CANADA - Lucas Fowler, Australian & Chynna Deese, American, murdered, Alaska Hwy, BC, Jul 2019 #2

[Herat]

Do we know where LF and CD spent the night of the 13th?

They bought gas at Ft Nelson about 7:47 pm on Saturday July 13.

It's still very light at that time so they might have just gone a few miles out of town - maybe a local campsite.

We don't know when the car trouble started. That would be a good thing to know.

I think it's only about 4 hours from the gas station to where they were found murdered. So, we have to account for about 30 hours between the gas station photos and the discovery of their bodies. And we know they were at that location at about 16:30 on Sunday July 14. So actually there are about 20.5 hours that need to be accounted for

My guess is that they would have taken off and not lingered in Ft. Nelson. Yet, if you had major trouble ( I got the impression it was a head gasket issue) you would want to backtrack to Ft Nelson to get it checked out, rather than depend on somewhere much smaller farther on. And a head gasket is not a minor issue. They certainly had time to return to Ft. Nelson to get it fixed.

Are there interesting sites along the way where they would stop? Need to pull out my Lonely Planet Canada guidebook.

 

[CherryKitty]

This is all so heartbreaking. Northern BC is so beautiful, but I can't see myself ever visiting there - there's something too eerie for me about it.

I am hopeful that justice is found in this case. There is something very wrong here.

 

[Trooper]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/homicide-rates-increase-statistics-canada-1.4915100....

Still, it is a very low rate of murder in the community, in comparison. I think in NSW, Australia, the rate is just slightly higher.

In Au, the days most chosen for murder overall, (32%) are Thursday and Sunday... is there a comparative stat for Canada anywhere?

 

[tmar]

Mr Fowler, 23, the son of senior New South Wales policeman Stephen Fowler, and Chynna Deese, 24, were found dead on Monday on the side of the Alaska Highway in British Columbia. Canadian authorities confirmed their deaths as a double homicide, but had not revealed how the pair died.

 

[thebedbug]

I thought there was an indication that there was "something" that lead them to find the 3rd body "near" the burning car. I don't think it has been more explicitly stated - but this isn't just a case of "we happened to find a burning car that belongs to two missing teens AND we happened to find a dead guy 2 km away."

 

[tmar]

FROM BOTH Families:
"We have lost our dear Lucas Fowler, son, brother, grandson and friend, in the most terrible of circumstances. 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, Chynna Deese of Charlotte, North Carolina also lost her life in this violent event is too cruel. All our love and best wishes go to Chynna's family and friends.

....

"Our deepest thanks for all your love and care. At this stage we can only move forward a minute at a time, and those minutes are moving so slowly.

"Please share this with all those who may have crossed paths anywhere in the world with these beautiful young people."

In a statement on Facebook, Ms Deese's brother Kennedy Deese paid tribute to his sister and Mr Fowler.

"It is with overwhelming sadness that I share my sister Chynna and her beloved boyfriend Lucas were recently found deceased, homicide victims along a remote stretch of Canada while on a road trip," he said.

"They were bright and beautiful souls. We are all still in shock and heartbroken."

According to Lucas Fowler's Facebook, he was from Hornsby on Sydney's upper north shore and went to Ku-ring-gai High School.

 

[Snoop Sister]

Mr Fowler, 23, the son of senior New South Wales policeman Stephen Fowler, and Chynna Deese, 24, were found dead on Monday on the side of the Alaska Highway in British Columbia. Canadian authorities confirmed their deaths as a double homicide, but had not revealed how the pair died.

They were shot as per the presser today. See post #9 for more details of the press release.

 

[Seattle1]

They bought gas at Ft Nelson about 7:47 pm on Saturday July 13.

It's still very light at that time so they might have just gone a few miles out of town - maybe a local campsite.

We don't know when the car trouble started. That would be a good thing to know.

