Eyewitnesses speak out about couple found dead on B.C. highway

CTV National News: Tourist couple shot to death RCMP in northern B.C. say Chynna Deese and Lucas Fowler were shot to death while on a road trip. David Molko reports.

Two road workers in northern British Columbia are providing possible clues into the deaths of an Australian man and an American woman whose bodies were found on the side of a remote stretch of highway one week ago.

One of the road workers, Alandra Hull, told Australia’s Channel 9 that she believes she saw 23-year-old Lucas Fowler and 24-year-old Chynna Deese on the side of the highway last Sunday, with their van and a bearded man who “kind of looked frustrated or something.”

Hull says the man was standing with his palms out “and just looking at (the couple).” She said she had a bad feeling about it and kept driving. She said that the RCMP asked her to help them create a sketch of the man. The RCMP have not confirmed this.

Another road worker, Trevor Pierre, told Channel 9 that he found the bodies early last Monday, about 20 kilometres south of Liard Hot Springs on Highway 97 near the border with the Yukon. He said that the van had a smashed rear right window and the side doors were open.

“In the ditch was the lady first, the young lady, and maybe five metres behind was the gentleman,” Pierre said. “He had no shoes. The young lady had one.” He said the victims were lying on the ground in identical positions.

RCMP have not confirmed how the couple was killed, saying only that they believe it was a homicide and that the suspect is still at large.

Fowler, originally from Sydney, was working on a cattle ranch near Hudson's hope.

“He became part of our family and was a good employee. He had a good heart,” Christoph Weder, owner of the ranch, told CTV Vancouver.

Deese met Fowler at the Canadian hostel where she was working, according to Deese’s brother, British Deese.

British Deese told ABC’s Good Morning America that the couple was planning a trek across Canada in a converted van, camping in national parks along the way.

“They were found brutally murdered and most of their belongings left there,” he said.

“It doesn’t add up and it’s concerning,” he added. “We’re never going to get full closure on this and it’s going to hurt the rest of our lives.”