Face of Nation : Underwater divers have been deployed to a northern Manitoba river where a damaged aluminum boat may provide some clue to the whereabouts of two suspects wanted in connection to three B.C. homicides.
Searchers on a helicopter spotted the boat on the shore of the Nelson River on Friday afternoon, RCMP said on Sunday. The Underwater Recovery Team will “conduct a thorough underwater search of significant areas of interest today,” the RCMP tweeted.
The decision to enlist underwater divers comes just days after the Mounties began winding down their search for Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, in the bush and swamp around Gillam, Man., where the last confirmed sighting occurred on July 22.
The trail for the suspects went cold because of a lack of new leads, but police insisted last week they weren’t giving up. The RCMP have now combed the area for 13 days. Gillam, a town of about 1,300, is located about 730 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. The Nelson River flows north from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson Bay, and Gillam is located near its banks. Before announcing last Wednesday that police were reducing their presence in the area, searchers were combing a rugged terrain that covered 11,000 square kilometres — about twice the size of P.E.I.
At the height of the pursuit, officers used aerial surveillance, drones and police dogs and canvassed every home and abandoned building, but no sightings of the fugitives have been confirmed since a burned-out Toyota RAV4 was found near Sundance Creek, northeast of Gillam, Man, on July 21. It is believed the pair were driving the vehicle. Police said last week that ground and air searches would continue, but wouldn’t be as robust as before. The Mounties said they would return to high probability areas, including some of the paths, cabins and hunting shacks they have already explored.