I think it's only about 4 hours from the gas station to where they were found murdered. So, we have to account for about 30 hours between the gas station photos and the discovery of their bodies. And we know they were at that location at about 16:30 on Sunday July 14. So actually there are about 20.5 hours that need to be accounted for

My guess is that they would have taken off and not lingered in Ft. Nelson. Yet, if you had major trouble ( I got the impression it was a head gasket issue) you would want to backtrack to Ft Nelson to get it checked out, rather than depend on somewhere much smaller farther on. And a head gasket is not a minor issue. They certainly had time to return to Ft. Nelson to get it fixed.

Are there interesting sites along the way where they would stop? Need to pull out my Lonely Planet Canada guidebook.

I'm not certain why you believe their chevy van had a head gasket issue (??)-- this would likely be cause to cancel any road trip!

The only report that I'm aware of and that was discussed between LF and the mechanic (and his wife) that stopped to offer them assistance was "flooding" which is a problem very much associated with older vehicle engines. LF had hood lifted to let excess fuel evaporate and most likely had plans to check the TBI for leaks at next stop.

If I recall correctly, the couple had stopped at a Lodge, and also Liard Springs between Saturday and Sunday evening.

MOO

 

[Seattle1]

David Molko‏ @molkoreports
This man is not a suspect police say. But they want to speak w him. They believe he’s driving older model Jeep Cherokee with a black racing stripe and a bar with small lights. Was traveling SB. @BCRCMPMedia will also release Fort. Nelson gas station video of couple from Jul 13

2:24 PM - 22 Jul 2019 pst

David Molko‏ @molkoreports
BREAKING update on the search for the killer of the young tourists headed for Alaska. Both were shot and killed. This is a sketch of a man police say Lucas Fowler was seen talking to along the highway the day before his and his girlfriend’s bodies were found. @CTVVancouver

2:19 PM - 22 Jul 2019 pst

 

[Seattle1]

David Molko‏ @molkoreports
BREAKING on search for missing men near Dease Lake. Identity of deceased male found in highway pullout still unknown. He’s neither of the missing men. White with a heavy build. 50-60 years old with grey hair and a grey beard. This is a sketch of the deceased. @CTVVancouver

2:09 PM - 22 Jul 2019 pst

 

[Herat]

If I recall correctly, the couple had stopped at a Lodge, and also Liard Springs between Saturday and Sunday evening.

MOO

I dont believe they had been to Liard Hot Spraings

They were found murdered ~ 20 km south of there, with their vehicle on the right shoulder, headed towards Liard, not away from it.

The fellow that stopped with his two aunts in the car had visited there earlier that day and was headed south when he came across the stranded van

 

[tmar]

Exactly! Too many threads and different scenarios.

I planned on going to northern BC on vacation...think I will head to Ottawa where it is safe! Anywhere but northern BC.

NO.
Stay at home with your knitting/gardening/playing with your dog.
We find murders everywhere

 

[Kaie]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/homicide-rates-increase-statistics-canada-1.4915100....

Still, it is a very low rate of murder in the community, in comparison. I think in NSW, Australia, the rate is just slightly higher.

In Au, the days most chosen for murder overall, (32%) are Thursday and Sunday... is there a comparative stat for Canada anywhere?

Seriously? I've never even considered days of the week stats for murder, and wouldn't have guessed it would be like that. Interesting.

I guess it's true that Saturday night's alright for fighting then (sorry!)

Maybe if Thursday and Sunday are higher risk, it might be that they are higher alcohol consumption days than the first half of the working week... but there's less natural surveillance around than on Fridays and Saturdays.

 

[Clouddown]

https://7news.com.au/news/crime/luc...-of-texas-murder-suspect-in-the-area-c-361152

Well then, it doesn't appear to be a good day for Derek Whisenand. It does kind of set you back in your chair.

 

[Seattle1]

I dont believe they had been to Liard Hot Spraings

They were found murdered ~ 20 km south of there, with their vehicle on the right shoulder, headed towards Liard, not away from it.

The fellow that stopped with his two aunts in the car had visited there earlier that day and was headed south when he came across the stranded van

This tweet with 9news.aus video report at link says they were possible seen at Liard Lodge the night before they were discovered murdered, and authorities checking surveillance footage there. (Possible couple did not drive themselves to Liard Lodge).

