'I just want her to come home': Brother of missing Yorkton teen says 1 year after disappearance
Mekayla Bali disappeared from bus depot on April 12, 2016; may have been in British Columbia
Mekayla Bali's mother says she will never stop searching for her daughter who went missing one year ago.
"There is no more sense of sane, or normality or continuity in a fractured family," said Paula Bali, who spoke to media at RCMP headquarters in Regina Wednesday afternoon about her daughter's disappearance.
Mekayla was last seen on the afternoon of April 12, 2016, at a bus depot in Yorkton, Sask.
Her family last saw Mekayla that morning, when Paula dropped her off at school. The Bali family learned she was missing when Mekayla's grandmother went to pick her up from school and she was nowhere to be found.
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Standing beside his mother with a black suit and hat, Mekayla's younger brother Joshua told the media he doesn't understand what happened to his sister.
"I just want her to come home," he said.
RCMP Insp. Jennifer Ebert said they have received over 200 tips since her disappearance.
Ebert said the most frustrating part of the investigation is not being able to confirm where Mekayla was after she was last seen.
"Two hundred tips is great. We only need one. We need the right one that is going to lead us to Mekayla," said Ebert.
The hope is that someone with information on Mekayla's whereabouts will contact the RCMP and provide the crucial details needed.
Mekayla's mother made her way to B.C. in late 2016 after tips indicated she may have travelled there.
There, Paula hung posters and walked around Vancouver, hoping to hear some details which would lead to the location of her daughter.
She told CBC she believed Mekayla may have been influenced by someone else to leave.
Mekayla has been silent on social media since her disappearance.
Her family has expressed the hope she is still out there, alive.
"We are desperate to ensure that she is safe and that is the most important, to determine that she is safe," Paula said in October.
Corrections
- An earlier version of the story said that the public was invited to attend a media conference in Regina on Mekayla Bali's disappearance. This is not the case. However, the public is invited to attend an event in Yorkton Wednesday afternoon.Apr 12, 2017 8:32 AM CT