U.S. northwest of interest in missing Mekayla Bali case

New developments emerged Wednesday in the case of missing Yorkton teen Mekayla Bali.

In a bulletin released by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), it stated the now 18-year-old “may have travelled to the areas of Seattle, WA or Portland, OR.”

The centre added “there is reason to believe that she may attempt to cross the U.S. border and travel to those cities.”

On the one-year anniversary of her disappearance, RCMP confirmed that the over 200 tips received had lead investigators to B.C. and the U.S.

Paula, Mekayla’s mother, said the information isn’t new information to her.

“It’s something we’ve been aware of for some time, it just wasn’t necessarily confirmed information,” Paula said. She said they receive tips from Canada, the U.S. and internationally and get about four a week.

She said that the fact they still receive many tips about Mekayla gives her hope they will find her daughter.

“The most encouraging part is creating that awareness and that’s what so important to Mekayla’s case is that people being aware of what Mekayla works like.”

The Bali family have been in Vancouver where they believed Mekayla may have been.

But despite all the effort the RCMP and her family remain frustrated as to what happened to her.

Mekayla was last seen at the bus depot in Yorkton in April 2016. It is not believed she caught a bus but her whereabouts after 1:45 p.m. that day are still unknown.

A video posted with the NCMEC bulletin features members of her the Bali family urging the teen to contact them and that they won’t give up looking for her.