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Father of teen suspect in B.C. deaths: ‘I’m sitting at home worrying about my son’

Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky are wanted in connection to three deaths in northern B.C.
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Security camera images recorded in Saskatchewan of Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, are displayed as RCMP Sgt. Janelle Shoihet speaks during a news conference in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday July 23, 2019. RCMP say two British Columbia teenagers who were first thought to be missing are now considered suspects in the deaths of three people in northern B.C. The bodies of Australian Lucas Fowler, his girlfriend Chynna Deese, of Charlotte, N.C., and an unidentified man were found a few kilometres from the teens’ burned-out vehicle. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The father of one of the two Port Alberni teens at the centre of a nationwide manhunt is urging for his son to return home.

In a letter released to media on Wednesday, Keith McLeod said he has little information about what has transpired since Friday, when two young tourists were found dead along the Alaska Highway in northern B.C.

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“I’m sitting at home worrying about my son,” he said in a written statement, adding that his Port Alberni home has become a focal point of media attention since RCMP announced that 19-year-old Kam McLeod and his friend, 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky, were suspects in three deaths last week in the rural B.C. region.

Initially, McLeod and Schmegelsky were being investigated as missing persons, after their red and grey truck was found burned near Dease Lake, just two kilometres away from where an unidentified man was found dead at highway pullout.

Police said at the time it was believed the two were heading to the Yukon to look for work.

On Tuesday, that changed, and they were no longer considered missing and feared dead, but now prime suspects themselves in the shooting deaths near Liard Hot Springs of young couple Chynna Noelle Deese, 24, of North Carolina and Lucas Robertson Fowler, 23, of Australia.

McLeod and Schmegelsky were last spotted in northern Manitoba on Monday night, after first being seen in Meadow Lake, Sask on Sunday. Police believe they could have changed their appearances, and are urging the public to use caution if they spot the young men, described as six-foot-four inches tall and each weighing around 169 pounds.

BC RCMP Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said Tuesday that police have been in contact with both families involved to ask for help finding them.

“I’m certain they’re being impacted by this news,” Shoihet said.

No one answered a phone number listed on Schmegelsky’s father’s Facebook page and a person who answered the phone at a McLeod residence in Port Alberni hung up.

A woman who answered the phone at a residence listed under Schmegelsky in Wynyard, Sask., declined to comment.

“I have nothing to say at this time. Can’t you just please leave us alone?” she said through tears before hanging up.

McLeod said that he doesn’t have any information to offer.

“This is what I do know – Kam is a kind, considerate, caring young man always has been concerned about other people’s feelings,” he said.

“As we are trapped in our homes due to media people, we try to wrap our heads around what is happening and hope that Kam will come to us safely so we can all get to the bottom of this story.”

McLeod told Black Press Media over the phone on Wednesday that things have calmed down around his home.

Anyone who spots either of the young men should not approach them and call 911.

With a file from The Canadian Press


@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca

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About the Author: Ashley Wadhwani-Smith

I began my journalistic journey at Black Press Media as a community reporter in my hometown of Maple Ridge, B.C.
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