CANADA - Lucas Fowler, Australian & g/f Chynna Deese, American, murdered, Alaska Hwy, BC, Jul 2019

[Snoop Sister]

Has any other MSM outlet or RCMP shown a picture of this dark grey Mitsubishi SUV as a vehicle of interest that was shown by 7News?

Here is a screenshot from the above video report from 7News:

View attachment 194331

Will attempt to figure out what model this vehicle is? Any ideas?

I thought it was a random pic of a suv

 

[afitzy]

Bringing the press release from BC RCMP into the thread for reference:

http://bc.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1075&languageId=1&contentId=60748

 

[afitzy]

Attached is basic overview of travel recommendations for Alaska Highway:

From above link detail about cell phone coverage along the route:

5. Is cell phone and internet service available?

There are long stretches of the Alaska Highway without cell phone service. Service will also depend on your U.S. provider’s coverage in Canada or your Canadian provider’s coverage in the U.S.

Cell phone service providers in Alaska include AT&T, Verizon and GCI. T-Mobile subscribers can gain signal via the Alaska-owned GCI network. Coverage is, for the most part, confined to the highway system, although there is no coverage (outside major communities) along the Denali, Elliott, Steese or Dalton Highways (except for Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay). There are also “dead zones” found along all highways. Coverage is increasing in bush villages and available in large communities.

Alaska provider coverage is spotty to nonexistent along the Alaska Highway in Yukon and northern British Columbia outside major communities like Whitehorse, Fort Nelson, Fort St. John and Dawson Creek. There is coverage in major communities from the Yellowhead Highway south along the West and Central Access Routes in British Columbia. Coverage is good in Alberta along the East Access Route. Canadian travelers in Alaska and visitors from the Lower 48 in both Canada and Alaska will need to check with their cellular service providers regarding coverage and application of roaming and/or international rates.

Cellular service in western Canada is provided by Bell and Telus. According to Yukon Tourism mobile phone coverage is available in all Yukon communities, but they suggest you check with your own mobile service provider to find out if yours will work in the Yukon. For the technically minded “Bell Mobility provides High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital cellular service in 17 Yukon communities.” There is no service provided for Globile System for Mobile (GSM) phones.

WiFi and hardwired internet access is available at many hotels/motels and campgrounds along the Alaska Highway, as well as at some visitor centers, libraries and coffee shops/cafes.

ATT: cell phone map (showing no coverage for BC data or voice)

Website that has links to all providers with map overlay: Canadian Coverage Maps for all Carriers

 

[JanetElaine]

Will attempt to figure out what model this vehicle is? Any ideas?

Looks like an ASX.

 

[afitzy]

I thought it was a random pic of a suv

Watching the report I was confused which is why I was curious what others thought the reporter was talking about. Was the reporter referencing a specific vehicle of interest? Or was the footage in the report that included this grey SUV relevant at all and the clip shown was just random footage of traffic on the road? I checked the BC RCMP website and saw zero mention of the vehicle? I will delete the post as it might just cause unnecessary confusion.

EDIT: I deleted the original screenshot of the Gray SUV to avoid confusion as I was unable to locate any request for info about the vehicle on the BC RCMP website. I apologize for any confusion.

 

[Snoop Sister]

Attached is basic overview of travel recommendations for Alaska Highway:

From above link detail about cell phone coverage along the route:

5. Is cell phone and internet service available?

There are long stretches of the Alaska Highway without cell phone service. Service will also depend on your U.S. provider’s coverage in Canada or your Canadian provider’s coverage in the U.S.

Cell phone service providers in Alaska include AT&T, Verizon and GCI. T-Mobile subscribers can gain signal via the Alaska-owned GCI network. Coverage is, for the most part, confined to the highway system, although there is no coverage (outside major communities) along the Denali, Elliott, Steese or Dalton Highways (except for Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay). There are also “dead zones” found along all highways. Coverage is increasing in bush villages and available in large communities.

Alaska provider coverage is spotty to nonexistent along the Alaska Highway in Yukon and northern British Columbia outside major communities like Whitehorse, Fort Nelson, Fort St. John and Dawson Creek. There is coverage in major communities from the Yellowhead Highway south along the West and Central Access Routes in British Columbia. Coverage is good in Alberta along the East Access Route. Canadian travelers in Alaska and visitors from the Lower 48 in both Canada and Alaska will need to check with their cellular service providers regarding coverage and application of roaming and/or international rates.

Cellular service in western Canada is provided by Bell and Telus. According to Yukon Tourism mobile phone coverage is available in all Yukon communities, but they suggest you check with your own mobile service provider to find out if yours will work in the Yukon. For the technically minded “Bell Mobility provides High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital cellular service in 17 Yukon communities.” There is no service provided for Globile System for Mobile (GSM) phones.

WiFi and hardwired internet access is available at many hotels/motels and campgrounds along the Alaska Highway, as well as at some visitor centers, libraries and coffee shops/cafes.

As a resident of western Canada, there are several other cell providers besides bell and telus.

 

[Strangeworld]

Has any other MSM outlet or RCMP shown a picture of this dark grey Mitsubishi SUV as a vehicle of interest that was shown by 7News?

Here is a screenshot from the above video report from 7News:

View attachment 194331

Will attempt to figure out what model this vehicle is? Any ideas?

IMO the electric road sign is in the background - that is their focus. Couldn't be footage of the car if that sign is already erected on the road.

