Canada - Lucas Fowler, Chynna Deese, and Leonard Dyck, all murdered, Alaska Hwy, BC, Jul 2019 #9

[Dion]

So what happened to the black suit from Walmart, that BS was toting around? His father thinks it was meant to be his funeral suit. Was it left in the burning vehicle? If so, there may be the remnants of buttons found in the debris. Would he have taken it into the woods, so that if he shoots himself, he hopes he will be found wearing a black suit? It seems to be significant to him, and apparently it was in the van when they were stopped by local constables at Split Creek.

 

[sprucetip]

The article states he pointed to the driver. I'd love to know which one he pointed at...

What. The. Heck.
Edited because I apparently don't know how to quote. This was in reaction to the seeing no maps or camping gear!

 

[MassGuy]

Interview with a man who encountered the pair:

Mr Ste-Croix said he was visiting his brother in Cold Lake, Alberta, on July 21 when the family noticed a vehicle was stuck in mud, CBC News reports.

It was about 10am and the pair were travelling east from British Columbia where the bodies of Australian man Lucas Fowler, his American girlfriend Chynna Deese and BC sessional lecturer Leonard Dyck were found by the side of the highway. All three had been murdered.

Mr Ste-Croix said he approached the car and chatted casually with the teens. The three even joked about how the teens’ parents would be mad if they saw the predicament they were in.

“Mom and dad’s going to be pissed,” he told them before one of the teens joked back.

“They looked at me and said, ‘No, mom and dad told me to go for a long joy ride’,” Mr Ste-Croix said.

He said the two teens shook his hand and did not make up fake names when he asked who they were. But he could tell something wasn’t quite right.

“You could tell they were nervous,” Mr Ste-Croix said.



Man’s encounter with fugitive teens

 

[1987]

Wait a minute.. we don't know what vehicle LD drove?

I thought it was a silver RAV4 which is partly why they're suspected. Has this not yet been confirmed??

not confirmed that rav 4 belonged with LD unless I have missed something. we don't know as a fact where rav 4 came from. just guessing it belonged with LD.

 

[minn77]

do you have a link to the pic of the camper partly burnt on the truck? I had looked and couldn't find any that had this. thanks.

Im still looking, it was when the truck was first found and was included with a picture of the back of the truck showing what looked like a computer tower. Ill keep digging

 

[afitzy]

Because the RCMP is trying to find a couple of people instead of playing amateur detective, and it doesn’t matter who owned that vehicle?

I think that the police are interested in saying things that might help the public identify these guys, ownership of that car probably not being on the list

It would be helpful to explain your logic on this statement to help us understand why you believe the ownership of the RAV4 isn't relevant to the investigation/RCMP?

Would you feel differently about you POV on this matter if you learned that the RAV4 was not owned by the murdered Professor and in fact was owned by a young couple on vacation who are now missing? HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE!

 

[ladysamurai]

Just two boxes and a suit...so no camping gear, backpacks, emergency supplies? Did Mr. Saunders not look in the boxes to make sure there was no alcohol?
I agree wholeheartedly that news reports can often be in error and frustratingly incomplete. And people's memories about actual events as well, we are all imperfect beings influenced by our (often) erroneous impressions of the world around us.
So what do we know?
It has been established that KM and BS were in the Rav4 in the Gillam area July 22/23. They gassed up in Meadow Lake and went through a checkpoint with it, witnesses to both. Then the car was found burning northeast of town--not quite to the end of the road, but close to. Did they know this was a long dead-end road? Or, with no maps and improvising as they went along, was that a nasty surprise? Car catches fire--deliberately set? Would they go to the middle of nowhere and set it on fire, a blaze of glory with no one to see, and a huge "HERE I AM" for the authorities? Maybe it caught fire from overheating. Surely by now the investigators have established cause of the fire--but they are not yet sharing that with us. I think it is an important clue. If the Rav overheated and whatever plan they had went awry, they now find themselves on foot, no supplies except whatever they could save and carry. Backtracking along the river could keep them from getting lost, help disguise their trail (and hide) by some wading or swimming. Rummaging in a garbage dump at Yorks Landing a week later would be plausible, if it was them. I doubt they know as much as we do about the search efforts, other than perhaps hearing helicopters. They are probably hungry, tired, scared, and determined to keep from getting caught. Hoping for a miracle, at this point. Wouldn't surprise me if they just give up and turn themselves in.

 

[Diezelmonster]

Wait a minute.. we don't know what vehicle LD drove?

