Manitoba RCMP have found “several items” linked to two men wanted on second-degree murder charges along the shoreline of the Nelson River near Gillam, Man., the town where the pair was last seen.

“RCMP have confirmed that these items are directly linked to the suspects,” the police wrote in a brief news release Tuesday. “That same day, a damaged boat was also found along the Nelson River.”

The items RCMP said were linked to Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky were located about nine kilometres from a burnt-out vehicle that was found near Gillam on July 22. McLeod and Schmegelsky were seen driving the same car in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Manitoba RCMP declined to say what items were found and how they were linked to the suspects.

Five members of the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team were immediately sent out after the discovery of the badly dented and mangled boat Friday afternoon northeast of Gillam. They arrived in the small Manitoba community — a focal point for the ongoing manhunt — on Saturday and began “a thorough underwater search of significant areas of interest,” according to RCMP Manitoba.

Read more:

As manhunt drags on, Chynna Deese’s family worries they might never get answers if suspects aren’t caught alive

Manhunt for murder suspects echoes ‘Mad Trapper’ chase that stumped RCMP in 1930s

How gaps in information relayed by law enforcement let two B.C. murder suspects slip across the country unnoticed

The underwater search has since ended, and did not yield any sign of the suspects, or any additional items associated with them.

The two fugitives are charged with second-degree murder in the death of UBC lecturer Leonard Dyck. They are also suspects in the deaths of Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese.

With files from Brennan Doherty and Rosa Saba

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Read more about: