Two men go missing in northern B.C. near where body is found

DEASE LAKE, B.C. – RCMP in northern British Columbia are searching for two young Vancouver Island men whose vehicle was discovered on fire Friday in the same area where police say a body was found.

Police said in a release Sunday night that officers investigating a vehicle fire on Highway 37 about 50 kilometres south of Dease Lake, B.C., received information that led them to discover a body at a highway pullout about two kilometres from the scene of the fire.

They said the burned vehicle belonged to 19-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky, both of Port Alberni, B.C.

According to police, the two were travelling through B.C. to Whitehorse in the Yukon to look for work and haven't been in contact with their families for the past few days.

They were last seen in Dease Lake on Thursday travelling in a red and grey Dodge pickup truck with a sleeping camper.

Police said they were still working to identify the male body that was found, determine the cause of death, and whether there was any connection with the two missing men.

But they did confirm that the body they found was not that of either of the missing teens.

Dease Lake is about 470 kilometres away from where 23-year-old Australian Lucas Fowler and his 24-year-old American girlfriend Chynna Deese were found murdered earlier in the week along the Alaska Highway near Liard Hot Springs.

Police acknowledge in their Sunday release that "there are growing community concerns about the ongoing homicide investigations in northern B.C."

They add that investigators "are sharing information" about the cases, but don't say whether any connection between the two has yet been made.