Last Wednesday, Paula Bali wanted to just lie in bed and cry. But with a little bit of help from family and friends, she managed to get up and keep going.
It was the 365th day Paula woke to the realization that her daughter Mekayla was gone. It was the 365th day, she made herself get up and continue a so-far futile search that has taken her places she never imagined she would find herself, such as gingerly wading through used needles on Vancouver’s notorious Lower East Side looking for any one who may have heard or seen something, yearning for any little morsel of information that might lead to Mekayla’s whereabouts.
On April 12, 2016, Mekayla Bali, who also sometimes goes by the surname Neibergall, was a Grade 11 student at Sacred Heart High School. That day, she went to school as usual, but left shortly after arriving. Police know she went to the east Tim Hortons twice between 9 a.m. and 9:55 a.m. For the rest of that morning, her whereabouts are unknown, but she showed back up at school briefly around noon then made her way to the bus depot. Between 1 p.m. and 1:45 p.m., she left the bus depot and then... nothing. She had vanished as if into thin air. No telephone usage, no social media presence, no bank transactions, no confirmed sightings. More than 200 tips have come in and still nothing.
“It’s unbelievably frustrating,” said RCMP superintendent Jennifer Ebert. “It’s unbelievably frustrating because we know somebody knows something. People don’t vanish and by all accounts Mekayla has vanished.
“The unfortunate thing is we can’t move that marker for Mekayla past April 12, 2016 at 1:45 p.m. when she was seen at the bus depot here in Yorkton.”
The Bali family marked the one year anniversary if Mekayla’s disappearance with a press conference in Regina Wednesday followed by a prayer vigil in Yorkton that evening.
Prior to the vigil, parents lined up to have their childrens photos and fingerprints taken as part of a Child Find Saskatchewan All About Me ID clinic.
“For me it was important because it’s something Mekayla would want us to do,” Paula said. “Mekayla’s this kid who loved other kids and was just a gentle loving soul who really cared for children.
“It may not be that meaningful to other people, but to do something positive with such a painful situation, in the hopes that no one ever has to use that information in the future, at least it’s there for them.
“When Mekayla went missing, I was unprepared. I had to run out with a flash drive and print pictures at Superstore then take them to the police station and all this because, you know what, it never occurred to me as a possibility it could happen to her.”
Among music, prayers and comments by various people, was a poem written and recited by Mekayla’s friend Shelby Hnatuk.
It was an especially poignant moment as Hnatuk prepares to graduate from high school, something she had expected she and Mekayla would be doing together.
The time has taken an emotional toll on Paula as she is now able to speak at times rather matter-of-factly about some of the gruesome fates that may have befallen her daughter.
“Over the course of looking for Mekayla, other women that have been sex-trafficked against their will have made considerable effort to contact us recognizing similarities in their disappearances and my daughters’,” Paula said.
She does not believe with certainty that is what happened to Mekayla, she recognizes it as a possibility. Meeting with those other women in Vancouver got Paula involved in an informal program of collecting donations of slightly used purses, filling them with day-to-day essentials such as toiletries, and delivering them to homeless persons and sex workers on the streets.
“We use that as a way just to touch base and just to help them,” Paula said. “And we’ve been using that as an opportunity to share Mekayla’s information in the event they may be familiar with her, have seen her, or heard a rumour about her. It’s really about taking something so painful and turning it into something positive.”
As long as Paula has even a shred of hope, she says she will not give up searching.
“There’s something in your heart that tells you, that leads you to believe and a connection with your child, that I don’t believe my daughter is deceased, and I believe she is out there, and I believe she needs me to help her and to save or rescue her from whatever situation that she may be in.”
Police aren’t giving up either. Ebert said the RCMP will continue to investigate as long as there is a lead to follow up, no matter how thin.
“We implore anyone who knows anything about Mekayla prior to it, the day of the event, or if they think they know anything to share it with us,” she said.
There is still a $25,000 reward for information that leads to Mekayla’s recovery.
