Toronto Police Face Criticism Over Transgender Woman's Death

As a child, Alloura's sister knew she was trans. She would play dress-up at a young age, often using a towel or bag to pretend she had long hair. Growing older she was curious about dressing in drag, and full of questions about becoming "glam".

Stephanie, a drag performer remembers her friend Alloura, "I always told her, change to different wigs till you know who you are."

Alloura came out as trans to her parents at 18, and they were supportive.
"I'm not politically correct, not even close, but I tried for Alloura." Mike Wells, Alloura's father, said.

"She was a very good singer," Mike remembers, "she could hit any note. She really had talent... that was the thing. She could've gone somewhere with that. For her grandmothers funeral, she sang Amazing Grace, played it off a CD. Everyone thought it was a professional singer, but it was Alloura."

Mike Wells

In 2012, Alloura signed up to the Ontario Public Works income support and rented a little apartment close to her sister, Michelle Wheeler, who lived in Scarborough.

Tragically in February, 2013, Alloura's mother passed away, throwing the rest of the family in a downward spiral. Mike was unable to make ends meet and became homeless, as well as Alloura's older brother. Alloura stopped paying rent and was evicted, becoming homeless herself.

In 2014, her sister Michelle found Alloura sleeping on her doorstep looking like she had been to hell and back. Disoriented and dirty, clothing disheveled.
"She told me this story that she had been ditched and had walked really,  really far to my house," Michelle said, "she told me these awful stories - she even told me she was lit on fire once."

After Michelle divorced her husband she made the decision to move out of town, a decision that still haunts her to this day. "I feel like if I never left in the first place, she'd probably still have a home. I do blame myself for the outcome of my sister's life."

After Alloura was evicted, she mostly lived in a tent in the Rosedale Ravine Lands Park. When her father Mike got back on his feet, he offered Alloura a place to stay but she always refused. She met a man, Augustinus Balesdent, and their relationship was marked by the use of intravenous drugs.

Alloura spent several short prison terms at the Vanier Center for Women. Her father thinks it was for theft and breaking and entering. Mike also stated that Alloura was a sex worker, but Alloura's friends clarified she would engage in survival sex work when necessary, trading sexual favors for food or a place to stay when times were really bad.

According to transgender and sex work activist Monica Forrester who works with the advocacy group Maggie's: Toronto Sex Workers Action Project, or just Maggie's, Alloura was a "staple of the community".

Alloura Wells

Alloura's family became concerned when Alloura stopped posting on Facebook, her preferred way of communicating with friends and family.

Alloura's last post reads, "is wondering [what] happened to me life live loss its too much to handle right now".

Alloura's family contacted Monica, asking if she can check around and see if she is ok. Thinking that maybe Alloura was arrested again and might be back in the Vanier Center, Monica called them and asked if there was a new prisoner with the last name Wheeler, which is a last name Alloura had used before, but her real last name was Wells. The Vanier Center said that they did have a new prisoner with that last name, so Monica assumed that Alloura was safe at the correctional center.

It wasn't till late October or early November that Monica learned that Alloura had not been in prison that summer. Four months after she went missing, Alloura's family filed a missing person's report.

Meanwhile, back in August, Rebecca Price and a friend were walking in the Rosedale Ravine Lands Park when they made a gruesome discovery. Lying next to a tent was the body of a woman, badly decomposed, with a blonde wig on. Nearby was a purse and various drug paraphernalia.

The police estimated that the body had been there for about a month, and the autopsy didn't reveal the manner of death, or even the body's race, but was able to determine that the woman was transgender.

Toronto Police Service, or TPS, did not issue a news release after Rebecca and her friend discovered the body, which is normally the case. In this instance, they decided not to issue a press release, so they could gather more information and then appeal to the public.

During one of the many times Rebecca spoke to police detectives, she learned that the body was transgender and decided to search for advocacy groups in the area. She found The 519, a community center in the Church and Wellesley district of Toronto. Church and Wellesley is Toronto's well known "gay village".
Rebecca emailed The 519 on August 17th, and when she didn't receive an answer she emailed again. On the 25th, The 519 contacted Rebecca and said that they would investigate and then follow up with the police.

