When a teenage couple were found to be the drivers of a vehicle it was thought they may have been murder victims – but the truth was much darker than expected
Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese were a young couple with a zest for life and everything to live for.
But when they vanished without trace while backpacking around the world and a huge manhunt was launched no one could have predicted how horrifying and dark their disappearance really was.
They were last seen on 13 July pulling into a petrol station in Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, driving a 1986 blue Chevrolet van.
Tragically, the final time they were caught on camera was in an embrace filling up their car. Thirty-six hours later, their bodies were found dumped on the side of the Alaska Highway near Liard Hot Springs – a popular stop for travellers in northern British Columbia.
Australian Lucas and American Chynna’s death became part of the fabric of a wider and darker spree of murders. Lucas was a fun-loving adventure seeker who had fallen in love with Chynna in Croatia during his two year backpacking trip around the world, according to the BBC.
“They were full of happiness and joy, just being together,” said Lucas’ father. He explained Lucas would spend hours on the phone with Chynna and loved seeing the pair “just milking every last drop of fun out of life”.
Witnesses say the young couple were seen earlier in the day eating cheese and drinking chocolate milk by the side of the road before they were senselessly shot dead by the twisted teens.
Chynna’s mum, Sheila Deese received now haunting texts from her daughter just two days before she was murdered.
In the final texts she received from her daughter she said how excited she was to be reunited with her boyfriend, who was from Sydney.
She then signed off by telling her mum not to worry if she didn’t hear from her for a while due to lack of Wi-Fi.
Shelia said: “‘The last thing Chynna said to me was ‘we won’t have Wi-Fi for a while so don’t worry mum and I love you’.
“So I wasn’t worried when I didn’t hear from her and plus she was with Lucas.
“There was not an ounce of worry I had about this trip because it was Canada, Canada was meant to be safe.
“Chynna had travelled to 13 different countries, why would anything happen to her in Canada?”
Lucas and Chynna are believed to have been killed on July 14 or 15 and while the Fowler and Deese family were coming to terms with the heartbreaking news, another Canadian family was faced with the “unthinkable grief” following the death of a husband and father.
Just days after Lucas and Chynna’s disappearance on police discovered a pick up truck on fire near Dease Lake on July 19. Then an unidentified corpse was found close by.
The discovery prompted police to issue an urgent public appeal asking for information on the vehicle’s drivers.
The two teenage boys from Port Alberni who drove the vehicle were thought to be missing and at risk from an unknown murderer.
Then, on July 23 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) made a shocking revelation. The two teenagers, Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, were not missing but the suspected killers and now on the run.
The following day, police confirmed they had identified the third victim as Leonard Dyck, 64, and were charging the pair with second-degree murder in connection with his death.
However, the two young men had fled the province, travelling approximately 3,000km (1,864 miles) across Canada in Dyck’s grey Toyota Rav 4 – roughly the distance between London and Moscow – before abandoning the burnt-out vehicle in northern Manitoba.
Dyck, a botany lecturer, possessed a “somewhat gruff exterior” but had the ability to captivate students through his dry humour, fascination with the natural world and “passion for learning about bizarre and beautiful organisms that few people ever get to see”.
The photograph released by police of Dyck shows a man with a thick white beard, gentle eyes and a subtly impish grin.
“I will miss Len’s laugh, which often followed some wry comment,” said his University of British Columbia colleague, Patrick Martone.
Authorities disclosed minimal details about Dyck’s death, meaning little is understood about the circumstances of his killing or how he encountered McLeod and Schmegelsky.
The nationwide search for McLeod and Schmegelsky ended in August when police announced they had discovered the bodies of the two young men in the northern Manitoba wilderness.
A post-mortem examination determined they had died by suicide. The RCMP in British Columbia concluded the three murder investigations, despite the duo being their only suspects.
“It’s going to be extremely difficult for us to ascertain definitively what the motive was,” admitted RCMP Assistant Commissioner Kevin Hackett.
Lucas’ family flew to Canada to bring their son home and two New South Wales police officers accompanied them.
Stephen told journalists that despite his years in the force nothing could have prepared him for the death of his precious son.
Chynna’s sister said: “You had big beautiful life plans, and they were cut short. Instead of watching you enjoy your thriving life I can only carry your legacy in mine, and encourage others to do the same.”
“It is just hard to accept that such good people can be killed for whatever reason,” Chynna’s brother Stetson shared with Australia’s Nine Network. “We do not know why and more and more may be discovered – but I don’t think we will ever truly know why.”
