A battered rowboat that washed up on the shore of a Canadian river could be the key to finding the two teenagers suspected of killing Australian Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese.
There’s growing speculation Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, may have drowned in rapids after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police released photos of the boat found on the banks of the Nelson River during an aerial search on Friday.
Police divers spent Sunday searching the frigid waters of the river for the bodies of two teenage fugitives suspected of shooting dead Mr Fowler and Miss Deese.
The boat was found about 70km north of Gillam and about 13km from where police believe the teens set light to the grey Toyota RAV4 they were driving two weeks ago.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police have released photos of the rowboat (pictured) found on the banks of the Nelson River in their search for Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19
The boat was retrieved from the river on Friday night.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police publicly released two photos of the battered rowboat on Sunday.
‘This is the damaged aluminum boat found by officers on the shores of the Nelson River during a helicopter search on Friday afternoon,’ they tweeted.
The boat may have been damaged travelling through rapids on the river, raising the prospect Schmegelsky and McLeod were tossed out attempting a getaway.
‘It had gone through some rapids and had been significantly damaged,’ RCMP Inspector Leon Fiedler told The Globe and Mail.
‘We’re going to search in the area around where we found this boat just to make sure that there is nobody attached to it, whether that is our subjects or anyone else for that matter.’
There is speculation to two teens may have died in rapids after a boat was found on Friday
Inspector Fiedler said police had not yet located the rowboat’s owner.
There was no forensic evidence to gather from the boat.
The dive team is the latest attempt by the RCMP to bring closure to a manhunt that began more than 3000km away on July 14 in Canada’s western province of British Columbia.
Despite unconfirmed sightings of the duo as far away as the neighbouring province of Ontario, the RCMP continues to search around Gillam.
Survival experts predict the teenagers would struggle to stay alive if they attempted to hide in the swampy, bug-infested wilderness around Gillam without shelter and equipment
The bodies of Mr Fowler, 23, from Sydney, and Miss Deese, 24, were found shot dead and left in a ditch on the side of a BC highway.
Schmegelsky and McLeod are the only suspects in the bloody highway murders
The search continues for teens Kam McLeod, 19, (left) and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18 (right)
The hunt for two teens accused of killing Australian tourist Lucas Fowler (left) and US girlfriend Chynna Deese (right) continued on Sunday with police divers searching the Nelson River
Four days later on another BC highway the teenagers allegedly murdered botanist Leonard Dyck and then drove 3000km east across Canada’s north to Gillam.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Royal Canadian Air Force, using teams on the ground and planes in the air with infrared cameras and imaging radar, unsuccessfully searched 11,000 square kilometres around the town of Gillam and surrounding wilderness before scaling back the hunt.
Canada has been gripped by the nationwide manhunt.
The Ontario Provincial Police announced on Friday it had set up an investigative team to follow up on potential sightings of Schmegelsky and McLeod in their province.
Canadian police are sending dive recovery teams to search the Nelson River near Gillam, the small Manitoba town where Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, dumped their stolen Toyota RAV4 on July 23 and disappeared
The manhunt that began more than 3000 kilometres away on July 14 in Canada’s western province of British Columbia (the lake pictured is not the lake divers are currently searching)
OPP Criminal Investigation Branch Detective Inspector Matt Watson will lead the new investigative team.
The OPP received more than 30 tips in less than eight hours on Thursday.
‘We ask anyone who believes they have observed these two suspects to report it to police immediately,’ Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Carolle Dionne said.
If the fugitives are in Ontario they have eluded authorities while travelling more than 5000km. That’s 1000km further than the distance between Sydney and Perth.
One unconfirmed sighting of the duo in recent days was of ‘a suspicious’ white vehicle driving through a construction zone on a highway in the small community of Kapuskasing, Ontario
Survival experts predict the teenagers would struggle to stay alive if they attempted to hide in the swampy, bug-infested wilderness around Gillam without shelter and equipment
Sheila was first introduced to Lucas during Christmas last year after the pair met at a hostel in Croatia
The RCMP and OPP have urged members of the public to call them immediately to report a possible sighting instead of posting information on social media.
If the suspects are spotted, authorities urged the public to take note of every detail.
‘Sharing as much information as possible on your observation is important such as type of vehicle, vehicle plate, description of clothing, direction of travel,’ Sgt Dionne said.
‘But most importantly, do not approach them as they are considered to be dangerous.’
Police and others have spent the past nine days searching for Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, in a remote and rugged part of northern Manitoba
The latest developments in the search comes after a funeral service was held to farewell Mr Fowler and his girlfriend in Sydney’s north on Friday.
His father and NSW Police Chief Inspector Stephen Fowler focused on the young couple’s joyful love affair, and spoke admiringly of his son’s achievements in life – most of all, Ms Deese.
‘(A Canadian ranch owner) said that every now and then she’d look up and see Chynna had walked over to Lucas and given him a hug or just a look,’ Mr Fowler said.
‘They were full of happiness and joy just being together.’
Hand in hand: The parents of Lucas Fowler, NSW Police chief inspector Stephen Fowler and wife Shanaugh, at the memorial service on Friday