Nine News Australia‏Verified account @9NewsAUS
Concerns tonight that another dead body and two missing men could be linked to the double murder of Australian man Lucas Fowler and his girlfriend in Canada's northern Rockies. @LexiDaish #9News
#9News 9 News Melbourne, nightly at 6.00pm

1:28 AM - 22 Jul 2019 pst

 

[Satchie]

I think they were found in the ditch, my question is the ditch the grassy area along side the van or is the ditch the rocky area just behind the van that seems to go up, not beside. I seen the rocky area in the video where someone was driving by.

I had that same question, because the rubbled ditch is included inside the crime scene tape. It's not clear from the heavily edited video of Trevor Pierre: when he says 'ditch', the camera moves to cover the large grassy area, between the trees and the road. Witnesses describe scene where tourists died

It seems to me, as a highway worker he'd use the proper name for things, which for the rubbled ditch is, I think, a cross-drain. And the ditch would be the area where rainwater drains off the road, ie the bottom of the slope off the the side of the road.

I was think about how the crime scene tape extends back to the trees, I guess they wanted to search in case he'd approached and returned on foot from that direction. I wonder whether they found anything.

 

[otto]

I thought there was an indication that there was "something" that lead them to find the 3rd body "near" the burning car. I don't think it has been more explicitly stated - but this isn't just a case of "we happened to find a burning car that belongs to two missing teens AND we happened to find a dead guy 2 km away."

A burning vehicle was reported 50km S of Dease Lake on July 19. It was then reported that there was a body at the pullout 2km S of the burning vehicle. Investigators determined that the burning vehicle belonged to two teens, aged 18 and 19, and that neither was the deceased man.

Police are now trying to identify the deceased man and to locate the missing teens.

Discovery of the burning vehicle and the body were as random as discovery of the murdered couple. In both cases, identification of the bodies was a problem. It took 3 days to identify the murdered couple, primarily because their ID was missing and the vehicle was not registered to an address where they lived or worked.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

Yes.

In trying to sleuth this all out and deal impassively with the crime details, it's all to easy to miss that these were two very young people. Full of the optimism and innocent security that traveling in the world can give you

I didnt realize this was likely their second or third night on the trip and the sweet embrace captured on the gas station CCTV makes this all the more heartbreaking .

I think the person that did this was remorseless and cold. A real hard case. Maybe a known felon.

I agree that a felon or maybe criminal may have done this and felt murder was the only option to not be identified if on the run/parole or caught up in something illegal. With that back window smashed out, curious if the couple was asleep in the van and someone thought it was empty and broke in? Could be road rage if a rock was thrown at back window. Just strange all around. The couple seem non-aggressive, just crossed paths with the wrong person(s).

 

[kmclaren]

I thought there was an indication that there was "something" that lead them to find the 3rd body "near" the burning car. I don't think it has been more explicitly stated - but this isn't just a case of "we happened to find a burning car that belongs to two missing teens AND we happened to find a dead guy 2 km away."

The "something" was a passing motorist spotted they body 2km away and reported it to RCMP. And 2km to me really isn't "near" but they connected the 2 incidents for some reason.

https://7news.com.au/news/crime/thi...-fowler-and-girlfriend-were-murdered-c-356752

 

[otto]

I'm not certain why you believe their chevy van had a head gasket issue (??)-- this would likely be cause to cancel any road trip!

The only report that I'm aware of and that was discussed between LF and the mechanic (and his wife) that stopped to offer them assistance was "flooding" which is a problem very much associated with older vehicle engines. LF had hood lifted to let excess fuel evaporate and most likely had plans to check the TBI for leaks at next stop.

If I recall correctly, the couple had stopped at a Lodge, and also Liard Springs between Saturday and Sunday evening.

MOO

They were driving towards Liard Hot Springs, but their vehicle broke down 20km S. They were seen by witnesses at 3:20PM, and one witness contacted RCMP at the time. Police were interested in witnesses who saw them after 4PM, after they were known to be alive and well, albeit stranded.

There has been no information stating that they were at a different location at any time after they were stranded on the side of the road with a disabled vehicle.