Daunting Task: Sask. mother continues search for missing daughter

One year later and Paula Bali doesn’t know anything more about her daughter’s disappearance than the day she went missing.

“Devastating is an understatement. Your whole life falls apart,” Bali told paNOW. “You know the character of your child…so you know when something really wrong has happened.”

Bali says the day Mekayla went missing started like any other. She dropped her then 16-year-old daughter off at school the morning of April 12, 2016 and went to work. A timeline of Mekayla’s actions shows she left school shortly after arriving. She made brief stops in a pawn and bargain shop and a bank before walking to a nearby Tim Hortons. She returned to Sacred Heart High school around noon for a few minutes and then went to the STC bus terminal in Yorkton. She purchased lunch at a restaurant there and was last seen leaving the bus depot around 1:45 p.m.

“Mekayla wasn’t using drugs. She didn’t party or go out. She had an extremely quiet life. So, for her to just go off the grid doesn’t make any sense…but when there is no information you’re desperate for any information and we have followed up on a lot of info that is far-fetched,” Bali said.

Police have followed up on numerous tips, some of which have led investigators to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside but nothing has ever been confirmed. Bali, who took an unpaid leave from work to search for her daughter full time, said she is considering all scenarios including the possibility of Mekayla being forced into a human trafficking situation.

Missing Girl

UPDATE: Have you seen Savannah?

Apr 24, 2024

Missing person

Spiritwood RCMP searching for missing woman

Apr 24, 2024

Riding boundaries changing

MP Gary Vidal announces he won't seek re-election

Apr 23, 2024

“I don’t believe she is dead. She is alive somewhere. I feel someone has control of her because she hasn’t used her cellphone or debit card…she has never been online. People don’t just vanish…something happens to them,” Bali said.

As the one-year anniversary of her daughter’s disappearance arrives, Bali is asking anyone who has control of Mekayla or information on her whereabouts to come forward.

“This should be the year she graduates and that important event is not happening,” Bali said. “I just want my daughter back.  She deserves to continue with her life.”

teena.monteleone@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TeenaMonteleone