CANADA - Lucas Fowler & Chynna Deese, and Leonard Dyck, all murdered, Alaska Hwy, BC, Jul 2019 #6

[justchrissy47]

A few years ago we had a man die crashing his motorbike as a result of a high speed chase, it was on one of three roads out of my town. The body lay there for three days, because the police coroner wasn’t able to come sooner. This was in the middle of a hot summer. Canada isn’t a third world country but many police forces feel they are working with severely limited budgets that can prevent them from doing their jobs as we expect.

Where do you live?

 

[gitana1]

People misinterpret google maps all the time. They pull up a map of "California" and think it's the size of their state (or even the size of their county, ha). A friend of mine (from Michigan) told her parents they could go from L.A. to Sequoia to Yosemite to Tahoe in one day, without any driving after dark. She thought they "looked so close" on the map.

Map reading skills are definitely a thing and not everyone is very good at it.

I keep turning it over in my mind. Kam and Bryer are either very good map readers (and remembers), or they are average (ahem, good luck to them) or they have no skills at all.

The second issue is of course whether they think (or thought) they have skills. Many studies show that it's the people who are average, or below, who are more competent they have the skill/can pass the test, etc. They have apparently gotten themselves from BC through a very long drive - but...we don't know if it was intended and mapped out. Their frustration, if where they are and what they ended up doing was unintentional, must be exceedingly high, and they are probably completely lost at this point. Or dead.

If it turns out that they have actually managed to elude LE and are somewhere far away, then I'm going with "know how to remember maps and geography pretty well." I am not sure I can call that mere luck.

Your friend is not that bright. Google maps literally gives you the drive time.

 

[sprucetip]

Since LE is going back today and checking areas they have already checked, they must be REALLY convinced they are still in Gillam. I hope they are right.

Last confirmed sighting, so they probably don’t have any other options. With no other leads, they have to believe they’re still in the area. But whyyyyyy would they think they could run off into the bush? It’s baffling!

 

[LoisLane]

Why not a new MapArt road atlas? They are sold everywhere: grocery stores, gas stations, CAA, etc.

Maybe that’s why they were at the coop. To grab a map. In the surveillance video it looked like they were at the back of the store aisles close to the office/school supplies section and seasonal. Maybe that’s where they stock map books.

 

[Cdndadeh]

Everyone I know who owns one has insured it for replacement cost. You either have it added as a rider on your home ownership insurance or by an endorsement on your auto insurance. If your automobile, camper or rv are stolen, any claims for personal items are covered by your homeowner policy.

I can see that on a newer model for sure on a mid 80’s slide in I don’t think it’s as much of an issue imho. I also think two teenagers selling one wouldn’t be a red flag especially in this neck of the woods. A simple story of we’re coming back from the Yukon and need money to get home would likely pass. If it were a $30,000 unit then likely it would be full of red flags.

 

[LadyL]

Thank you for that. That's a lot of hits.

looks like it's mostly the same charges just being delayed year after year though

 

[scrappinkat]

Thank you. So, in this report, Dyck's body is over a mile away (from the burning camper and truck.) If Dyck was shot (which we don't know), then one of those things was a gun. LE hasn't mentioned whether they left behind their airsoft, but I bet they didn't.

The police have not stated how LD died, although there’s been posts that state it was not due to a rifle or being shot. The lack of police saying it was due to being shot, along with the charge being second degree - makes me believe he was not shot at all.

 

[SnooperDuper]

Maybe that’s why they were at the coop. To grab a map. In the surveillance video it looked like they were at the back of the store aisles close to the office/school supplies section and seasonal. Maybe that’s where they stock map books.

MapArt has a series of "back road" maps too.

 

[Gardenista]

looks like it's mostly the same charges just being delayed year after year though

Although there are matching case numbers, there are 3-5 that are different.

