Missing teenagers named as 'dangerous' suspects in triple murder investigation

‘I need anyone with information to share that because this can’t happen to another family,’ says mother of US victim in northern Canada

Kam McLeod, 19 and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, wanted by Canadian police (RCMP via Reuters)

Two teenagers thought missing are now suspects in the murders of an American woman and her Australian boyfriend as well as the death of another man in Canada, police said.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had previously said they were searching for 19-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky, whose burning car had been discovered in British Columbia.

During that missing persons investigation they found the body of an unidentified man about a mile from the abandoned vehicle south of Dease Lake.

The lake is located in the same region as a stretch of highway where 24-year-old American Chynna Deese and 23-year-old Australian Lucas Fowler were found shot dead over a week ago.

RCMP sergeant Janelle Shoihet said on Tuesday that Mr McLeod and Mr Schmegelsky were now murder suspects, and warned the public not to approach them.

The last confirmed sighting of the wanted teenagers was in northern Saskatchewan, where they were spotted travelling in a grey 2011 Toyota Rav 4.

A grey 2011 Toyota Rav 4 which police say is being driven by Mr McLeod and Mr Schmegelsky (Reuters) (REUTERS)

Police later said Mr McLeod and Mr Schmegelsky may be further east in the state of Manitoba after a reported sighting in the remote northern town of Gillam.

“The RCMP are now considering Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky suspects in the Dease Lake suspicious death and the double homicide of Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese,” said Ms Shoihet.

The police sergeant said they are considered dangerous, urging the public to call 911 if they see the pair or have information on their whereabouts.

Police also released surveillance photos of the two young men, both of Port Alberni in British Columbia.

The teens were thought to be travelling to Whitehorse in the Yukon to look for work and had not been in contact with their families for the past few days, police said.

Chynna Deese, 24, and her boyfriend Lucas Fowler, 23, were found dead on 15 July (Reuters) (REUTERS)

The discoveries of three bodies and a burning car with missing occupants has shaken the remote rural region of northern British Columbia, where murders are rare.

Mr Fowler and Ms Deese were found shot dead along the Alaska Highway near Liard Hot Springs.

The couple had met at a hostel in Croatia and their romance blossomed as they travelled across the US, Mexico, Peru and elsewhere, the woman’s older brother said.

Security camera images recorded in Saskatchewan are displayed as RCMP assistant commissioner Kevin Hackett speaks at news conference in Surrey, British Columbia (AP)

The couple was on a trip to visit Canadian national parks when they were killed.

“I need for anyone with information to share that because this can’t happen to another family,” Ms Deese’s mother said. “It shouldn’t have happened to ours.”

The authorities were still working to identify the male body that was found nearby their burned-out vehicle, but said he appeared to be in his fifties or sixties.

They released a sketch of the man, with a heavy build with a grey beard and grey hair, and asked for public help in identifying him.

Additional reporting by agencies