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Man charged with 1st-degree murder of Nanaimo teen pleads not guilty

The man charged with the first-degree murder of Nanaimo, B.C., teen Makayla Chang's has pleaded not guilty in provincial court.

Steven Michael Bacon was arrested in Fredericton, N.B., for an unrelated matter in September 2019, about a month after Nanaimo RCMP put out a Canada-wide appeal for help locating him as a person of interest in the case.

Chang was 16 when she was reported missing in March 2017.

Her body was discovered two months later at an undisclosed location following an exhaustive search.

Father Kerry Chang says the not guilty plea was expected.

"It's not surprising," he said. "We're just glad that it's moving along finally. The emotions going with it, it's been a long haul for us."

Nanaimo RCMP
Nanaimo RCMP

Chang, who attended John Barsby Secondary School, was known to frequent Bacon's house in Nanaimo. She was not living at home at the time of her disappearance.

According to court documents, Bacon was born in 1964, making him 55 or 56 years old.