The RCMP in British Columbia have charged a 60-year-old man with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a young Yukon aboriginal woman 16 years ago.

The body of 21-year-old Cindy Burk, also known as Tina Washpan, was found near Kiskatinaw Provincial Park, between Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, on July 24, 1990.

Police say Paul Russell Deleno Felker was arrested Thursday in Fort St. John and is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

Police say Burk was last seen in Prophet River in mid-July and was thought to be heading to Saskatchewan where she had spent some of her life.

Cpl. Pierre Lemaitre says they believe she was hitchhiking along the Alaska Highway when she disappeared.

Although an extensive search of the area was conducted at the time and numerous people interviewed, no charges were ever laid.

No link to highway of tears, say police

Police do not believe Burk's death is connected to the deaths and disappearances of 11 women along the province's Highway 16, known as the highway of tears.

"There are concerns, certainly by many, directed towards us in respect to the missing and/or murdered women along Highway 16," Lemaitre said.

"What we want to make clear is that this particular case, at this particular point in time, is not connected to Highway 16 missing individuals. We want to make that very, very clear."

Last week, the RCMP said files on all unsolved deaths and disappearances from Kamloops to the Yukon were going to be analyzed in a computer database to search for any possible links.