The 519 Community Center

Rebecca learned of Alloura's disappearance after Maggie's alerted the media when her family filed the missing person's report. Both Rebecca and Maggie's were shocked that the TPS and The 519 did not contact Maggie's or any other social agencies in the area.

In fact, it was revealed that The 519 staff only reviewed police news releases, and when they didn't find any mention of an unidentified body, they didn't contact the police or any other agency and didn't make the tip public.

Police began to see similarities between Alloura's disappearance and the body found in Rosedale Ravine Lands Park.

After months of forensic work with DNA testing by the Ontario Center for Forensic Sciences, the body was positively identified as Alloura Wells on November 23.

The Toronto Police Services faced intense criticism over the handling of this case. Alloura's family believes that because Alloura was mixed race and transgender, the TPS didn't seem to care. Mike Wells states that the TPS told him Alloura's case was not a high priority because she was homeless.

The TPS also came under fire for not releasing the discovery of a body sooner.
This came at a time when the TPS was already being criticized for the handling of the Tess Richey case, who's body was found in a stairwell by her mother just days before TPS announced they had identified Alloura's body.

People were going missing in the Church and Wellesley district and the LGBT community believed that again the TPS was refusing to properly investigate. The community feared there may be a serial killer stalking their members, and although the TPS assured them that the rumors of a serial killer were unfounded, they turned out to be true.

TPS Chief Mark Saunders ended up apologizing to Mike Wells and ordered the professional standards unit to conduct an internal review on how the missing person's reports were being handled. By February, Chief Saunders recommended an external review in how the TPShandled missing persons in light of allegations of systemic bias.

Later the TPS established a dedicated missing person's unit and the Chief promised to work more closely with the LGBT community in the future, and try to rebuild trust.

The TPS wasn't the only agency that faced criticism. The 519 community center, Toronto's biggest LGBT advocacy agency came under fire for failing to follow through when Rebecca Price reported to them that a transgender woman's body was found.

Maura Lawless, The 519's executive director first stated that the center "made some effort to verify the information with the police." Later The 519 said that they could not verify the information and didn't want to cause panic.

An internal review found that The 519 staff did not contact the police or any other agency and only scanned police news releases for an unidentified body.

Mike Wells

Alloura's friends and family say that The 519's failure to properly follow through with Rebecca Price's report of discovering a transgender woman's body resulted in Alloura not being identified for months.

The 519 eventually issued an apology on its website on December 12 for their "mishandling of information" that a 519 board chair referred to as a "comedy of errors."

The 519 continues to place the full blame on the Toronto Police Service.

Monica Forrester worked for The 519 for 10 years before moving on to Maggie's. She expressed outrage at The 519 for failing to advocate for transgender women.

In December, Monica along with other former 519 employees circulated a petition demanding Maura Lawless resign. The alleged that under Maura's direction, The 519 had been systematically "pushing out the most marginalized people in the community," and turning the center into an exclusive club for wealthy donors.

Their main allegations being that The 519 was prejudiced against transgender women, the poor, and the homeless. They cited The 519's mishandling of the report of Alloura's body as well as some redevelopment plans they had that would displace a large number of homeless people. It also alleges that The 519 had contributed to tensions by discouraging sex-workers and homeless from the area and that The 519 had a "ban list largely made up of mentally ill or developmentally disabled racialized people."

The 519 board of directors supported Maura while engaging in an "independent review of the petition's concerns."

Monica Forrester started a GoFundMe page to raise money for Alloura's burial and tombstone. The City of Toronto covered her cremation expense and surplus funds were planned to help finance a monthly support group to assist homeless transgender women.

On December 12, 2017, Ontario enacted into law that November 20th would be observed as Transgender Day of Remembrance, requiring 1 minute of silence in the legislature. MPP Cheri DiNovo said that the legislation would be a memorial to Alloura.

Mike Wells says that he hopes his daughter will be remembered for her good heart and beautiful smile.

He also praised the Church and Wellesley community saying, "It's just sad they have to come together in these types of instances. This community is a loving, compassionate community. There's a lot to be learned from them. Some people get stupid ideas in their head about the community but they're just people... they are just people and somebody loves them. They shouldn't be ostracized because of orientation."

Alloura's sad case sticks out to me because like The 519 director said, it was a comedy of errors. So many agencies failed Alloura when just one could have made the difference.

