Lucas Fowler‘s family put on brave faces as they arrived at the funeral for the Australian man who was killed in a string of murders in northern B.C. that have triggered a cross-country manhunt for the suspected killers.
News cameras captured Fowler’s father Stephen and others arriving at Turramurra Uniting Church in Turramurra, a suburb of Sydney.
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Stephen, a chief inspector with the New South Wales (NSW) Police, appeared solemn as he exited a limousine and greeted Rev. Phil Swan outside the venue.
The service drew hundreds of people, including NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Jones and Police Minister David Elliott, reported Australia’s ABC News.
Stephen delivered a eulogy in which he said his son lived a “life that many of us envied” and described how he and girlfriend Chynna Deese, who was murdered alongside him, first came together.
He said the pair met in Croatia and that they had a “great time travelling together.”
“We never had the chance to meet Chynna in person but she became a part of our family,” Stephen said.
One photo released by the NSW Police showed Lucas with ice stuck in his beard.
Stephen described the photo in his eulogy, News.com.au reported.
“He texted: this is what happens when you are out checking fences on a snowmobile in -36C,” he said.
“I replied: ‘Easy way to get a haircut. Just snap it off.'”
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Fowler’s funeral came five days after a memorial to Deese took place in Charlotte, N.C.
There, her brother described her as charismatic and outgoing, and as someone who loved to travel, NBC reported.
A friend described her as a “bright light.”
Fowler’s funeral also happened as the manhunt for the suspects in the murders of Fowler, Deese and UBC botany instructor Leonard Dyck entered its 10th day on Thursday.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have confirmed that they received a report about two men driving a white vehicle through a construction site close to Highway 11 in Kapuskasing.
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The tipster believed that the two men were 19-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryer Schmelgesky, who have been charged with second-degree murder in Dyck’s death and are considered suspects in the killings of Fowler and Deese.
Police have not, however, confirmed that the men in the car were the same people.
— With files from Rachael D’Amore
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