Nanaimo teen Makayla Chang has been missing for more than two weeks and police have yet to find any evidence of her whereabouts.
RCMP Const. Gary O’Brien said the department has received hundreds of tips from the public and is following up on each one.
Chang, 16, was last seen in downtown Nanaimo on March 17, and could be with Steven Michael Bacon, a 53-year-old man she was known to hang out with at a downtown Tim Hortons.
On Sunday, Nanaimo Search and Rescue combed Colliery Dam Park as part of the police investigation, but no major clues were found.
“Search and rescue was there. It’s just part of the ongoing investigation,” said Nanaimo RCMP Const. Gary O’Brien. “We’re just being very thorough, covering off every aspect.”
The search centred around the Cat Stream ravine area. Colliery Dam is one of Nanaimo’s larger parks and is a popular dog-walking destination, as the trail around the upper dam is a designated dog off-leash area.
O’Brien said police had no information to suggest that Chang had been in the park.
Last week, police called on search-and-rescue personnel to help check outdoor areas in Nanaimo where Chang might have gone and fallen or been injured. Nothing was found.
A home on Bruce Avenue where Bacon is believed to have lived at one point was also searched by police and forensic investigators.
Bacon is originally from Thunder Bay, Ont. His daughter, Allison Bacon, said she has not seen her father for two years but is concerned that he might not be mentally stable.
Allison Bacon said she was told that her father has said that his daughter killed herself, and that he was calling Chang by a pet name he called Allison as a child.
“[He] even went so far as to call her ‘baby bird,’ which is what he called me. I just want this girl home safe and back to her grandmother,” she said.
Neither Makayla or Bacon have been spotted on B.C. Ferries surveillance cameras.
Makayla, who has also used the names Kayla and Finn, is typically active on social media, but has not used it since March 17. She is described as five-foot-one and 110 pounds, with hazel eyes and hair dyed red.
She has glasses and a number of facial piercings, sometimes wears wigs and occasionally dresses as a male.
Bacon is described as five-foot-10 and 210 pounds. He is balding, with white hair worn in a buzz cut, and has a yellowish goatee.
He has a teardrop tattoo under his left eye, as well as a tattoo on the back of his right hand.
