayers are with the residents of York Factory,” said Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) Grand Chief Garison Settee in an emailed press release around 8:20 p.m. July 28. “We encourage people living in the York Factory area to remain vigilant while the RCMP conduct their search for these two suspects If you think you see these suspects, please consider them as dangerous. Do not approach them. Contact the RCMP immediately.” McLeod and Schmegelsky are wanted in connection with the killings of Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese, found dead on the Alaska Highway in B.C. July 15, and have been
RCMP B.C. homicide suspects Kam McLeod, top, and Bryer Schemgelsky, bottom, seen in surveillance footage from Meadow Lake, Sask. July 21, have not been captured despite a week of intensive searchign around Gillam, where they were spotted July 22, and York Landing, where an unconfirmed sighting occurred July 28. charged with second-degree murder in the death Leonard Dyck of Vancouver, whose body was found south of Dease Lake, B.C. July 19. Dyck’s body was discovered about two kilometres from a burnt-out camper truck that McLeod and Schmegelsky had been driving when they left Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, ostensibly on the way to Alberta to look for work. Manitoba RCMP said July 25 that they believed McLeod and Schmegelsky were still in the Gillam area, based upon two confirmed sightings prior to the pair’s burnt vehicle being discovered in the area July 22 and the fact that no vehicles in the area have been reported stolen. While the search for McLeod and Schmegelsky remained centred in Gillam,
police were not discounting the possibility the two might no longer be in the area, since there had been no new confirmed sightings in the previous four days. “Our investigators are also exploring the possibility that the suspects may have inadvertently received assistance in leaving the area,” Manitoba RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Julie Courchaine said at a July 26 press conference. “There have been no confirmed sightings outside of the Gillam area [since July 22], however we remain open to the possibility.” The suspects may have changed their appearance, police say. RCMP said checkstops at the intersection of Provincial Road 280 and
Provincial Road 290 to Fox Lake and Gillam, respectively, will remain in place for the foreseeable future. The search is being assisted by the RCMP’s emergency response team, crisis negotiation team and air services assets, as well as the major crime unit, the RCMP North District and RCMP officers from other provinces. Anyone who spots McLeod and Schmegelsky should call Gillam RCMP at 204-652-2200, Thompson RCMP at 204677-6911 or 911 or their local police in other areas. RCMP said several sighting tips had been posted on social media before being reported to them over the previous week, which can create a delay in investigating them.