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British Columbia

'We love you Makayla': Friends and family celebrate life of homicide victim

While police have said little about the disappearance of Makayla Chang and the discovery of her body, friends and family gathered in Nanaimo on Saturday to remember the 16-year-old.

Body of Makayla Chang, 16, recently found in Nanaimo after she was reported missing March 22

Friends and family gathered on Crab dock in Nanaimo B.C. on Saturday, May 27, 2017 to remember Makayla Chang. (Dean Stoltz/CHEK News)

Friends and family of a teenager from Nanaimo, B.C., whose body was recently discovered gathered to commemorate her and express their concern about how little they know about her death.

They met at a waterfront memorial in Nanaimo on Saturday afternoon and said they'redeeply troubled by the disappearance of 16-year-oldMakaylaChang.

"It's almost as if she just walked down the sidewalk and [poof]. What happened?" asked MaryNespit, Chang's great aunt.

A close up photo of a teen girl with blonde hair and large eyes.
Makayla Chang, 16, was reported missing on March 22, 2017. Her body was discovered on May 18, 2017. (CHEK News)

Chang was last seen in Nanaimo on March 17. She was reported missing on March 22, andan exhaustive search for herfollowed.

Police interviewed a 53-year-old man as part of that search. They said he was not a suspect, but that Chang may have been with him.

On May 18, RCMP announced that her body had been found, but offered no other information other than to say that Chang's case was now a homicide and remained a priority.

On Saturday, those close to Chang gathered on a dock inNanaimo to remember the teen as they wait on details of what happened to her.

"This is incredible," saidNespit."I just wish I could have said goodbye to her. "

"I can't sleep," said Chang's friend April Schneider. "I try to go to sleep and I'm waking up thinking that she's going to come home."

"It's just a lot of not knowing and a lot of wishing we knew what happened," saidLilyMorice,another friend of the teen.

"Today is for her. It's to show her we're here and that we love her so much and wish she was still here."

with files from Dean Stoltz.

'We just love her so much,' says Makayla Chang's friend Lily Morice. (Dean Stoltz/CHEK News)