I thought it was a silver RAV4 which is partly why they're suspected. Has this not yet been confirmed??

I was under the impression it was the rav4 but had also heard he drove a jeep.

 

[Dion]

Wait a minute.. we don't know what vehicle LD drove?

I thought it was a silver RAV4 which is partly why they're suspected. Has this not yet been confirmed??

I believe the RAV4 belonged to LD although I haven't actually seen this confirmed.

 

[afitzy]

B.C. murder suspects likely ‘extremely desperate': former RCMP superintendent

Quote from article:

"Former RCMP superintendent Garry Clement said it is hard to tell if McLeod and Schmegelsky are hiding or if they are even still alive".

“If they are still alive they have to be extremely desperate. I would think they are probably in pretty poor condition health-wise,” said Clement. “Unless they are Navy SEALs, they are definitely not going to be able to survive for long in that wilderness.”

"He said the RCMP will continue to search for the pair as long as they can to ensure public safety".

“They will have to make sure they covered as much of the terrain as they possibly can,” he said.

"As the search enters its eighth day, concern about the well-being of the officers increases".

“They have to be getting tired. This is not a walk through a park, this is jungle conditions. Healthwise this starts to be a concern,” said Clement".

 

[sprucetip]

Even those that could afford it might choose to sleep in the van they purchased for the express purpose of sleeping in.

Lucas’ boss said he fixed up the van himself, so it’s possible the flooding issue was a known problem that resolves with a bit of time. It’s not entirely unusual for old vehicles to flood. I remember being told ‘don’t do this or you’ll flood the engine’ with old cars with chokes growing up.

In regards to the safety of sleeping off the side of a quiet highway as backpackers, there’s no reason to suspect that the possibility of a random murder would occur any more than you or I might suspect every time we get into our vehicles a drunken or texting driver will kill us. Actually, far less, statistically.

So true, it's so random. There are hundreds of people who sleep safely on the side of the Alaska highway every day (in summer). I've done it countless times, probably in crappier vehicles too. There are people in tents, RV's, trucks, cars, you name it. Many of us are traveling to get down south for vacation or shopping and we don't stop long enough to make it worthwhile to get a hotel room. Sleeping for a few hours in a vehicle in the summer is completely normal up here. I've had randos show up down my driveway (1.5km off the Alaska highway) who had vehicle trouble (flooding actually, just like L&C) and they just needed a spot to rest and wait. It was odd they went down a private driveway but they may have missed the sign. It's pretty chill around here.

 

[Kubirai]

not confirmed that rav 4 belonged with LD unless I have missed something. we don't know as a fact where rav 4 came from. just guessing it belonged with LD.

RCMP went to investigate a burnt RAV4 a few thousand km from a body, quickly identified the deceased, and prepared charges for his murder.

So we can assume the evidence includes a clear link between Leonard Dyck and the burnt RAV4.

 

[sprucetip]

So what happened to the black suit from Walmart, that BS was toting around? His father thinks it was meant to be his funeral suit. Was it left in the burning vehicle? If so, there may be the remnants of buttons found in the debris. Would he have taken it into the woods, so that if he shoots himself, he hopes he will be found wearing a black suit? It seems to be significant to him, and apparently it was in the van when they were stopped by local constables at Split Creek.

Good point, where is that suit? And why did he drag it along??

 

[LoisLane]

Ugh.

“Contrary to previous media reports, Saunders said he didn't notice any maps or camping gear in the vehicle — just two boxes and a suit.

"I didn't see no camping gear, no maps, no weapons, no drugs or alcohol."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/police-privacy-public-homicide-1.5227535

 

[sprucetip]

Just two boxes and a suit...so no camping gear, backpacks, emergency supplies? Did Mr. Saunders not look in the boxes to make sure there was no alcohol?
I agree wholeheartedly that news reports can often be in error and frustratingly incomplete. And people's memories about actual events as well, we are all imperfect beings influenced by our (often) erroneous impressions of the world around us.
So what do we know?
It has been established that KM and BS were in the Rav4 in the Gillam area July 22/23. They gassed up in Meadow Lake and went through a checkpoint with it, witnesses to both. Then the car was found burning northeast of town--not quite to the end of the road, but close to. Did they know this was a long dead-end road? Or, with no maps and improvising as they went along, was that a nasty surprise? Car catches fire--deliberately set? Would they go to the middle of nowhere and set it on fire, a blaze of glory with no one to see, and a huge "HERE I AM" for the authorities? Maybe it caught fire from overheating. Surely by now the investigators have established cause of the fire--but they are not yet sharing that with us. I think it is an important clue. If the Rav overheated and whatever plan they had went awry, they now find themselves on foot, no supplies except whatever they could save and carry. Backtracking along the river could keep them from getting lost, help disguise their trail (and hide) by some wading or swimming. Rummaging in a garbage dump at Yorks Landing a week later would be plausible, if it was them. I doubt they know as much as we do about the search efforts, other than perhaps hearing helicopters. They are probably hungry, tired, scared, and determined to keep from getting caught. Hoping for a miracle, at this point. Wouldn't surprise me if they just give up and turn themselves in.

