The RCMP has released new surveillance video from the day a Yorkton teen went missing nearly three years ago.
Mekayla Bali went missing on April 12, 2016. Although there have been many tips — and a $50,000 reward for any information on her whereabouts — she hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
The newly released RCMP video shows Bali making several calls from her phone.
“What we did by releasing the information was to actually get other people aware of what happened that day,” Sgt. Donna Zawislak said.
Those calls made by Bali haven’t been tracked, possibly because they were made using an app.
“Kik app is a messaging app so you can interact with other people from other countries or other friends,” Bali’s friend Amy Liang told CTV News.
Bali’s friends say they don’t know anything about her disappearance.
“I just miss her,” Shelby Hanchuk said. “It’s hard not knowing anything, nothing that can help find her.”
Hanchuk said the day before Bali disappeared was normal. She spent time with her friends, gossiping about “normal teenager stuff.”
“It was not something I could deal with, because I’ve never had a friend that’s gone missing and it was the first time that’s happened,” Liang said.
Kik doesn’t track conversations like most phone carriers and only identifies people through their username. Bali’s friends say many people hide their identity while using Kik.
“We do that it has affected the investigation and the information that we can obtain,” Zawislak said. “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.”
The RCMP confirmed Bali asked a woman how to a book a hotel room in Regina, but say she isn’t a person of interest in the case.
Her friends just hope she comes home one day.
“I hope she’s found safe and sound soon.” Hanchuk said. “Everyone here misses her. Her friends miss her.”
