Ont. police search for Island fugitives

Ontario Provincial Police have assigned a team of investigators to look into a spike in tips regarding two Port Alberni teens wanted in three homicides last month in B.C.

Police said Friday that reports have come in from across the Ontario, but investigators cannot confirm whether any of the sightings were, in fact, of 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky and 19-year-old Kam McLeod.

A few possible sightings were reported in Ontario at a time when the hunt for the suspects was focused in Manitoba, and those were dealt with by local detachments, said Staff Sgt. Carolle Dionne.

But reports have been pouring in over recent days, with more than 30 coming in over eight hours Thursday, she said. As a result, a team was created to investigate the tips in a centralized manner, including revisiting earlier reports, she said.

While some reported sightings are quickly debunked, it’s important that people send in their information, Dionne said.

Ontario Provincial Police are working with the RCMP as they probe incoming reports, Dionne said.

A manhunt spanning several provinces began after Schmegelsky and McLeod were named as suspects in three killings. Vancouver researcher Leonard Dyck and Australian Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese were found dead last month in northern B.C.

A funeral was held Friday in a suburb of Sydney, Australia, for Fowler, 23. Deese, of Charlotte, North Carlina, was 24.