A woman who knows the two Nova Scotia men accused of forcibly confining and sexually assaulting a teenage boy says police should be looking for a man and a woman instead because, she says, one of the suspects often passes himself off as a female.

When Anna Leblanc first met Wayne Alan Cunningham, 31, in 2011 she said she assumed he was a woman until about a month later.

"I have seen him dressed as a girl. He can change his voice and everything," she said.

RCMP in Nova Scotia have been searching for David James Leblanc, 47, and Wayne Alan Cunningham since the two men were charged Wednesday.

Anna Leblanc says Cunningham is very convincing as a woman and can look quite young. She said he's known for telling people he's 19 or 20.

"They should know that he can change his appearance because...Wayne could [look like] a woman and nobody would know it."

The two are believed to be in a 2003 Hyundai Elantra. The vehicle is grey with Nova Scotia licence plate FBP 233.

Sgt. Alain Leblanc told CBC News Friday the tips are coming from Ontario, where the police have focused their search.

Police won't say where, but they've alerted other police organizations in the province while continuing to follow up leads in Nova Scotia.

Ontario Provincial Police and other police forces have been advised through the Canadian Police Information Centre to be on the lookout for the two men.

The family of David Leblanc issued a public plea Thursday for the suspect to turn himself in.

According to relatives of Leblanc, he and Cunningham have been in a common-law relationship for more than a decade.

Leblanc also faces charges from a separate case of making and distributing child pornography. He's also charged with sexual assault and sexual interference involving two young boys.

Cunningham also has a criminal record. He was convicted of several crimes including theft and breaking and entering after a 2006 incident in which Leblanc was also convicted.

Confined for two weeks

RCMP in Nova Scotia said the victim in this case, a 16-year-old boy, was held for nearly two weeks in Upper Chelsea, Lunenburg County.

Police say the boy escaped from this home in Upper Chelsea, Lunenburg County. (CBC)

The teen escaped from a house in Upper Chelsea, Lunenburg County and walked more than one kilometre to another home to ask for help.

The teen had chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles and was wearing nothing but a hooded sweatshirt and a hat when he arrived on Terry Frauzel's doorstep.

Frauzel told CBC he cut the chains off the boy and drove him to a house in Bridgewater. The teen was later treated in hospital and police say he is now safe.