By Maham Abedi, National Online Journalist, Breaking News – Global News , Aug 7, 2019

After a weeks-long manhunt, RCMP announced Wednesday that Bryer Schmegelskyand Kam McLeod are believed to be dead.

Manitoba RCMP said officers located two male bodies, believed to belong to the suspects, near the shoreline of the Nelson River. The discovery was made at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy said at a press conference that she is “confident” the bodies belong to the suspects, but cannot confirm until autopsy results are determined.

MacLatchy said the two bodies were found in a “dense bush” area, roughly eight kilometres from where a burnt vehicle was found days earlier.

She explained that RCMP found a “critical piece of evidence” on Friday that allowed them to focus on certain areas and carry out a search on foot.

“Following this discovery, we were at last able to narrow down the search. We immediately sent in specialized RCMP teams to begin searching nearby high probability areas,” MacLatchy said.

On Saturday, RCMP had said they found “several items” directly linked to the suspects along the banks of the Nelson River but did not provide details on what the items were.

In an interview with Global News on Wednesday, MacLatchy said now that bodies believed to be the suspects have been located, homicide investigators will work to try to understand exactly what took place.

“Here in Manitoba we have forensic identification specialists who are on the scene and will be going over it very carefully to collect whatever evidence they can that would be of help in that homicide investigation,” she said. “And the bodies we found will be sent to Winnipeg for autopsy where we can officially confirm identity and cause of death.”

Read more at Global News Canada