‘Hope is hard’: Search for Mekayla Bali continues 10 years after disappearance

Mekayla Bali went missing from her hometown of Yorkton, Sask. 10 years ago today. (Fruzsina De Cloedt / CTV News)

Ten years after 16-year-old Mekayla Bali vanished from her hometown of Yorkton, Sask., her family continues to search for her.

Paula Bali was standing on Betts Avenue in Yorkton on Friday. Beside her was a poster of her daughter, Mekayla.

“Ten years ago, on April 12, my daughter Mekayla Bali went missing,” she said.

Both Mekayla’s mother and her best friend told CTV News shortly after her disappearance that nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“On the 11th we went for lunch and stuff, and on the way back to the school we were just talking about normal things, gossiping about our parents,” Mekayla’s friend Shelby Hanchuk told CTV News in 2019.

• RCMP releases new surveillance video in Mekayla Bali’s disappearance

The next day, on Tuesday, Bali was driven to school by her grandmother.

Surveillance footage shows her entering Sacred Heart High School at around 8:20 a.m. but leaving shortly after. Approximately half an hour later, she entered Terry’s Pawn and Bargain shop on 3rd Avenue North. After being unsuccessful at pawning a silver ring, she went to a nearby TD Bank, and then to a Tim Hortons on Yorkton’s Broadway Avenue East.

Surveillance footage shows her entering and leaving Tim Hortons several times. Inside, she appeared to take apart and reassemble her cellphone, as well as make phone calls. Her telephone provider, Telus, had no records of those calls.

In 2019, Bali’s friend Amy Liang told CTV News that Bali was using a messaging app called Kik, which does not track conversations like most phone carriers and only identifies users through a username.

• Timeline: Mekayla Bali missing for two years

“We do feel that it has affected the investigation and the information that we can obtain,” Donna Zawislak, an investigator from the RCMP’s Historical Case Unit, told CTV News in 2019. “How we have to obtain information from the people who own the rights to those apps is very challenging, because a lot of those come from the United States.”

At 10:45 a.m., Tim Hortons security camera captured Bali approaching a woman who later told the RCMP that Bali was looking for help renting a hotel room. The woman declined.

After leaving Tim Hortons for the last time, the RCMP was able to track her movements with the exception of one hour, between 10:45 a.m. and 11:55 a.m.

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Bali eventually returned to her high school just before noon for a few minutes. She then went to the STC bus depot in Yorkton. The RCMP later determined that Bali did not board a bus, and that the depot is where she was last seen, at 1:45 p.m. on April 12, 2016.

Over the years, the search for the missing teen has taken the family to Vancouver, B.C., the United States, and overseas.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Bali’s disappearance, but her family has not given up.

“Mekayla is not forgotten,” her mother told CTV News on Friday. “Our intention as a family is to continue to search for her and to try to find answers.”

She said that Bali’s siblings have been incredibly affected by their sister’s disappearance.

“Sometimes you’d think over time it will get easier, but it doesn’t seem to be the case,” Paula said, fighting back tears. “Hope is hard.”

As for what keeps her hope alive, Paula said it’s her motherly love.

“It never stops for your child, no matter what the situation may be. And so for me, I don’t think I’ll ever stop looking for her. And I don’t know how you can stop [looking for her] either,” she said.

• Sask. RCMP renews call for information in Mekayla Bali disappearance

Authorities have not given up on the case either.

In a press release issued Friday, the Saskatchewan RCMP said their Historical Case Unit say they continue to investigate Mekayla’s disappearance and follow up on all tips and information received about her whereabouts.

They have received more than 1,000 tips from the public since 2016.

“Someone who may not have wanted to speak at the time might feel ready to do so now. It’s never too late to come forward. Information from the public can still make a difference,” said Insp. Ashley St. Germaine, senior investigative officer with the Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes Branch.

To encourage anyone with information about Bali’s whereabouts, the family has raised $100,000 through the community, offering it as a reward for her safe return.

Mekayla Bali’s disappearance has also sparked multiple investigations by private individuals across the globe, with many sharing findings and theories on social media. On Reddit, the case has its own subreddit, which remains active 10 years later.

• ‘It feels like yesterday’: Vigil marks 7 years since disappearance of Mekayla Bali

At the time of her disappearance, Bali was described as five feet two inches tall and 115 pounds. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and sometimes wore glasses. She was known to dye her hair other colours and also went by her grandmother’s last name, Niebergall.

Mekayla Bali would now be 26-years-old.