Alloura is so much more than what her Wikipedia entry states. "Homeless, mixed-race, transgender sex-worker" is what it reads. And while these statements are true, more or less, Alloura was so much more. Alloura could have been so much more.

Even before her death, the system failed Alloura. There were potential intervention points that were missed that could have made the difference in her eventual outcome. Who knows what would have happened if she was able to get treatment and counseling for her drug addiction. Support for transgender people is severely lacking.

The average life expectancy for a transgender woman of color is about 35. Alloura only made it to 27.

Her cause of death is still unknown.

The Murder of Tess Richey

Tess Richey

In November 2017, Tess Richey was a young 22-year-old woman lamenting the recent break-up with her boyfriend. Seeking to forget her recent relationship woes, Tess reconnects with an old high school friend, Ryley Simard, who she hadn't seen for a few years.

The pair decide to meet up at a well-known drag bar in the Church and Wellesley area, Toronto's LGBT district. The bar, Crews and Tango, was a popular spot for students and the younger crowd. They made plans to meet up on November 24th.

Earlier in the day, Tess was hanging out at her sister Rachel's house.

"She was my soulmate." Rachel said of her sister Tess. Rachel vividly remembers her sister Tess "running down the front path to the Uber." This would be the last time Rachel would see Tess alive.
At around 11:30pm on November 24th, 2017, Tess leaves her sister's house heading to the Church strip and meets up with Ryley at Crews and Tango. The pair really let loose and their night is filled with drinks, laughter, and dancing.

Tess drank heavily that night, as you would expect for someone getting over a recent breakup. The two friends were so intoxicated that they were asked to leave around 1:30am.

After leaving Crews and Tango, the pair walk down the street to get a hotdog at a street vendor when they meet up with another group of people and spend some time chatting with each other. In the group is a man not knows to the two women, but Ryley remembered seeing him at Crews and Tango. He sticks around with the two women as they continue to walk around in the early morning of Toronto.

They ran laughing to Dundonald street after some drunken mischief. They sprayed mustard all over the hotdog vendor's cart. On Dundonald street, a woman was outside her home having a smoke and she talked with the trio for a while. The woman remembered little about the man with the two women saying, "He blended in with the background."

At 4:00am, Rylei gets a text from her boyfriend asking why she hadn't made it home yet.  So Ryley tells Tess that she has to head home before she leaves, heading to the streetcar.

Tess' sister Rachel texts Tess at 8:45am but doesn't realize till that evening that her messages had been undelivered. Knowing that her sister LIVED with her phone she was immediately concerned, calling friends and family, then hospitals, and after not getting anywhere, she calls the police.

Toronto Police started an investigation, but it wasn't moving fast enough for Tess' family so on November 27th, Tess's mom, Christine Hermeston, and other family members make the 4-hour drive from North Bay to Toronto to help search.

They spent two days organizing searches in the Church and Wellesley district and handing out flyers, searching for any information on where Tess was.

On November 29th, Christine and a friend arrive at a house where Tess was apparently seen the night she disappeared. They had an idea how large of an area to search in. Tess was wearing a Fitbit, and she luckily used her mother's Fitbit account, so they were able to find out that after Ryley left for the night, Tess took about 300 steps and she had 4 notifications from Uber. It looked like she requested an Uber, but she was not there when it arrived. AT 4:02 am Tess ordered the Uber, the driver arrives at 4:14am, but Tess was not there.

In the area where Tess was last seen was a house that was closed for renovations, so Christine decided to take a closer look. While Christine looked in the front, her friend checked out the back of the house.

Shortly after her friend left to check behind the building, Christine heard her friends frantic screaming. Rounding the corner to the rear of the house, she sees a concrete stairway leading to a basement. Lying at the bottom of the stairs was the cold and lifeless body of her daughter Tess.

Stairwell where Tess' body was found

Christine said that it was like looking into an open grave and that the image of her daughter lying at the bottom of that stairwell will forever be stuck in her head. Every time she closes her eyes she can still see Tess' body.

A heartbreaking photo of Tess' mom Christine describing the mental anguish she suffers after finding her daughters body

Toronto Police were heavily criticized for not finding Tess. She was about 50 feet from where she was last seen. In fact, two police officers were brought up on charges for their handling of the investigation.

