Major crime police officers believe two persons of interest flagged down a car and got a ride away from the gravel pit near Whiskey Creek where three bodies were found.
Police said a motorist driving a light-coloured sedan on Highway 19 might have picked the pair up early Sunday.
“The driver who picked up these individuals is being asked to reach out to police,” said B.C. RCMP spokesman Cpl. Chris Manseau. “They unknowingly may have information crucial to this investigation.”
Three bodies were found in a gravel pit off Melrose Forest Service Road on Sunday. Two of the bodies were in a burned travel trailer and the third was nearby.
A man with gunshot wounds was found in a second trailer and taken to hospital.
Police said Friday that the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit has finished gathering physical evidence and completed its forensic investigation of the gravel pit.
The area is popular with quad bikers, dirt bike riders and 4x4 riders, so investigators are asking anyone who was in the area last Saturday evening or Sunday to share any video footage they have. Police are hoping it could help their investigation.
RCMP have previously said that they believe the people connected to the killings are at large. They said the killings appear targeted and the public is not at risk.
A Qualicum Bay resident said she was driving to work along Highway 19 about 6:10 a.m. on Nov. 1 and had just crossed the Little Qualicum River Bridge when she saw a thick plume of smoke billowing into the sky above the trees.
The woman, who did not want to be identified, said she called 911 and reported the fire.
When she described the area, she was transferred to the B.C. Wildfire Service reporting line since it was thought to be forestry land. She reported again what she saw and hung up.
Later, when the woman saw the news that three bodies had been found in a burned out trailer, she realized no one had followed up on her tip.
She said the black smoke was very obvious as two other co-workers reported seeing it. “If they had investigated it whatsoever they would have seen [the smoke],” she said.
Oceanside RCMP were called to the area Sunday around 2 p.m. when someone riding a motorbike in the area found a dead man in the gravel pit.
“It’s very disturbing. Why didn’t anyone go and check?” the woman asked.
Manseau could not comment on the woman’s report of the fire but said the information has been provided to investigators.
Two people living in one of two trailers at the site haven’t been seen and are believed to be dead.
Several sources told the Times Colonist that one of the victims of the killings is believed to be Shawn McGrath, a 52-year-old with an extensive criminal record.
His girlfriend, Shanda Wilson, had been living with him in the trailer.
Neither RCMP nor the B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed the identities of the dead. Police have said forensic identification must take place, since two of the victims were found in the charred trailer.
Police have not given a update on the status of the man taken to hospital with gunshot wounds.
Anyone with information relating to the investigation is asked to call the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit information line at 250-380-6211.
