Article content continued

The pair, from Port Alberni, B.C., had been in the Manitoba wilderness for two weeks, after the Toyota RAV4 they had been driving was found burned near Gillam on July 22.

Kevin King/Winnipeg Sun

The search in northern Manitoba included helicopters, a plane, heavily armed officers and police canine units that scoured the remote wilderness where the pair, believed to be survivalists, were thought to be hiding.

A dive team and search of the Nelson River was also prompted this past weekend by the discovery of a damaged aluminum boat spotted by aerial search teams.

Photo by Submitted / Manitoba RCMP

“To the families of everyone affected by the series of events over the last few weeks, I know it has been so very difficult,” said MacLatchy.

“I hope today’s announcement can begin to bring some closure.

“Many of you lived with uncertainty and fear but throughout, you were resilient, you came together as communities, and you helped our officers get the job done.”

Schmegelsky and McLeod were charged with the second-degree murder in the death of University of B.C. lecturer Leonard Dyck and had also been named as suspects in the fatal shootings of Australian Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese.

The travelling couple were found dead on July 15 on B.C.’s Alaska Highway 97, south of Liard Hot Springs. Their minivan was stranded nearby.

Photo by Facebook

Just four days later, Dyck’s body was found on B.C.’s Highway 37 near Dease Lake, about two kilometres up the road from a burned-out truck. The vehicle was believed to have been driven by Schmegelsky and McLeod at one point.

Photo by Patrick Martone/UBC

Various sightings allowed police to track the suspects from B.C. to Saskatchewan and then over to Manitoba, where their latest vehicle, a Toyota RAV4, was found on fire near Gillam in late July.

The last confirmed sighting of the pair was in Meadow Lake, Sask., when the pair were filmed on security camera walking through a store. After police released those images, more than 200 tips poured in over the course of five days.

Photo by HO / THE CANADIAN PRESS

A volunteer with the Bear Clan Patrol, an Indigenous-led neighbourhood watch group, had also reported a possible sighting of the pair to police on July 28, prompting officers to focus their efforts on York Landing, Man.

A Canadian Air Force aircraft equipped with high-tech thermal detection gear was also deployed in the search.