The two Toronto Police officers had responded to a call to investigate the address. It is alleged that the two officers learned that this address was Tess' last known location, but they failed to properly search the area, search for and question any potential witnesses, or even notify their superior about the discovery.

They were charged at a Police Tribunal with misconduct and neglect of duty under the Police Services Act. The case was put on hold until the case concluded, and both officers remain on active duty.

Initially, there wasn't much to suggest foul play. There weren't any injuries that were apparent to suggest otherwise. Nothing abnormal for something that looked like an unfortunate fall. A post mortem examination on December 1st revealed that Tess died from neck compression; she was strangled.

The investigation was then handed over to the Toronto Police Homicide squad. Two days later they announce that they are looking for the unknown man that was with Tess and Ryley that night.

On December 8th Toronto Police release the events of that night pieced together from security footage and witness statements:

"After leaving Crews and Tango, Tess and her friend went to a hotdog cart at the intersection where they meet a group of people, and incuded the unkown man who is now a suspect. They spent some time speaking with a man and woman on Dundonald Street before Tess and the unknown man left and headed north. Surveillance shows them entering an alley at 582 Church Street and a basement stairwell where Tess' body was later found. The video then shows the suspect leaving the stairwell alone."

They also released pictures of the man, and Tess' family posted flyers in hopes of identifying him.

In January, CBS News interviews the woman on Dundonald Street.  She said that she was outside having a smoke when Tess and her friend, along with the unknown man, walked up and struck up a conversation. She remembers Tess being upset about breaking up with her boyfriend and the unknown man consoling her.

It doesn't take long for Toronto Police to identify the unknown man as Kalen Schlatter, a 21-year-old contract worker. They arrest Kalen on February 4, 2018, and charge him with 2nd-degree murder. On March 21st they upgrade the charge to 1st-degree murder.

Kalen Schlatter

Later it was revealed that Kalen sexually assaulted Tess and strangled her after she refused to have sex with him, making it one of the rare situations where 2nd-degree murder can be upgraded to 1st-degree murder. Until investigations found evidence of sexual assault, the defense team could have said that the sex was consensual and that some rough play got out of hand.

Varina Richey, one of Tess' sisters said of the ungraded charge:

"It's a cold comfort. I'm obviously happy with the upgrade. It doesn't really change the outcome of Tess' and my destroyed lives."

Kalen Schlatter's family was uncooperative with the Police and refused to give a statement, so it was ironic that the police were able to get Kalen's DNA off of a discarded water bottle his parents brought him while he was being questioned.

Initially, they planned on surveilling Kalen and getting more evidence, but when the DNA sample came back as a match to the DNA found on a semen stain on Tess' pants, they decided to arrest Kalen immediately.

Kalen Schlatter in a holding cell

When Kalen was arrested and put into a holding cell, he didn't realize that the two men in the cells on either side of him were undercover police officers, and Kalen just couldn't seem to stop talking.

"He says he's slept with over 40 women and he's only 21 years of age," the officer told the court. "he says that he can teach us his secrets. That's when Mr.Schlatter starts speaking about having foursomes, and sex with more than one woman at a time on college campuses and with random girls, and that girls beg him to have sex with him."

Kalen explained that he was just trying to impress them and hide the fact that he is bisexual.

Kalen said to the officers, "Sometimes you have to push the boundaries with women to see where it goes." Kalen of course denied this in court, saying he said the opposite; that you shouldn't push the boundaries with women, because it only makes things worse.

In 2018, when Kalen was in a Toronto detention center, he confided in a cellmate key details about that night. The cellmate said that he originally felt sorry for Kalen because it was his first time in jail, but eventually, the relationship soured.

The cellmate said that Kalen would cry himself to sleep at night because he didn't want to do time and that he missed his "mommy", yet shoed no remorse about Tess' death. Kalen's cellmate said he didn't really want to talk to the police but said "I'm a criminal. I don't like being a rat," but the knowledge of what happened to Tess drove him "nuts".

The cellmate said Kalen told him that he made out with Tess, but lost control when she didn't want to go further.

"He was sexually aroused, he wanted to keep going, she wanted to stop. He tied a scarf around her neck. She was on the ground and it excited him. He was past the point of no control. He ejaculated on her." From the cellmates statement.

