PORT ALBERNI, B.C.—In the hometown of the two young fugitives whose alleged crimes have captured international attention, news that their bodies had likely been found was met with grim acceptance Wednesday.Residents of this Vancouver Island community, founded on a booming forestry industry, in recent weeks have been faced with very unclear and sometimes contradictory images of lifelong friends Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky.There have been the tender descriptions by family — of “caring, loving” boys — who their parents just wanted home safe. Then there has been the RCMP portrait of two alleged killers on the run, accompanied by an online trail that hints at dark, far-right leanings. On a sundrenched Wednesdsay, as many gathered in the town’s quay, there was little surprise at the apparent outcome of the saga.“I honestly thought they were dead a while ago,” said 19-year-old Mud Edward, sitting on a dock rail. “There’s no way two Caucasian kids can walk around like that and not get found. There’s no way they could hide out for that long.”McLeod, 19, and Schmegelsky, 18, played online games, enjoyed camping and worked briefly at the local Walmart. They attended the local high school, but many young people The Star has spoken with in Port Alberni, a community of roughly 17,000, have said they did not know the pair well.Some have speculated that their lives may have existed as much online as in the town itself.Because his father said Schmegelsky was a gamer and into strategy games, The Star looked into Steam — a popular video game digital distribution platform. Although a number of accounts exist under the name Bryer, one account matched the same friends as Schmegelsky’s social media accounts and a couple of gamers listed in his friends group confirmed it was indeed Schmegelsky based on photos he had shared of himself and his friends.The main picture on the profile is a banner of Az ...
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