Canadian police apologize for using ‘CAT FILTER’ on live stream press conference about double murder of North Carolina woman and her Australian boyfriend
- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police posted the press conference on Facebook
- Footage showed Sergeant Janelle Shoihet with cartoon cat ears from the filter
- The press conference concerned the recent double murder of a young couple
- Chynna Deese, 24, and Lucas Fowler, 23, were murdered in British Columbia
Canada’s police force was left red faced after accidentally streaming a press conference about a double homicide using Facebook’s cat filter.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police made the blunder during an announcement about the murder of US woman Chynna Deese and her Australian boyfriend Lucas Fowler in British Columbia.
The couple were shot and killed near their 1986 Chevrolet van alongside Highway 97 on July 15 this year.
Sergeant Janelle Shoihet, the officer who appeared in the video on Friday, blamed the mistake on ‘technical difficulties’ after re-recording it.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police posted a Facebook Live feed of a double homicide press conference featuring the cat filter
The force later said the cat filter was an ‘automatic setting’ and apologized for the error.
After the mistake was pointed out to them on social media the RCMP tweeted: ‘We are aware and addressing it as it’s an automatic setting. Thank you, we will rectify and issue a video shortly.’
RCMP later uploaded an unfiltered version of the press conference to its Facebook account.
Ms Deese, 24, and Mr Fowler, 23, were just a few days into a three week road trip through Canada when they were shot.
The couple met at a hostel in Croatia in 2017 and had traveled through Europe, Central America, and Asia.
Fowler, whose father is a police official in New South Wales, had obtained a job at a cattle ranch in Canada.
RCMP British Colombia do not currently have any suspects in custody and are unsure if the incident was a ‘crime of opportunity’.
They are now asking for help from the public in finding out more about the shooting.
Police are said to be particularly interested in any possible dashcam footage.
The press conference was held by the RCMP about the double murder of Chynna Deese, 24, (left) and Lucas Fowler, 23, (right)
A statement from the Fowler family released by New South Wales Police said: ‘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.
‘We are all now travelling to Canada to be with our boy and to bring him home.
The couple were murdered on a remote road in British Columbia last week just a few days into a planned road trip across Canada
‘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.’
On Monday it was revealed two young men vanished from the same region Ms Deese and Mr Fowler were shot.
Canadian police have urgently requested the public’s help in finding teenager Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18.
The truck the young Canadians were driving was found on fire on Highway 37 near Dease Lake, in British Columbia, last Friday.
The body of a third, unknown man was found nearby.
Local police have repeatedly dismissed fears of a serial killer.
However, in a statement today, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police acknowledged ‘growing community concerns about the ongoing homicide investigations in northern British Columbia’.
MISSING: Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky have disappeared driving around the same region of Canada as Australian man Lucas Fowler and American woman Chynna Deese