Kalen also ran potential alibis past the cellmate, including that Tess was suicidal and hung herself and that the family blamed him for her suicide, so they planted the body to incriminate him. In another version, Kalen suggested that someone came by after he left and killed Tess.

Kalen denied all of these conversations ever took place, and the defense team called the cellmate "a manipulative, pathological liar."

The jury was able to see through Kalen's feeble attempts to escape justice, and they found him guilty of 1st-degree murder, sentencing him to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years.

Kalen Schlatter and his defense team are planning an appeal.

Tess Richey

Thanks for taking the time to read my stories about the darker side of Canada's past.

See you next time.

 

 

The Disappearance of Asha Degree

In the year 2000, little Asha Degree was a bright 9-year-old girl living in Shelby, North Carolina. Asha was shy and quiet, but when it came to one of her favorite sports, basketball, she was extremely competitive.

Her parents were often working when Asha and her older brother, O'Bryant, got home from school. Even so, the two children were expected to be either working on homework or already finished by the time their parents, Harold and Iquilla, got home.

Harold and Iquilla were quite protective of their children and focused on family, church, and school. Seeking to protect their children from online predators, Asha's parents refused to have a computer in their home.

"Every time you turned on the TV, there was some pedophile that lured somebody's child away via the internet," Iquilla stated in an interview with Jet.

On the night of February 13th, 2000, Shelby was hit with a massive storm. Wind and rain buffeted the entire town so badly that the rain would sting your face if you stayed out in it too long. Asha and her brother O'Bryant were in bed around 8:00pm. There was a power outage that night while the children slept, and when the power came back on at 12:30am, Harold checked on the children and found nothing amiss.

Harold once again checks on the children at 2:30am, and again, both of the children are in their beds. After Harold left from checking up on the kids, O'Bryant says he heard Asha's bed squeak, but he didn't investigate.

"She was scared to death of dogs, I never thought she would go out of the house," Iquilla said.

For reasons unknown, after her father Harold left, 9-year-old Asha Degree crept out of her bed and grabbed a bookbag she had previously packed with extra clothes and personal items. Quietly, she then left her house and walked into the blowing wind and rain.

Between 3:45am and 4:15am a truck driver and another motorist saw Asha walking south along Highway 18. They reported this to the police after seeing a story on Asha on the news. The motorist turned around because he thought it was so strange to see such a small child out at that hour. He circled three times before he saw Asha run into the woods on the side of the road and disappear.

Asha's mother awoke at 5:45am on February 14th to get the day started. At 6:30am she entered the children's rooms to wake them and she discovered O'Bryant in his bed sleeping, but Asha was not. After a frantic search of the house, Iquilla called the police.

Police arrived by 6:40am to start searching, but their efforts were hampered when the tracking dogs could not pick up Asha's scent. By 7:00am the Degree family had called all of their friends and family.

A massive turnout for the search as friends, family, and neighbors arrived was initially promising when searchers found a mitten, but this hope was dashed when it turned out not to belong to Asha.

On February 15, candy wrappers were found in a shed at a business nearby where Asha was seen running into the woods. Nearby there was also a pencil, a marker, and a Mickey Mouse shaped hair bow that belonged to Asha.

No other clues to Asha's whereabouts were found, and after 9000 man-hours, the search was called off.

Investigators had a difficult time piecing together why Asha left her house that night. They believe that Asha made plans to leave for several days prior to the early morning of the 14th.

"Not your typical runaway," said North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation agent Bart Burpeau. Ben Ermini of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says that most children that run away are at least 12

FBI also notes a lack of issues at home to be running away from. There was no history of abuse in the family. Although Asha's parents were strict, Asha seemed content to respect her parent's boundaries. On the other hand, Asha's basketball team, on which she was a star point guard, lost the first game of the season. Asha had fouled out and seemed upset about it, but by the time her brother's game started she seemed to have gotten over it.

Police believe that Asha voluntarily left her home but somehow either had gotten off track or had been abducted.

A month after Asha went missing, the Degree family appeared on "The Montel Williams Show". Americas Most Wanted and Oprah devoted short segments to the case.

Iquilla lamented in an interview with Jet that she felt her daughter didn't get as much media attention because she was black.