 

[missy1974]

yes people often have to make the decision if it's faster to transport patient to the hospital themselves rather than wait for help - I've had to make that decision even only being 10 minutes from a city because the services that would've been dispatched were rural

I don't know about other provinces, but I know here in Saskatchewan, a lot of smaller communities have First Responders, they will get called out to accidents/emergencies, I assume they have some sort of training, no where near as extensive as a paramedic, but can still help while waiting for emergency services.

On another note...

on twitter, following the #canadamanhunt hashtag, someone has posted a photo of a digital sign on the Alaska Hwy that RCMP are looking for dash cam video from July 14/15 near Muncho Lake. Apparently this was put out on Thursday, but I don't recall that it was posted here or stated in any articles, so thought I would share. Those that know the timeline much better than me can probably tell me what they might be looking for?

 

[Herat]

Since LE is going back today and checking areas they have already checked, they must be REALLY convinced they are still in Gillam. I hope they are right.

I do hope they have a fresh set of LE expert eyes to take a look at the scenario, again.

If they were on foot, it really only makes sense to me that they hitched out, likely taking Route 6 south towards Winnipeg. Of course, if they were picked up they could have overpowered the driver and stolen another vehicle, dumping it and it;s occupant without a fire this time

 

[MassGuy]

Last confirmed sighting, so they probably don’t have any other options. With no other leads, they have to believe they’re still in the area. But whyyyyyy would they think they could run off into the bush? It’s baffling!

Desperate people do stupid things. Desperate teenagers do ridiculously stupid things.

 

[Deleted member 248860]

I once worked with a teenager who was in full possession of his faculties, who killed someone and who had no difficulty whatever rationalizing what he did, despite the fact that his explanation was patently unacceptable to normal people.

Because of that experience, I think that all these theories about motive are a waste of time. Nobody will know “why” until, and if, one or both of these people are arrested.

 

[zecats]

The Meadow Lake, SK Co-op is about 800 miles from Gillam, MB, so yes, they would definitely have had the RAV4 at that point. Its about a 14 hour drive. And likely something like 4 tanks of gas = possibly 4 gas stops along the way.

Interestingly, the directions seem a bit complicated. I'm thinking they had internet access for a Google search, or they had some good local maps to do this route. Did they buy maps in a gas station? Why is there no footage of that.
Google Maps

They may have purchased them way earlier. Or there may have been maps in LD's vehicle. It was stated he liked to camp. In remote areas with not much help from GPS or cell, he could have been a paper map person. MOO

 

[missy1974]

Since LE is going back today and checking areas they have already checked, they must be REALLY convinced they are still in Gillam. I hope they are right.

This searching could go like this endlessly... I can't help but think that if they are out there, they could be literally going in circles and they are being "missed"? At least with the rain, they may be able to spot footprints? But then with all the searching, how to know if they are a searchers footprints... *sigh* I hope this ends soon.

 

[Seattle1]

We read about these situations every day on this website. People go on vacation to have fun, often leaving common sense at home. From the beginning, I've struggled to understand why the van had plates from another province. Would Lucas and Chynna insure and register a vehicle in another state with the wrong address in their own countries? Not likely, but that seems to be what they did as tourists in a foreign country - apparently overlooking the obvious fact that the wrong insurance is the same as no insurance.

I've also struggled to understand why, if they were stranded at 3:30PM on Sunday, they did not do anything to solve the problem. If they were at home, would they just sit on the side of a highway, 4 hours from the nearest populated area, and hope the van miraculously started working again?

At this time, I believe any question or concern regarding the vehicle registration and/or plates was resolved by reference to the Motor Vehicle Act of BC. There is also no evidence that the Owner's Certificate contained an incorrect address, or invalid insurance for that matter.

I disagree that the foreign tourist couple obviously overlooked anything. There's no proof of that! I think it just the opposite, Canada was not the couple's first rodeo, and seems to me, they were well informed, global travelers.

I came of driving age in late 80's and learned more than I ever wanted to know about fuel delivery systems, rich air-fuel mixture, and vacuum leaks, as this was the era when vehicles were being converted from carburetors to fuel injection systems. (I was also victim to many mechanics that took advantage of this era until grasping that it's not necessary to tow your vehicle to the shop for a flooded engine)!

