Man charged in death of B.C. girl, 15

A 20-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a teenaged girl whose body was found along a snowy forest road in northern B.C.

Cody Alan Legebokoff of Prince George was charged Monday in the death of Loren Donn Leslie, 15,of Fraser Lake after aMountie pulled over a truck after it turned onto a highway from an unused logging road.

Legebokoff was arrested after the RCMP officer stopped the pickup, which turned onto Highway 27 north of Vanderhoof on Saturday night.

A conservation officer was called in and retraced the pickup's path in the snow.

"As the [conservation service officer] examined the area, he located the lifeless body of the teenage girl at around 11:50 p.m., a distance away from the side road," said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dan Moskaluk. "The state of the young girl indicated that she had been murdered just hours before the man's arrest."

Legebokoff has been remanded in custody without bail untilhis next court appearanceon Wednesday.

Moskaluk said in a statement that investigators expect to remain on the scene until after an autopsy.

Police have not released a possible cause of death or a motive for the killing.

Leslie, who wasvisually impaired, was a Grade 10 student at Nechako Valley Secondary School in Vanderhoof.

Another body found in area last month

Highway 27 connects to Highway 16 near Vanderhoof. Locals often call Highway 16 the Highway of Tears, because of the number of aboriginal women who have gone missing in the area in recent years.

Moskaluk said the latest homicide brings to mind the discovery of Cynthia Frances Maas, a 35-year-old sex trade worker who was found dead near the highwaylast month.

"We're all very sensitive to all of the incidents that have been ongoing in the northern part of the province," said Moskaluk.

Nobody has been arrested in Maas's death.