Mounties Flood Second Town After Sighting of Fugitives

Bear Clan Patrol members say they spotted murder suspects scavenging at dump
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 29, 2019 3:40 AM CDT
Mounties Search New Town for Teen Murder Suspects
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Julie Courchaine speaks to media about the ongoing RCMP search in Manitoba for the British Columbia murder suspects Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19.   (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

The remote community of York Landing, Manitoba, is on high alert after reports that it is now the center of the manhunt for two fugitive teen murder suspects. Members of the Bear Clan Patrol, a Winnipeg-based indigenous volunteer group that sent members to the area to provide extra security, say they spotted Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, scavenging for food in a dump near the town, the Guardian reports. The teens were previously thought to be near Gillam, another remote northern Manitoba town. York Landing is around 50 miles from Gillam as the crow flies, according to the Guardian, though non-crows would face a journey of several hours over difficult roads, or a trek through extremely inhospitable terrain. The teens are suspects in three murders in northern British Columbia.

Bear Clan Patrol member Travis Bighetty tells the CBC that he and his partner spotted two "tall, slender individuals" moving very quickly near the landfill site Sunday. "They fit the description of what was given in the RCMP report," Bighetty says. "It didn't click right away, it took a few moments." Within 30 minutes of reporting the sighting, he says, numerous Mounties began arriving by air. "It's a surreal moment right now knowing they could be in this small, isolated community," Bighetty says. "The area is very dense with forest," he says. "It could be 20 yards in the woods—you wouldn't be able to see them." The town has fewer than 500 people. Police say they have asked residents to park their vehicles and stay inside with their doors locked. "It's scary, it's scary," says resident Judy Sinclair. "I pray this is all over tonight." (Canada's military has joined the search.)

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