An army of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), along with reinforcements from as far afield as Alberta and Ontario, descended on the one-road town of just 1,200 people after the teens torched their last known getaway car at a nearby First Nations reserve on Monday.
An Emergency Response Team, Crisis Negotiation Team, the RCMP Major Crime Unit and additional district resources have been deployed to the district, police said.
They have received more than 80 tips and asked the public to stay away from the pair if spotted.
On Thursday, police said they believe the suspects are still hiding in the dense bushland, saying there had been two confirmed sightings. Locals are said to be "freaking out" in the normally quiet town where people don't lock their doors.
But despite authorities' claims McLeod and Schmegelsky had effectively trapped themselves in the vast swathe of heavily forested, bear and insect-infested swampland that encircles Gillam, there are other ways out besides the single, 300km stretch of road that connects it to the rest of Manitoba. [It's also possible that they could have stolen another vehicle and driven away during the 24 hours between the time they burned the car and the car was discovered and the manhunt began.]
"There's a CN (Canadian National Railway) line that passes through Gillam and right past where the burnt Rav4 was found," Canadian archaeologist Tyler Cantwell told news.com.au in a message.
"My pure speculation - but it's what I would do - is that they hopped on the back of a train and headed back West."
Others say the Schmegelsky and McLeod could have jumped on a train to Churchill - a port on Hudson Bay known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World and, to a lesser extent, the Beluga Whale Capital of the World.
The port is around 270km from Gillam and popular with tourists, who flock to the pristine harbour to join whale and bear spotting boat and air tours.
If the suspects make it that far, they could easily steal a boat or another car. The ever present threat of polar bears means that locals never lock their vehicles. Authorities advise anyone under attack to jump into the nearest car and shut themselves inside.
The murderous trail of destruction has played out in terrain so isolated there is often no internet or phone coverage, with some areas in northern Manitoba unable to even access 911.
As a result, sightings of the pair have been 24 to 48 hours old by the time they are communicated, allowing the suspects to stay several steps ahead of authorities.
https://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au ... t/3790482/
I don't understand why this wasn't done sooner:
Canadian manhunt goes door-to-door amid sightings of teen murder suspects
"Over the next 72 hours, investigators will conduct door-to-door canvases in the Town of Gillam and Fox Lake Cree Nation, in hopes of generating new tips and information," said Julie Courchaine, media relations officer for the The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), adding that police were open to the possibility that the suspects might have changed their appearance.
"Our investigators are also exploring the possibility that the suspects may have inadvertently received assistance in leaving the area. To restate, there have been no confirmed sightings outside of the Gillam area, however we remain open to the possibility," Courchaine said.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/ca ... d=64587135
If they did in fact head off on foot into the wilderness, here's what they've been contending with since last Monday:
In addition to avoiding a military-level manhunt, local resident Kyle Lowry told 7NEWS.com.au the pair now have to survive the deadly conditions.
"There are lots of bears and wolves in the area... if you head north a little way there might the odd polar bear, you don't want to run into them," he said.
"The bugs are relentless... mosquitoes and flies will be eating them alive out there.
"I wouldn't want to be out there long without the right gear."
Lifelong resident Tanya Wavey echoed that sentiment, saying their reported survivalist skills would mean little in these conditions.
"It's soft, soft ground. You can break your ankle walking in that stuff, because you sink in, probably about your knees," she told CBC.
She said the sweltering conditions are "totally different from BC, so if they came around here, they can throw their survival stuff out the window".
https://7news.com.au/news/crime/police- ... s-c-366703
So here are the possibilities:
1. They are alive and at large in the wilderness near Gillam, having successfully eluded the massive manhunt and dealt with the wolves, bears, swarms of swamp insects and quicksand for the past five days...(Possible,but with each passing day it becomes less likely.)
2. They went off into the wilderness and haven't been found yet because they've killed themselves. (A nice thought, but it doesn't seem to fit with the psychological profiles, at least as far as they are known publicly.)
3.They carried out a home invasion, and have either killed the residents or are holding them hostage. (This seems like a strong possibility to me. They would have had ample opportunity to do this before the alarm was raised about their presence, and assuming the house had enough food they could easily have hunkered down there for this long without attracting attention.)
4. They've escaped the area and are nowhere near the current focus of the search.
I really hope I'm wrong, but this looks like the most likely possibility to me, especially after all this time passing without finding them. They already killed one person for the purpose of stealing his car, and then fled 1800 miles. People tend to stick with what they know, and what they have seen work for them. They had plenty of time to do this before anyone even knew they were in the Gillam area, they could have done it right after they set fire to the last car. They could have killed the owner, (then perhaps put the body in the trunk and then dumped it in a remote location many miles away where it hasn't yet been found) and gotten clean away...
Of course they now have two of the most recognizable faces in Canada, so unless they've done a good job of changing their appearance it's going to be tough for them to interact in in any populated area for long without being spotted...
On the other hand, they are pretty nondescript looking young guys so it might not take much (some hair dye, a pair of dark glasses and change in facial hair might do the trick, especially if they're smart enough not to go out in public together) for them to blend in...