A mechanic and his wife stopped to offer mechanical assistance, and cited their confidence in Lucas' diagnosis and perhaps they even discussed his remedy at length. Maybe Lucas planned to pick up a clamp, valve, or minor part on MONDAY, and until then enjoy their lunch and/or camp spot.

They were parked just outside of Liard Hot Springs, maybe they were planning to walk there. Maybe they sat in their lawn chairs and mapped out their route for the coming week. We don't know what they did Sunday evening but I think it's grossly unfair to say they sat around and did nothing to solve their problem! They were, and will always be victims.

MOO

 

[sprucetip]

I agree that the motive for the sequence of events is confusing.

To me, a van parked by the side of a highway, especially a highway used by transport trucks, means it's broken down or run out of gas. So there's no way to steal it, plus it was an obviously a crappy van anyway.

If the goal was to see if there was anything to steal, why would they bring a gun along? If someone was inside, you could just run back to your vehicle and drive off. Or maybe panic, injure one person andcrun away. Shooting two people dead is way too much violence if your goal is to steal some money and continue on with your life. Killing two people doesn't just happen accidentally, it is a very deliberate, massive transgression against our social values.

I think they wanted to see what it was like to kill someone. The van was in the most remote, unobserved place the suspects had ever been, no one could hear it, no one would see it, no one knew the suspects were there, it had easy access to their vehicle to escape and go so far away no one would ever suspect them.

Yeah robbery can’t be the motive, if it was, they’d have targeted a newer vehicle and people who looked like they had lots of money. The biggest travelers on this highway are older couples in RV’s. They’d be more likely to have $. And they park and camp overnight everywhere. Little pull outs, side roads, etc.

Thing is, this highway in summer is well traveled. There is actually lots of traffic. It’s mostly during the daytime though, the traffic slows down in the evening but picks up early in the am. All evidence points to it happening late at night/early morning. It’s also not dark for very long so perhaps they did plan it to an extent, but not for the purpose of robbery. I agree they were likely just wanting to kill people, for really no reason other than to see what it was like.

 

[Elley Mae]

Police also said Thursday that they were investigating a photograph of Nazi paraphernalia allegedly sent online by one of the suspects. Schmegelsky allegedly sent photographs of a swastika armband and a Hitler Youth knife to an online friend on the video-game network Steam.

Canada police search last known homes of teens wanted in nationwide murder manhunt

....

https://7news.com.au/news/crime/luc...urn-themselves-in-to-canadian-police-c-362639

 

[otto]

I agree that the motive for the sequence of events is confusing.

To me, a van parked by the side of a highway, especially a highway used by transport trucks, means it's broken down or run out of gas. So there's no way to steal it, plus it was an obviously a crappy van anyway.

If the goal was to see if there was anything to steal, why would they bring a gun along? If someone was inside, you could just run back to your vehicle and drive off. Or maybe panic, injure one person andcrun away. Shooting two people dead is way too much violence if your goal is to steal some money and continue on with your life. Killing two people doesn't just happen accidentally, it is a very deliberate, massive transgression against our social values.

I think they wanted to see what it was like to kill someone. The van was in the most remote, unobserved place the suspects had ever been, no one could hear it, no one would see it, no one knew the suspects were there, it had easy access to their vehicle to escape and go so far away no one would ever suspect them.

I think the teens stopped at the van because robbery was the goal. Maybe Lucas and Chynna looked at the dorky teens and decided that they were not giving up their money, instead claiming they had none. It's quite likely that they both had some pocket money. The suspects decided to kill them and take their money and identification.

Three days later, police announced the murders. That is also when the teens ditched the camper, burned the truck, murdered a botanist and stole his vehicle. This was probably done because they needed to get far away fast, and the camper van was slow, heavy and expensive on gas.

 

[minn77]

The churchill train is known to go slow and make stops to pick up people along the tracks, with or without tickets. Its possible they jumped on without being noticed while the train stopped to pick up someone else. Would have been pure luck, but i think luck has been on their side.