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Alaska Highway Murders · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Ever get that feeling, you know, that feeling where it's like,
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  whoa real life is way stranger than anything you'd see
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  in a movie. Yeah, definitely, that's what we're diving into today.
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  This case. It's twenty nineteen Northern BC and what starts
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  is I don't know, just a really sad situation. It
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  becomes this huge thing, a nationwide manhunt, had everyone in
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  Canada on edge. I remember that everyone was glued to
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  the news absolutely, So we're talking Cama Cloud and Briar
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  schmcgelski got our news articles, even something that looks like
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  a Wikipedia page on this whole thing. Once we get
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  into it, you'll see just how.
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  Speaker 2: Wild it got.
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  Speaker 1: A lot to unpack it really is. Okay, so picture
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  this July. You're driving on the Alaska Highway. Beautiful scenery,
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  sounds peaceful, so far, right, but you come across this
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  van broken down. Inside are Lucas Fowler and Shinnadiese young
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  couple from Australia in the US. They were on this
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  big adventure and that's where it dents for them.
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  Speaker 2: Tragic.
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  Speaker 1: Now you might be thinking, okay, awful, but these things
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  happen sometimes accident, right, Yeah, But here's the thing. Our
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  source mentions this mechanic stopped to help Lucas and Chenna
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  even chat with them for a bit, and he said
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  they seemed fine, happy, smiling, not freaking out like you
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  might expect with a broken down van. He even remembers
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  how excited Chene was about their trip.
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  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 1: And this is before everything goes wrong. So in hindsight,
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  it's just aery.
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  Speaker 3: It's like the calm before the storm. And knowing what
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  we know now, this encounter it's not just some random detail.
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  It tells us this wasn't some robbery gone wrong or
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  a crime of opportunity. This was planned, thought out and
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  just the beginning of something much larger and much more.
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  Speaker 1: Sinister, exactly, and it just keeps getting worse. A few
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  days later, another body is discovered, Leonard Dick, and near
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  him a burnt out truck. And guess whose names are
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  connected to that truck?
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  Speaker 3: McLeod and Schmigelski Ingo. And that's where this goes from
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  a local tragedy to a national story. We're not just
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  talking about one crime scene anymore. It goes from British
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  Columbia all the way to Manitoba, huge distances and.
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  Speaker 1: A logistical nightmare for law enforcement trying to coordinate a
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  search across basically what is it? Thousands of kilometers?
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  Speaker 3: Thousands and not just open fields. We're talking about some
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  of the most rugged and remote terrain in Canada.
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  Speaker 1: Right, It's not just about the distance. This whole case.
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  It shines a light on so many different aspects of
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  crime and investigation stuff most people never even think about.
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  Speaker 2: It's true, this case really ran the.
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  Speaker 1: Gant, like how do you even conduct a manhunt in
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  a place that vast? And then there's the whole social
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  media angle how that plays into everything? Oh?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely that was huge in this case.
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  Speaker 1: It's like a crash course in modern criminology, this whole thing.
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  But hold on, before we go too far down that road,
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  we need to address something. Remember how the name Highway
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  of Tears started popping up in the media early on?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I remember that.
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  Speaker 1: We have to talk with that because for those who
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  don't know the Highway of Tears, well, that represents a
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  long and really tragic history of violence against Indigenous women in.
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  Speaker 2: Canada, a really dark part of our history.
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  Speaker 1: And by even mentioning it along side this case, there
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  was this risk, you know, even if it wasn't intentional
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  of overshattering those ongoing tragedies.
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  Speaker 2: It's a good point.
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  Speaker 3: It really makes you think about the responsibility of the media,
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  especially in these big sensitive cases.
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  Speaker 1: Huge responsibility. Okay, so McClard and Shmigelski they're officially on
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  the run now and they are not messing around. They
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  covered a lot of ground in a short time. It's
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  like an unbelievable amount a burning rab four in Manitoba,
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  sightings in Saskatchewan. They even had that close call with
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  a was it banned constable?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, band constables. They had no idea who they'd stumbled
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  upon at the time.
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  Speaker 1: Just goes to show crazy. It's easy to get caught
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  up in the chase, you know, think of it like
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  an action movie. But we have to remember the real
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  people involved. They're families, entire communities living in fear.
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  Speaker 3: And the pressure on the RCMP. They were working around
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  the clock to find these guys before anyone else got hurt. Absolutely,
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  and it wasn't just boots on the ground. They brought
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  in everything, air support, canine units, even use thermal imaging.
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  But like I was saying, trying to track two guys
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  in that much wilderness, it's like trying to find a
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  specific needle in a stack of needles.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you got to hand it to everyone involved in
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  that search though, the dedication, the hours they put in,
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  the risk, especially out in those communities, resources are already
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  stretched thin, and then something like this happens and they.
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  Speaker 3: Really stepped up right like in York Landing. That's where
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  it gets really interesting. Remember we mentioned the bear clam patrol.
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  It was those volunteers who actually made the biggest break
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  in the case. Can you believe that?
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  Speaker 2: No kidding?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, volunteer group, they're the ones who spotted two guys
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  matching McLoud and Schmigelsky's descriptions at that landfill. Talk about
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  a roller coaster. Right one minute, you think they've got nothing,
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  the next they're this close to catching.
