Teenagers' trail of mayhem across Canada leads to wilds of Manitoba

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Teenagers' trail of mayhem across Canada leads to wilds of Manitoba

Fugitives Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod, wanted in connection with three murders, are believed to be on foot

Kat Eschner in Toronto
Fri 26 Jul 2019 22.35 BST First published on Fri 26 Jul 2019 21.52 BST

If they have not already managed to evade a police dragnet, Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, are believed to be stumbling around the unforgiving terrain that surrounds the remote Canadian town of Gillam.

Police believe the two fugitives are still close to the sprawling settlement of about 1,300 residents dotted across 2,000 square km. They are not thought to have a vehicle, and there is only one road in and out of town.

“Our last confirmed sighting is in Gillam area, so that’s where we are now,” said Julie Courchaine, a spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Friday afternoon.

So Schmegelsky, 18, and McLeod, 19, are mostly probably stumbling through the wilds around the northern Manitoba town, amid swampland and thick forests of prickly black spruces and dense tamarack.

In the region’s brief summer, sandflies and other biting insects make the most of the warmth by exploding in population and feeding on black bears, wolves and humans.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/26/canada-murders-bryer-schmegelsky-kam-mcleod-manitoba