This is the best synopsis I've seen. It's entirely plausible and makes sense to the randomness of where they've been, where they're going, and where they are. I think they had no clue where the road went and that they were winging it the whole way across the country.

 

[Kubirai]

So true, it's so random. There are hundreds of people who sleep safely on the side of the Alaska highway every day (in summer).

One female driver didn't stop after Chynna waived at her, but she went home and called RCMP.

Fort Nelson RCMP decided NOT to visit the couple that night.

 

[Seattle1]

Alexis Daish‏Verified account @LexiDaish
Police at Gillam, Manitoba have told @9NewsAUS that tomorrow the focus will be using military aircraft to search the area from above, again. It’s reached a point in this search where they’re doing patrols of areas they’ve done a few times before.@9NewsAUS

5:16 PM - 30 Jul 2019 pst

 

[1987]

It would be helpful to explain your logic on this statement to help us understand why you believe the ownership of the RAV4 isn't relevant to the investiation/RCMP?

Would you feel differently about you POV on this matter if you learned that the RAV4 was not owned by the murdered Professor and in fact was owned by a young couple on vacation who are now missing? HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE!

if it didn't belong with Professor I would wonder if additional people had been killed and not found.

 

[modernpenny]

if the young men had/has a firearm and if it came from one of their homes what happens to the legal owner if it wasn't secured properly?

It depends I think...if it was locked up but they found the key and stole a firearm it would likely not make the parents it was stolen from at fault. But I am not a lawyer so I am not certain. MOO

 

[Arizona 123]

I just assumed the camper burned, as I said it was fiberglass. In the pic I posted below the green line it looks like fibrous material, the second pic has debris on a tarp, all items from the scene. Perhaps you don't see it as well because the police already removed what was left and it's on that tarp. We only get the images they want us to see.
I really think worrying about where the camper is, is wasted energy, I doubt they have set it aside, I doubt they have taken the time to hide it to go back to it. Sorry I just think it's worth moving on since they are several thousand kms away now. Presumably.

Not trying to be mean or anything just stating my opinion. Cheers.

Cheers, and thank you. Just my opinion as well, which has now been modified a bit due to your post. I concur that the white you outlined does look akin to fiberglass combustion residue. It could well be that- I'd not seen these photos before, I was going by a video that, I guess, was taken by a bystander at the scene.

One of the items on the tarp looks rather like an oil pan.

It's always been my opinion that there is no such thing as an irrelevant fact in a criminal investigation; declaring something as such too early can turn out to be dismissing something important. So, I tend to delve into details. Just a personal preference. In this case, I consider the truck quite important, because without it, there's no known (to the public) link between the suspects and the murders. The Rav 4 may be a link, but I've yet to find a LE source saying it was the professor's vehicle.

I've never seen a vehicle fire do the kind of damage seen on that truck, especially the bent cab cornerpost. However, what I have seen do damage similar to that is recovery tow trucks pulling a vehicle out of somewhere. It might well be that, like the Rav4, the initial location was back in the woods a bit, and they hauled it out. If so, the camper remains I expect to see would be there, not where the vehicle is. I also see from your photos that while the fire was apparently quite intense, there appear to be unburned brush very, very close. So, I'm very much wondering if that truck was moved before this pic was taken.

I'm going to try to post the video of the scene. I'm new here, so I may bungle this.
Errr. How did I miss that? One of the items on the tarp looks like a steel stove cover, with holes for the burner rings. It also seems burned, beyond what one would expect from normal use. That IMHO is a very strong indicator that the camper there and was burned.

Alas, I can't find a way to directly attach the video taken at the truck scene. All I can do is give the URL of the news outlet page, and say it's about the third vid down. Former classmates of northern B.C. murder suspect say he would describe killing himself, others