Police are confident that bodies found are the Canada manhunt suspects, but questions remain

Police strongly believe that bodies recovered on a riverbank near Gillam, Manitoba are the two suspects wanted in the nation-manhunt. This latest discovery in the lengthy investigation came through a search by RCMP divers after a discarded boat and several items linked to the suspects were discovered along the shoreline of the Nelson River.

B.C. RCMP Assistant Commissioner Kevin Hackett has said that the autopsies to confirm the identity of the bodies and cause of death will take place Thursday, reports CTV News.

19-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky were charged with second-degree murder for the death of Leonard Dyck which triggered a nation-wide manhunt roughly two weeks ago.

They were also the primary suspects in relation to the deaths of two tourists, Australian Lucas Fowler and his girlfriend, American Chynna Deese.

According to Global News, the RCMP announced Wednesday that “they believe two bodies found near the Nelson River in the province’s north belong to the suspects.”

In a small act of gratitude, RCMP Manitoba has even thanked the public on Twitter for their tips and vigilance during the manhunt, suggesting the search is likely over. Either way, we will know for sure soon.

However, while it looks like this case is wrapping up, the RCMP say that many questions remain regarding the motives of the two suspects.

“I’d like to stress that our investigative efforts have not concluded yet,” Hackett said. “We still need to ensure that our investigative findings … continues to confirm our investigative theory and eliminates any other possibilities or suspects.”

“Following this discovery, we were at last able to narrow down the search. We immediately sent in specialized RCMP teams to begin searching nearby high probability areas,”  Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy said at a press conference.

“Here in Manitoba,” she continued, “we have forensic identification specialists who are on the scene and will be going over it very carefully to collect whatever evidence they can that would be of help in that homicide investigation. And the bodies we found will be sent to Winnipeg for autopsy where we can officially confirm identity and cause of death.”

“Regarding the motive,” Hackett continued, “it is going to be extremely difficult for us to ascertain definitively what the motive was. Obviously, we will not have the opportunity to speak with these individuals

“And again, the examination of the area where they were located today is still being dealt with and searched, so there may be additional items that could help in that regard —identifying a motive, et cetera, but we don’t have that information yet,” he said.

“This is early days for the recovery of the two suspects,” he continued. “We want to bring back all of the information and all of the evidence that we have—our investigators will go through that meticulously—and we will be in a better position perhaps in the future, in the near future to talk about all of the linkages, perhaps, that existed.”