Police closed in on the teenagers after they were sighted by locals, according to reports in Vancouver's News 11:30. "They spotted two men who seemed to be scavenging food out of the dump," says James Favel, executive director of the Bear Clan Patrol, an Indigenous-led security patrol group, who arrived in northern Manitoba to provide support. "They recognised some of the clothing that was being worn and they immediately called RCMP and let them know they had a potential sighting and the town went into lock-down." The pair - suspected of murdering Lucas Fowler of Sydney, his girlfriend Chynna Deese, of North Carolina, and Leonard Dyck, of Vancouver - reportedly fled back into the forest after they were spotted. Canadian police are now warning locals of a "heavy police presence" around the community as they investigate. Residents have been asked to stay indoors with windows and doors locked and to not post images of police that might alert the suspects to their location.

Sitting on the banks of the Nelson River and south-west of Gillam, where the pair were last spotted a week ago, York Landing is a small town with a population of just 464. It cannot be directly reached by road - vehicles must travel to the town by ferry - but it is linked to Gillam via trail. On the edge of the Hudson Bay lowlands in Manitoba, York Landing and Gillam, are optimal places to hide — and a difficult place to survive. But even the presence of a small army of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers, who have sealed off the one road in and out of Gillam, has not been enough to ease the fears of locas, most of whom work at nearby hydroelectric dams. "I have a wife and two young kids," said Clint Sawchuk, a Manitoba Hydro employee who also runs a wilderness tour business. "I actually put a loaded 12 gauge next to my bed."

As impenetrable as the location, though, is what could have turned two young men, recent high school graduates from Vancouver Island, into suspected killers. Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18. Credit:Royal Canadian Mounted Police Al Schmegelsky, Bryer's father, has a theory: "He's on a suicide mission," he told the Canadian Press news agency. The two left their home in Port Alberni, British Columbia, a lumber and paper mill town at the top of an inlet to the Pacific Ocean, on July 12, telling family and friends that they planned to look for well-paying work in Alberta. When police thought the two were missing persons, Al Schmegelsky described them as "really good boys." After they became suspects, Schmegelsky acknowledged that his son was emotionally damaged by his parents' acrimonious separation when Bryer was 5.

"He wants his hurt to end," Schmegelsky said. "They're going to go out in a blaze of glory." Military battle video games are one of his son's major passions, Schmegelsky said. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video An online gaming acquaintance of Bryer Schmegelsky provided The Globe and Mail with photographs of the young man holding a replica rifle and wearing military fatigues. Another photo showed a swastika armband. The person who supplied the photos, who was not identified by the newspaper, said Schmegelsky's praise for Hitler had led him to sever ties. Al Schmegelsky told the news service that his son wasn't a neo-Nazi but someone who collected Nazi paraphernalia because he found it "cool."

Friends have revealed little about the two young men, and no member of the McLeod family has spoken to journalists. In a statement, Keith McLeod, Kam's father, said his son was "a kind, considerate, caring young man." Loading The two men, friends since elementary school, had worked at Walmart for five weeks, their first jobs after high school graduation, before embarking on what they said was their job-hunting trip. If there was any connection between the suspects and the people the police say they killed, investigators have yet to disclose it. Lucas Fowler of Sydney, who had been working at a lodge in British Columbia, and Chynna Deese, of Charlotte, North Carolina, were on a road trip in the northern part of the province when their van broke down July 14. They were found dead of gunshots near the van, which had a broken window, the following day.

On July 19, the body of Leonard Dyck, a botanist from Vancouver, was discovered in a highway rest area about 300 miles from the remains of the first victims. Nearby was the burned-out hulk of the truck camper the two teenagers had started their trip in. Investigators have not said why they believe the teenagers ended up in Manitoba, but by heading directly east on remote highways they would have had a better chance of eluding police. A stolen Toyota found near Gillam, also left burning, provided investigators with a clue of their whereabouts. Some of the challenging terrain being explored by The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in their hunt for the pair. Credit:Royal Canadian Mounted Police/@rcmpmb On Sunday evening, police said in a post on Twitter that they were sending officers and equipment to York Landing, Manitoba, about 125 miles by road from Gillam, to investigate a tip that the two men might be in or near that community. "A heavy police presence can be expected in the area," police said.

In Gillam, which has a population of 1000, the on-edge residents hope the two teenagers will be captured soon. For many, it's hard to imagine how they could stay alive and escape from town. No vehicles are believed to have been stolen in or near the town. Winter roads that run east to Ontario are impassible after the spring thaw. The nearby Nelson River is filled with dangerous rapids as it makes its way to Hudson Bay, an inland sea. A railway from Winnipeg to Churchill passes through Gillam, but walking along it would leave the fugitives exposed. A second, long-abandoned rail line also leaves town, but Sawchuk said nature had overtaken it, making travel along it as difficult as plowing through swampy bush. The lowlands have large areas of peat floating on water that can give way easily, and walkers could fall through. Ponds and streams frustrate anyone trying to cross on foot. The black spruce trees that dominate may not be large, but they have unusually dense needles, making them ideal for hiding but disorienting for anyone crossing through the bush.

And then there are the insects. Sawchuk said they are "on full force — they're out there like crazy." Sawchuk fears the end may be ambiguous. The men could die in the bush, with the bog swallowing their remains. But how would anyone know for sure? "Who knows," he said. "Why the hell did they come here?" With New York Times