Lucas Fowler and his girlfriend Chynna Deese are shown in a handout photo supplied by the New South Wales Police Force./The Canadian Press
A funeral was held Friday for Lucas Fowler, who was shot dead last month along with his girlfriend in Northern B.C. in a case that sparked a manhunt across Canada for the two suspects in the killings.
The service at a suburban Sydney church in Mr. Fowler’s native Australia came as the search in northern Manitoba for the two B.C. men suspected in his death is being scaled back after an effort involving Mounties and the Canadian military.
In a Facebook posting, Mr. Fowler’s sister, Savannah, asks that those inclined to send flowers instead donate to a charity in the name of 23-year-old Mr. Fowler and his 24-year-old American girlfriend Chynna Deese.
Stephen, left, and Shaunagh Fowler, the parents of Lucas Fowler, leave the Turramurra Uniting Church after a memorial service in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 2, 2019.SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images
Ms. Deese, a resident of North Carolina, was buried last Saturday in the U.S. state. The couple met while travelling in Europe. “It’s a love story that’s ended tragically,” Mr. Fowler’s father, Stephen, chief inspector for the New South Wales police department in Australia told reporters in B.C. after the deaths.
RCMP named Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, both residents of the Vancouver Island community of Port Alberni, suspects in the deaths of the couple and charged the two men with second-degree murder in the death of UBC botanist Leonard Dyck.
The couple’s bodies were found near Liard Hot Springs, south of the B.C.-Yukon boundary, on July, 15. Mr. Dyck, 64, was found dead on July 19 near Deese Lake, about 500 kilometres southwest of the hot springs. Police have not released the cause of death, but the suspects have been charged with second-degree murder in his death.
Friends of Lucas Fowler hug as they leave a memorial service in his honour.Mark Evans/Getty Images
On Wednesday, the RCMP said it was scaling back its search in Manitoba given a lack of results, but was still intent on finding the men. Based on a tip about two young men seen driving in a car near the Ontario community of Kapuskasing, the Ontario Provincial Police are looking for the vehicle “The entire OPP is on the lookout for these individuals. We are going to be extra vigilant until they are caught,” acting sergeant Shona Camirand said on Thursday
In a posting last Sunday, Ms. Fowler and others in the family say: “Our consolation is that Lucas had found a soulmate in Chynna Deese. It brings us comfort knowing they were happy and in love.”
They also offer condolences to the family of Mr Dyck, “another victim of this senseless act.”