The man whose body was found on a northern B.C. highway pullout not far from a burning truck that belonged to the suspects in his murder was a university lecturer.
Leonard Dyck, who also went by "Len," taught students through the University of British Columbia's botany department.
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His body was found last Friday, July 19, off Highway 37 south of the Stikine River Bridge and the small community of Dease Lake.
He was 64.
Len was a loving husband and father, his family said. He impacted the lives of many.
"We are truly heartbroken by the sudden and tragic loss," relatives said in a statement issued through the RCMP Wednesday.
"His death has created unthinkable grief and we are struggling to understand what has happened."
UBC's head of botany said Len was a sessional lecturer at the university.
"The UBC community is shocked and saddened by this news, and we offer our deepest condolences to Mr. Dyck's family, friends and his colleagues at the university," Sean Graham said in an email to CTV News.
The university posted a photo of Len on a biology field trip in March 2017 to Clover Point in Victoria. In the photo, he's standing on the beach in rubber boots and fingerless gloves, holding out different types of seaweed.
Len completed a bachelor of science in marine biology in 1978, then a master of science in botany in 1991 and a phD in botany in 2004, according to his UBC colleague Patrick Martone, a professor in the botany department.
"When you first met Len, he had a somewhat gruff exterior," Martone said in a statement. "But students soon realized he was a knowledgeable, trusted teacher and scholar who loved sharing his enthusiasm and curiosity and showing them how to uncover hidden gems in the natural world."
Martone said he felt lucky to have known Len, and added that he will especially miss his colleague's laugh.
"It makes me tear up thinking that I won't get to hear it again," Martone said. "As soon as you realized how much passion he had for his work, he was so much fun and a joy to be around. It was obvious that he was doing what he loved. He was a really special man."
Mounties are still trying to determine what happened, and ask anyone who may have spoken to or seen him during his travels in northern B.C. to come forward.
Wanted in his death are 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky and 19-year-old Kam McLeod, who have since been charged with second-degree murder.
The teens from Port Alberni, B.C. were reportedly on a trip up to Whitehorse to look for work when they were declared missing.
Mounties said they believed the teenagers had crossed into the Yukon, but then turned back into B.C.
Their disappearance was first noted when the truck they'd been driving was found burning on the side of Highway 37. As Mounties searched the area, they uncovered the UBC lecturer's body two kilometres away.
Initially the teens were treated as missing persons, but the RCMP soon connected them to the deaths of two others on another remote stretch of northern B.C. highway.
The bodies of Australian Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese – who'd been on a road trip at the time – were found near their van on July 15. They'd been shot, Mounties said, and the teens were tied to both cases.
The RCMP has not provided details on what links them to either case.
Schmegelsky and McLeod were last known to be in Manitoba. A burned vehicle was found near Fox Lake Cree Nation, about 55 kilometres northeast of Gillam, and has been confirmed to be linked to the wanted men.
Thursday afternoon, the Manitoba RCMP said they believe the teens are still in the area. The last confirmed sighting was on July 22 and there have been no vehicles reported stolen in the area since.
Warnings have been issued across Canada as the teens may still be travelling east. Anyone who spots them is asked not to approach or do anything other than call 911.
In a teary-eyed interview Wednesday, Schmegelsky's father, Alan, said he expects his son to be dead by the end of the manhunt.
He described his son as an introvert who was an "everyday regular kid," who grew into a young man in pain.
"Both of them have to have a lot of pain inside. Both of them," he said.
"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."
This is a developing news story and will be updated if more information becomes available.
