Canadian police believe they have found items belonging to teenage murder suspects

TORONTO — Canadian police found several items on a riverbank that are linked to the teenagers suspected of killing a North Carolina woman and her Australian boyfriend as well as another man, officials said Tuesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement the items were found along the Nelson River in Manitoba approximately 6 miles from where they left a burnt-out vehicle on July 22.

Police had searched the river near Gillam, Manitoba over the weekend after a damaged aluminum boat was discovered there Friday but officers did not uncover any additional items linked to the suspects.

Police didn't say what the new items found downriver were.

Nineteen-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryan Schmegelsky have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Leonard Dyck, a University of British Columbia professor whose body was found July 19 along a highway in British Columbia.

They are also suspects in the fatal shootings of Australian Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese of Charlotte, North Carolina, whose bodies were found July 15 along the Alaska Highway about 300 miles from where Dyck was killed.

[2 missing teens now suspects in deaths of couple along Alaska Highway in BC, authorities say]

A manhunt for the pair has spread across three provinces. The suspects have not been seen since the burnt-out car was found on July 22.

RCMP Cpl. Julie Courchaine said they are investigating all possibilities including the possibility that the suspects might have drowned. She said there is no evidence to directly link the boat to the two suspects but said the items they found nearby are linked to them.

A police helicopter initially spotted the boat and a follow-up search in the area uncovered the items directly linked to the two.

“This is very challenging terrain,” she said.