"Missing white children get more attention. I don't understand why. I know if you ask them they will say it's not racial. Oh, really? I'm not going to argue because I have common sense." Iquilla stated.

On August 3rd, 2001, Asha's bookbag and other items were found during a construction project off Highway 18, in Burke County near Morganton. That is 26 miles (42km) north of Shelby. The bag had been wrapped in plastic as if to protect its contents until its owner returned. The bag had Asha's name and phone number in it.

Initially, the FBI did not release what items were found in Asha's bookbag. It wasn't till the 20th anniversary of Asha's disappearance that they revealed the items in the bookbag were a copy of Dr.Seuss's McElligot's Pool and a New Kids on the Block t-shirt. Neither items were Asha's. While the library book came from Asha's elementary school, there doesn't seem to be any connection between Asha and the t-shirt; it wasn't her's. To this date, it is the last evidence found in this case.

There were a lot of dead-end leads in this case. One time in 2004, the police were following a tip that Asha was buried near an intersection. After excavating the area, all they found were some animal bones.

In 2015, the FBI, Cleaveland County Sheriff's Office investigators and State Bureau of Investigation agents re-examined the case, including re-interviewing witnesses. They also announced a reward of $25,000 for information leading to a conviction. A community group raised an additional $20,000 to add to the reward.

In 2016, the FBI announced that Asha may have been seen getting into a dark green, early '70's Lincoln Continental Mark IV or possibly a Ford Thunderbird of the same vintage. It is described as having rust around the wheel wells.

In October 2018, the Cleaveland County Sheriff's Office detectives appealed to the public for information. They were looking for any information on the items found in Asha's bookbag. These items are "critical" to solving this case.

At the 20th anniversary of Asha's disappearance, her mother Iquilla stated, "After 20 years, I still believe my daughter is alive. I do not believe she is dead. And I know someone knows something. I'm not crazy enough to think that a 9-year-old can disappear into thin air without somebody knowing something." Every year Asha's family organizes a fundraising walk to keep Asha's story in the media.

Why did Asha leave her home that night? There are theories that Asha may have been groomed somehow by a predator, but her parents were very protective and didn't even allow a computer in the house. So it would be difficult for Asha to be in contact with anyone. Another theory is that maybe Asha took that loss of her basketball game harder than what everyone thought. That didn't seem too likely since she seemed to brush off the loss quickly. It just doesn't make sense why she left the house that night.

If Asha, fondly remembered as Shelby's Sweetheart, is still alive out there, she would be old enough to have her own children. Her mother Iquilla still holds out hope that one day her little girl will come home.

Canadian Murder Spree Teens - Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky

Kam McLeod, left, and Bryer Schmegelsky

In the summer of 2019, Canada was horrified to watch a murderous rampage unfold in the media. Two teens, Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, murdered three people in the span of less than a week.

Their motivations unclear, on July 12 the teens bought an SKS semi-automatic rifle and ammo at a Cabela's store in Nanaimo, B.C. On July 15, the bodies of Chynna Deese, 24, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and her boyfriend, Lucas Fowler, 23, from Australia, were discovered near the Laird Hot Springs in BC.

Days later, after ditching their camper, they were seen in Northern Saskatchewan, shortly after they were seen in Manitoba.

After their camper was found, on July 19, the body of Leonard Dyck from Vancouver, BC was found a little over a mile away. Leonard was a UBC lecturer, described as someone that would give you the shirt off of his back. He would help anyone that needed it. He died of a single gunshot wound to the head.

Leonard Dyck

Police found bullets and shell casings near Leonard's body that matched casings found near the Chynna Deese/Lucas Fowler murder site.

A strange encounter happened along the Alaska Highway, two days after the murders of Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese. A traveler along the highway had pulled over to take a nap and noticed an "unknown male" carrying a rifle. When the man with the rifle started moving toward the witness in a "tactical or hunting stance", the witness left the area quickly.

A burning car, found in the Gillam area of Manitoba, Canada, was also confirmed as belonging to the two teens.

This situation quickly became one of the largest manhunts in Canadian history. "This is a complex, ongoing investigation involving multiple jurisdictions," said Cpl. Julie Courchaine, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The two teens evaded police by changing the appearance of Leonard's Toyota RAV4 with tape made to look like racing stripes. On July 22, the RAV4 was found abandoned by the teens.

