Update: On July 24, Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky were charged with second degree murder in the death of Leonard Dyck. Police are also investigating a picture Schmegelsky allegedly shared of Nazi paraphernalia.
As the police manhunt continues for B.C. homicide suspects Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky, their fathers are speaking out about the troubling case.
Alan Schmegelsky broke down in tears Wednesday while predicting his 18-year-old son will be dead by the time the cross-country search for the two childhood friends from Vancouver Island is over.
"Mounties are going to shoot first and ask questions later," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "He's going to be dead today or tomorrow, I know that."
The case began as a missing persons investigation after police found the young men's pickup truck in flames near Dease Lake, but authorities revealed Tuesday that the Port Alberni residents are actually suspects in three killings in the province's north.
"It's really tough for me to see in the paper today photos of them alive and well in Saskatchewan, because I know they're not lost in the woods. That's incredibly hard to deal with," Schmegelsky said.
The distraught father described his son as an introvert who loves video games, specifically strategy games as opposed to hyper-violent shooters.
Back in the island community where they grew up, the suspects used to go for campouts, play with friends and generally act like "everyday regular kids," Schmegelsky said.
"They never got in trouble with the law, they never got into fights," he added. "But both of them have to have a lot of pain inside. Both of them."
Tearing up at the thought they might not meet again, Schmegelsky offered his son a message of love: "Rest in peace, Bryer. I love you. I'm so sorry this all had to happen. I'm so sorry that I couldn't rescue you."
Earlier on Wednesday, the other suspect's father, Keith McLeod, issued a brief written statement about the ongoing manhunt, which he addressed to "all the people who truly care."
McLeod said he had little information to share about the case, but that he knows his son as a compassionate person who has always been concerned about others' feelings.
"This is what I do know – Kam is a kind, considerate, caring young man," he wrote.
The concerned father said his family is holed up at home to avoid media attention, and struggling to "wrap our heads around what is happening."
"(We) hope that Kam will come home to us safely so we can all get to the bottom of this story," he said.
Investigators say the suspects have been on the move for days. They were caught on camera in a store in Meadow Lake, Sask. on Sunday, then spotted again in the small Manitoba community of Gillam on Tuesday.
Authorities said another burned out vehicle that was found abandoned near the Fox Lake Cree Nation, about 55 kilometres north of Gillam, is also linked to the young men.
It's unclear whether they have found another mode of transportation, but the RCMP said officers have set up road checks in the area.