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  Speaker 1: These guys, I know, and then just like that, poof,
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  they're gone again. It's like a true crime documentary. You know, helicopters,
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  search parties everywhere, and it's this group of volunteers, people
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  trying to protect their own who almost end up making
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  the difference.
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  Speaker 3: Really says something about the power of community, especially when
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  things go sideways. But you're right, all those emotions, the pressure,
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  the fear, it takes a toll, not just on the investigators,
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  but on everyone. You know, the entire towns were on edge.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and then all that energy, that hope, it just fizzles.
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  The trailers are cold, the search winds down, and everyone's
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  left wondering did they actually get away with it? Did
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  they disappear?
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  Speaker 3: Well, that's the thing. Our source is pretty clear on
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  this point. It didn't end there. No, not at all.
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  This is where things get really interesting. I mean, this
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  was twenty nineteen, right, the digital age in full swing.
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  We've got to talk about social media.
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  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it was everywhere. Everybody was an expert, everyone
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  had a theory. Did all that online stuff help or hurt?
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  Do you think? I mean it had to impact the
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  investigation right totally.
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  Speaker 3: It's one of those double edged sorts. You've got this
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  huge amount of public engagement where people comparing notes, sharing tips,
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  pouring over maps, trying to figure out where these guys
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  might go next. That has to count for something. But
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  at the same time, you've got misinformation spreading faster than
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  wild theories, people chasing ghosts, and worst of all, you've
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  got these I didn't know what to call them, these trolls.
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  Basically cheering these guys on, celebrating the fact that they
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  were on the run.
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  Speaker 1: It's creepy, right. Our source even mentions this one guy
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  called himself Thomas Abramatoyo or something claim to be best
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  buddies with McLoud and Schmigelski. Sickening makes you wonder where's
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  the line between being into true crime and you know,
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  being messed up?
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, it's a slippery slopest for sure. Probably a whole
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  other deep dive waiting to happen. Thinking about the ethics.
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  Speaker 1: Of all this totally another conversation. But getting back on track,
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  how does this whole digital circus end?
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  Speaker 3: Well, while everyone's busy playing detective online, it's actually a
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  pretty low tech discovery that changes everything. A blue sleeping bag.
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  Tour guide found it near the Nelson River and that's.
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  Speaker 1: The one that leads them right to McLoud and Schmigelski's hideout.
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  Crazy how these.
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  Speaker 3: Things happen, It's true, though almost unbelievable, right, tiny detail
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  missed by who knows how many people, and that's the
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  thing that brings the case wide open.
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  Speaker 2: It's wild.
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  Speaker 1: So that sleeping bag, the one that tour guide found,
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  it wasn't just some random thing, right, it was like
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  the clue that unraveled everything.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, like the loose thread that unravels the whole sweater.
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  The cops find this sleeping bag and then boom, they
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  find a damaged rowboat nearby. Plus there's other stuff there, belongings,
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  and it doesn't take a genius to figure out who
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  they belonged.
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  Speaker 1: To McLoud and Schmigelski exactly.
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  Speaker 3: And then well it's the discovery everyone was expecting but dreading.
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  Speaker 1: They found their bodies.
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  Speaker 2: They did, the manhunt was over. Just like that.
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  Speaker 1: What a weird feeling that must have been, like relief obviously,
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  but also I don't know, sadness, disappointment even like we're
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  finally at the end of the story, but we still
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  don't know why it happened.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely because finding them it confirmed everything. It meant McLoud
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  and Smigelski were responsible for murdering Lucas Fowler, Cennadie and
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  Leonard Dyke. And to make matters worse, they found those
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  confession videos the guys made before, you know.
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  Speaker 1: Before they took their own lives, right, and those videos,
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  I mean talk about chilling and they admit to everything.
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  But there's just nothing, no explanation, no reason why.
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  Speaker 3: It's the lack of a why that gets to me.
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  No remorse, no justification, just blankness. It's like they wanted
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  to get caught, but we'll never know what drove them
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  to do it in the first place.
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  Speaker 1: So what do we do with that? What's the takeaway
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  from all of this? I mean, we've gone through the timeline,
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  the manhunt, the social media frenzy, but it feels like
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  we're right back where we started, a bunch of unanswered questions.
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  Speaker 3: I think that's the point. Sometimes life doesn't give us
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  easy answers something. Some tragedies they just defy explanation. We
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  can look at the evidence, try to understand their psychology,
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  but some mysteries just stay mysteries.
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  Speaker 1: And maybe that's okay. It's like you said earlier about
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  asking the questions, even if we don't like the answers,
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  or even if there aren't any. This whole thing it
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  makes you think, you know, about the stories we tell
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  ourselves about good and evil, about the darkness that can
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  be hidden anywhere.
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  Speaker 3: It reminds us that real life isn't a movie. There's
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  not always a neat ending, a satisfying resolution. The best
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  we can do is learn from it all, keep those
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  conversations going and never stop questioning.
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  Speaker 1: DN have said it better myself and to everyone listening.
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  We'll leave you with this. Imagine you're the detective on
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  this case. Where do you even start? What details jump
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  out at you. It's a real head scratcher, something to
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  think about right until next time.