'Significant evidence' linked Port Alberni fugitives to 2 B.C. homicide scenes, RCMP say

RCMP says they're continuing to gather evidencerelated tothree homicides in northern B.C.,despite the discoveryof two bodies they believe are the two suspects in Manitoba.

On Wednesday,police in Manitoba announced the discovery of two male bodies they believeto be the remainsof fugitives Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky.

They were charged with second-degree murder in the death of64-year-old University of British Columbia lecturer Leonard Dyck. They are also suspects in the shooting deaths ofLucas Fowler, 23, an Australian, and Chynna Deese, 24, an American.

All three bodies were discovered in northern B.C.

Police in B.C. said Wednesday that "significant evidence" links the suspects to both crime scenes.

At a news conference in Surrey, RCMPsaid there is no link between the victims and don't believe they were targeted. And policesay they don't have a motive for the killings.

"It's going to be extremely difficult for us to ascertain definitivelywhat the motive was," said RCMPAssistant Commissioner Kevin Hackett.

An autopsy of the suspects' bodies, and an extensive search of the area where the remains were found may provide further cluesto the motives of Schmegelsky and McLeod's, Hackett said.

Bodies foundin northern Manitoba

The bodies believed to be the suspects were discoveredin the area of Fox Lake Cree Nation, a community about 70 kilometres northeast of Gillam, Man.

The remainswere discovered approximately a kilometre from where items linked to the fugitives were found along the Nelson River, and eight kilometres from where a torchedSUV, allegedly driven by the men,was found inFox Lake.

An autopsy will take place in Winnipeg to confirm the identities of the male bodies and determine their causes of death, Manitoba RCMP say.