 "We are struggling to understand what has happened"

"We are truly heartbroken by the sudden and tragic loss of Len. He was a loving husband and father. His death has created unthinkable grief and we are struggling to understand what has happened," Dyck's family said in a statement released by police.

The Deese family issued a statement through the RCMP:

"Our beloved Chynna was a ray of sunshine, and for her to be taken has made the world feel a bit darker," the statement said.

"The impact of such horrendous crimes was felt rippling throughout many communities, and we would like to express sincere gratitude to the general public for their empathy and aid during the investigation and manhunt."

Chynna and Lucas

Lucas Fowler's family stated in a Facebook post, "We struggle daily with what happened and fail to understand why. All we can do is remember our dear Lucas as a wonderful son and brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and friend."

Schmegelsky’s father, Alan Schmegelsky said that his son was a "good kid" but added "I don’t know what to think anymore. I'm in disbelief. I didn't see any signs of violence."

When interviewed, Alan said that he didn't even think his son ever even shot a real gun before, but did like to play war games in the woods with his friends using airsoft guns.

"That was their outdoor video game," Alan said

They won't be taken alive

The manhunt came to an abrupt end when the bodies of McLeod and Schmegelsky were discovered. The two teens killed themselves on a remote riverbank in northern Manitoba. It is believed that Mcleod shot Schmegelsky before shooting himself in a suicide pact. On their bodies was a digital camera, that belonged to Leonard Dyck. This camera held 6 videos and 3 pictures.

They had recorded videos days before killing themselves where they admitted to the killings in BC but didn't give a reason why. In the longest video, the two teens admitted to killing Lucas Fowler, Chynna Deese, and Leonard Dyck. In one video they state that they have shaved their heads in preparation for their own deaths and "now plan to go back and kill more people and expect to be dead in a week."

RCMP describe the videos as "cold" and said the teens were remorseless. They decided not to release the videos to the media, stating RCMP "believed that McLeod and Schmegelsky may have made the video recordings for notoriety and releasing them will be seen as an injustice to the victims and their families."

After interviewing the pair's friends and families, police have not come up with a motive for the murder spree. RCMP believe the two teens came across Lucas Fowler's van and killed him and his girlfriend before heading north to the Yukon. After having car trouble, they returned to BC and murdered Leonard Dyck after running into him by chance. They torched the vehicles to delay police and destroy any evidence left behind.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

July 15 — The bodies of a man and a woman are found near a blue van on the Alaska Highway, also known as Highway 97, near Liard Hot Springs, B.C.

July 17 — RCMP say the deaths are suspicious.

July 18 — RCMP announce Australian Lucas Fowler, 23, and his 24-year-old American girlfriend, Chynna Deese, are homicide victims. Meanwhile, in Jade City, B.C., Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, are spotted in a store where they stopped for free coffee. Jade City is about 350 kilometers from where the two bodies were found.

July 19 — Police announce the body of a man has been found two kilometers from a burned-out truck belonging to McLeod and Schmegelsky near Dease Lake, B.C. The two teens are missing. Dease Lake is about 470 kilometers from the first crime scene.

July 21 — McLeod and Schmegelsky are spotted in Cold Lake, Alta., where a local resident, not knowing who they are, helps them free a stuck Toyota Rav 4 they are driving. They are also captured on security camera footage at a store in Meadow Lake, Sask.

July 22 — Mounties say Fowler and Deese were shot. They release composite sketches of a man seen speaking with the couple on the highway where they were found dead and a sketch of the unidentified man found dead near the burned truck. Fowler’s father, an Australian police inspector, pleads for public help in the investigation. At the same time, band constables with Tataskweyak Cree Nation at Split Lake in northern Manitoba talk with McLeod and Schmegelsky at a check stop, unaware of who they are. The constables see camping gear and maps in their vehicle.

July 23 — RCMP announce Schmegelsky and McLeod are suspects in the three deaths. They release photos of the men and a 2011 grey Toyota Rav 4 they may have been driving. Fox Lake Cree Nation says a burned-out vehicle is found near Gillam, Man., about 170 kilometers east of Split Lake. Police search in that area.

