Police release CCTV of Lucas Fowler and girlfriend as investigation continues
Canadian police have confirmed Australian man Lucas Fowler and his American partner Chynna Deese were murdered in an act of “gun violence”.
Police have also released a sketch of a man they want to speak to over the shooting deaths and CCTV of the couple on their road trip, filling up their blue van at a petrol station.
Fowler, 23, and Ms Deese were found dead near the Alaska Highway last Monday, about 20 kilometres south of the Liard Hot Springs.
Detectives from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and British Columbia major crimes teams are investigating the double homicide. At this stage, a suspect has not been named in the couple’s murder.
During a media conference this morning police released a sketch of a man they wish to speak with as part of their investigation.
The sketch shows a Caucasian man with a thick beard wearing what appears to be a cap. Police stressed the man in the image is not a suspect.
In addition to the composite sketch police today also released CCTV footage from July 13 this year showing Mr Fowler and Ms Deese arrive and depart the petrol station.
“Today, we’re asking for the public’s assistance,” Sergeant Janelle Shoihet told reporters.
“We are asking those who may have been in the area and may have information and saw anything or have dashcam video (to contact police).”
She urged anyone with information in relation to the bearded man in the sketch to also contact authorities.
Road worker Alandra Hull said she saw Mr Fowler and Ms Deese on the highway the night before they were found dead, talking with a man who "kind of looked frustrated or something".
She said the man was standing in the middle of the highway, while Mr Fowler and Ms Deese stood beside their van.
Sgt Shoihet confirmed the man in the sketch is the mystery man seen speaking with Mr Fowler.
The bodies of Australian Lucas Fowler, 23, and North Carolina woman Chynna Deese, 24, were discovered by the side of the Alaska Highway in the north of British Columbia last Monday.
Earlier, Fowler's father, a senior NSW police officer, described the relationship of his son and girlfriend's as the world's "worst ever love story".
"We are just distraught," NSW Police Chief Inspector Stephen Fowler, the victim's father, told reporters at a press conference in British Columbia.
"This has really torn two families apart.
"As a police officer you work with families all the time and you get a feel for the lay of the land as you see it but nothing could prepare our family for what we are going through."
Fowler, who travelled to Canada over the weekend, described his son as "a fun-loving guy who had a goal to travel the world".
"He set out on an adventure with a mate," he said.
"Along that tour he met Chynna and they became an inseparable pair.
"It's a love story that has ended tragically.
"It really is the worst ever love story because we now have two young people who had everything in front of them tragically murdered."
Fowler said he and his family were "more than satisfied" with the resources and effort local police were putting into the case. He appealed for anyone with information about the case to contact police.
Police also released a separate sketch of the man found dead on Friday near a burnt-out trailer at Dease Lake, about 470 kilometres away from the place where Fowler and Deese's bodies were found.
The truck's owners - Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18 - have not been in contact with their families in recent days.
"It is unusual to have two major investigations of this nature and we recognise the possibility that these could be linked," Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokeswoman Janelle Shoihet said.