‘We are truly heartbroken’: Family of botany lecturer who was third victim killed by ‘teenage suspects’ in Canada share their grief a week after his body was found next to the boys’ burned car
- Leonard Dyck, 64, was found dead near to a burned out car that Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, had been driving
- It has taken a week for him to be publicly identified and it remains unclear how he died
- Dyck was a husband and father from Vancouver who worked as a botany lecturer at the University of British Columbia
- How he was killed and what led him into his killers’ paths remains a mystery
The third victim allegedly killed by two teenage murder suspects in Canada was identified on Wednesday, a week after his body was found, as a university botany lecturer and father.
Leonard Dyck, 64, was found dead near to a burned out car that Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, had been driving.
It has taken a week for him to be publicly identified and it remains unclear how he died.
His friends and family released a statement through Royal Canadian Mountain Police on Wednesday night to pay tribute to him.
‘We are truly heart broken by the sudden and tragic loss of Len. He was a loving husband and father.
Leonard Dyck, 64, was found dead near to a burned out car that Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, had been driving. These photographs were released on Thursday
‘His death has created unthinkable grief and we are struggling to understand what has happened.
‘While we understand there will be interest in knowing more about him and the impact he had during his life, we are asking for the public and the media to please respect our privacy during this difficult time,’ they said.
It is unclear how Dyck, who lived in Vancouver, came into contact with the pair of alleged killers or what led to his death or if the car they carried on in afterwards after burning their own was his.
The university said on Wednesday: ‘The UBC community is shocked and saddened by this news and we offer our deepest condolences to Mr. Dyck’s family, friends and his colleagues at the university.’
It shared photographs of him by water and teaching students.
His body was found 1 mile away from the teenager’s burned out truck in a highway pull-out.
A woman who studied with him told local media that he was a ‘private man’ with a ‘tremendous’ sense of humor.
Dyck, who was known as Len to his friends and family, went unnamed for a week while the international media focused on the murders of the teenagers’ two other alleged victims – Chynna Deese, 23, and Lucas Fowler, 24, a young couple who were found three days earlier.
Police continue to hunt Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky who were charged on Wednesday night
Lucas Fowler, 24, and Chynna Deese, 23, his American girlfriend, whose bodies were found in British Columbia on July 15. Pictured: The couple in the Grand Canyon