July 24 — RCMP confirm the burned-out vehicle near Gillam is the Toyota Rav 4 the suspects are believed to have been driving. The third victim is identified as 64-year-old Leonard Dyck of Vancouver. He was a lecturer in the University of British Columbia’s botany department.

July 25 — Manitoba Mounties confirm two sightings of Schmegelsky and McLeod in the Gillam area. RCMP say the sightings, along with no reports of stolen vehicles, lead investigators to believe the suspects are still in the region. They say they are investigating a photograph of Nazi paraphernalia allegedly sent by Schmegelsky to another user on a video game network. Schmegelsky is also pictured in military fatigues brandishing an airsoft rifle and wearing a gas mask.

July 28 — RCMP descend on York Landing, an isolated community southwest of Gillam, after it’s reported the suspects were seen at the local dump.

July 29 — RCMP are unable to confirm the sighting and pull back to Gillam.

July 31 — Police announce they have done everything they can and are scaling back the search, although not ending it.

Aug. 2 — RCMP say they found a damaged rowboat on the Nelson River.

Aug. 4 — RCMP dive team conducts underwater search “of significant areas of interest.”

Aug. 6 — RCMP say they have found several items linked to Schmegelsky and McLeod on the shore of the Nelson River in northern Manitoba. The Mounties would not disclose what the items are but say they were found nine kilometers from the vehicle they were driving.

Aug. 7 — Police say they believe they have found the bodies of McLeod and Schmegelsky in dense brush in northern Manitoba. RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy said the bodies were found earlier in the morning near the shoreline of the Nelson River, within a kilometer of where several items linked to the two suspects were found

What brought these two kids to do these horrible things? We just don't know. These teens were described as quiet loners with no violent tendencies. Were they just very good at hiding the darkness that was gathering inside them? Was it always there, or did something change to cause this violent rampage? These are questions we won't ever get answers to. The boys did not leave behind any manifesto or note explaining their decisions.

One thing for sure, it was a very tense time to be traveling the roads in BC. Hopefully, one we don't have to experience any time soon.

Missing Yorkton Teen - Mekayla Bali

Mekayla Bali

Yorkton is a small town in Saskatchewan, Canada, with a little less than 20,000 people. It is a small, quiet, and tight-knit community. As anyone from a small town can tell you, everyone pretty well knows everyone. So when a quiet young teen disappeared, seemingly into thin air, it rattled the residents of this sleepy Canadian town.

Mekayla Bali was a 16-year-old girl living in Yorkton in 2016. She was a quiet and shy girl living like most teens. Her family described her as "average", so much so that they made a point of saying that was a defining trait about her. She was average. Nothing more, or less.

Mekayla struggled with her mental health. Like a disturbingly increasing number of children and teens in this country, Mekayla resorted to self-harm. Her missing persons file on Interpol's website even mentions a "fair amount of scars on her upper thigh from self harm".

Mekayla was a good student. Not one to rock the boat much. So it was very out of the ordinary for her to skip school. She was just the average teen, nothing special about her right? Well, on April 12, 2016, Mekayla would deviate from her regular routine drastically.

Strange Canadian UFO Encounter!

When watching TV about UFOs and the paranormal, you would think that any alien visitors we might have sure seemed to like the USA. So you might be surprised to hear that Canada has its fair share. So much so that the Royal Canadian Mint has made a series of collectible coins based on some of the most famous Canadian UFO sightings.

One such event happened in Manitoba in 1967. Stefan Michalak was prospecting near Falcon Lake when he saw two lights hovering ahead of him. One of the lights speed away, but the other lands about 150 feet ahead of him.

The Unsolved Murders of Barry and Honey Sherman

Barry and Honey Sherman

Barry Sherman was a shrewd businessman. An incredibly intelligent man, in 1958 Barry entered the University of Toronto's Engineering Science program when he was only 16, saying he chose that program because he was told it was one of the hardest. He would remain the youngest person to be accepted into that program until 2016. He graduated from that program with honors and continued on to complete a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from MIT.

In 1974 Barry formed Apotex. Using money secured from the sale of his uncle's business, Barry started a pharmaceutical empire. By 2016 Apotex would be one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Canada, employing over 10,000 people in 2016, and made the Sherman's one of the most wealthy families in Canada.