 

[Blue Amethyst]

I think they could have pulled off the road. Green line is where grass starts, red line is where shoulder starts.

View attachment 194329

Good picture, Otto. Too bad they couldn’t have got a couple of guys to help push it over more on the shoulder right to the grass as far as they could. I would have been afraid to sleep in it in case a semi came along and hit it.

 

[Zella]

Has LE given a time for when the witness saw someone arguing with them? I'm assuming it was after the 4 PM mark because that seemed to be when LE had a gap in knowledge about them.

Also wondering if anyone else saw them after that. Certainly coule help determine if they were killed shortly after that last witness saw them or if the killer doubled back.

 

[TristanP]

They were experienced travellers, but were they aware of, and did they abide by, local law? Maybe stalled vehicles in the USA and Australia can be partially parked on major highways and they didn't know better. I'm just speculating that an altercation may have started with someone stopping because of almost hitting the van - and things went south from there.

With the broken window, it seems like the suspect was determined to confront the couple.

If the vehicle is stalled, what else are they supposed to do with it? Pick it up and move it off the road? What does Canada expect from their drivers? I think it’s universally understood that you need to move a vehicle as far off the roadway as possible when it is stalled, isn’t it?

 

[otto]

Good picture, Otto. Too bad they couldn’t have got a couple of guys to help push it over more on the shoulder right to the grass as far as they could. I would have been afraid to sleep in it in case a semi came along and hit it.

Hopefully it wasn't something like this that led to their murders. Given the description of how the suspect was standing and that it appeared to be an altercation, it does sound like he was upset and they were explaining that the van was stalled.

What doesn't quite make sense is that the rear window of the van was smashed, the side doors were open, Lucas was wearing no shoes and Chynna was wearing one. Maybe there was an altercation and he came back later to shoot them.

 

[otto]

If the vehicle is stalled, what else are they supposed to do with it? Pick it up and move it off the road? What does Canada expect from their drivers? I think it’s universally understood that you need to move a vehicle as far off the roadway as possible when it is stalled, isn’t it?

Stalled vehicles must be off (towed if necessary) the highway, not partially on, to ensure the safety of other drivers. That's true of major highways in most countries.

A mechanic stopped to see if they needed help. That was an opportunity to ask the mechanic to either help, or call a tow truck (if cell service was unavailable). I understand that the couple expected that the van would cool off and be good to go, but that didn't happen if they were there from 3:20 until the evening. It's very unfortunate.

 

[bestill]

A mutual friend of the Deese family posted about this on facebook. Needless to say Chynna's family is devastated. I hope they have answers soon.

 

[otto]

There's no scenario that justifies the cold blooded, brutal murder of two innocent people whose van broke down on the side of the road. Its not as if their van was parked on a blind curve, it could be seen from a distance. The alleged killer was seen by a witness during daylight hours. If the victim's van caused him to swerve, it was because he was careless, driving way too fast and possibly under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

If he's a local who didn't like tourists passing through, perhaps he needed to find a new place to live.

Looking forward to RCMP broadcasting a description of the killer's vehicle and a sketch and description of the bearded man. She may not have gotten a good look at his face, but hopefully she can give info about height, weight, clothing he was wearing, etc.

I hope the victims didn't think that vehicles that swerved to avoid the van were at fault, drunk, drugged, careless, or at fault. A response like that could escalate a road rage situation.

 

[musicaljoke]

Are there any locals onboard who can tell us how much traffic goes along that road? Is it as frequent as a vehicle in view at all time, or as infrequent as just one every 15 minutes?

 

[PingTheRouter]

back awake au morning time
paywalls making finding information difficult
hopefully some more news today sometime we seem to be working on two different time sccales re : news
canadian news cycle and australian news cycle

 

[Seattle1]

I think they could have pulled off the road. Green line is where grass starts, red line is where shoulder starts.

View attachment 194329

To be clear, this is not the actual photo from crime scene depicting exactly where vehicle was stopped/parked is it?

 

[dotr]

Tourist couple found dead off B.C. highway were ‘happy’ and ‘confident,’ bystanders say
"John Wright, the tow truck driver who pulled the van from the crime scene to Fort Nelson nearly four hours away, told Global News Sunday he didn’t know he’d be handling evidence in a murder investigation until he arrived on scene.

“[The officers] didn’t let me touch anything, they wouldn’t let me go around to the back of the vehicle until I got it onto the truck to tie it on,” he said.

Once he got to the back of the van, Wright noticed the rear window was smashed, but couldn’t say whether it was shot out. He also couldn’t see anything inside the van."
"It’s also not clear if Fowler and Deese were killed inside or outside the van."

"Marissa McKinley, an employee at the Pink Mountain Campsite in the Peace River area, said she also encountered Fowler and Deese when they stopped at the site days before they were found."

https://pinkmountaincampsitervpark.ca/

 

[Snoop Sister]

Are there any locals onboard who can tell us how much traffic goes along that road? Is it as frequent as a vehicle in view at all time, or as infrequent as just one every 15 minutes?

Not exactly local to the highway but I do know that around the Liard Hot Springs, it can be a busy area with tourists in the summer. Lots of big rigs on the road as well when I travelled the highway.

 

[otto]

To be clear, this is not the actual photo from crime scene depicting exactly where vehicle was stopped/parked is it?

I do believe that these are actual photos from the scene when the bodies were found. In these photos, it's easier to see how far the van is onto the highway and how much room is left on the shoulder.


RCMP in British Columbia - Update: Suspicious Death Investigation Continues