SURREY, B.C. – An RCMP report into the murders of three people in northern British Columbia was unable to offer answers about what motivated the two accused.

However, it noted a chilling late-night encounter between a man who’d stopped on a highway and two people who matched the suspects’ descriptions.

According to the report released Friday, a witness driving along the Alaska Highway saw two men who police suspect were Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, on July 17.

The witness had pulled over to take a nap, and within five minutes, a truck with a camper drove past and stopped a short distance ahead.

The report says a male got out of the passenger side holding a long gun.

He then walked towards the tree line and started “moving towards the witness in a tactical or hunting stance.” The truck also started driving slowly towards the witness, the report says.

The witness drove away from the armed male and past the truck, the report continues. The driver covered his face with his hand, barring it from the witness’s view.

The witness reported the incident to RCMP on July 21 – the same day police issued a news release asking for the public’s help in finding Schmegelsky and McLeod. At that point, police say, the pair were missing persons rather than suspects, and investigators feared they might have also been victims.

The men were later charged with the murder of Leonard Dyck, a University of British Columbia botany lecturer. They were also suspects in the deaths of American Chynna Deese and her Australian boyfriend, Lucas Fowler.

“The investigative theory is that McLeod and Schmegelsky came across Fowler’s van and targeted Fowler and Deese for unknown reasons before continuing up into the Yukon.

“McLeod and Schmegelsky returned to B.C. (from Whitehorse) because they were having vehicle issues and came across Dyck who they killed for unknown reasons,” the RCMP report states in its conclusion.

The report says the witness in the July 17 encounter described the truck as being a GMC rather than McLeod’s Dodge. Police, however, say the men’s descriptions matched the suspects’ and the pair were confirmed to be in the area at the time.

It appears that the shooter or shooters stood behind Fowler and Dease for at least some of the shots.

“If there was in fact a motive, it’s gone with the accused,” RCMP Assistant Commissioner Kevin Hackett told a news conference Friday.