Mounties Confirm 2 Sightings of Fugitive Teens

Two fugitive Canadian teenagers are believed to be hiding out in northern Manitoba—but the Mounties doubt the two will be able to hold out for long in the area's extremely unforgiving terrain. Police say there have been two confirmed sightings of Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, near the town of Gillam, the CBC reports. The corroborated sightings occurred before a burned-out vehicle used by the pair was found Monday, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Since there have been no reports of stolen vehicles in the area, the RCMP believes they are somewhere in the swampy terrain surrounding the remote town, which is being searched on foot and from the air. McLeod and Schmegelsky have been charged in one murder in northern British Columbia earlier this month and are suspects in two more.

Officers are searching abandoned buildings in the area and have combed the nearby ghost town of Sundance. Officers say the terrain is so tough that even walking is difficult. "Time is actually on the side of the police at this point because these fellows are not prepared for what they're experiencing if they are in the woods,” former RCMP deputy commission Peter German tells CTV. Clint Sawchuk, owner of local tour company Nelson River Adventures, tells the station that the teens will have to contend with waist-high swamp water, swarms of biting insects, and possible encounters with bears or wolves. "It's tough going up here," he says. "If they don’t have bug jackets, once that sun goes down the bugs are out like crazy, enough to drive you insane." (Schmegelsky's father talks about his son's "funeral suit.")