[11] She enjoyed playing the violin and participated in the drama club at her high school, where she was attending 11th grade at the time of her disappearance.

[14] Based on witness statements and a review of hundreds of hours of surveillance camera footage, investigators were able to reconstruct Bali's movements for a large portion of the day on which she disappeared.

[15][16][17] Bali's high school friends told reporters that in the days leading up to her disappearance, she mentioned several places she would soon visit.

On Monday April 11, one day before she disappeared, she sent a text message to a friend asking for a ride to the local TD Bank the next morning.

At 10:43 AM, she started a short conversation with an older woman, who told police Bali had asked her for help in renting a hotel room, which she declined.

She took a short turn down 7th Avenue but then returned to Broadway Street East, continuing westward until she left the camera's view.

Cameras show her leaving the school at 12:03 PM[22] She was next seen at the Trail Stop Restaurant, attached to the bus depot, where she ordered lunch.

When last seen, she was wearing glasses, a teal/mint infinity scarf, jeans, a three-quarter-length burgundy or purple coat, with her blonde wavy hair worn down.

[28] Police reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance camera footage provided by local businesses and conducted dozens of interviews with potential witnesses to piece together Bali's movements on April 12, 2016.

[23] In August 2017, RCMP conducted a three-day, ground grid search in a wooded area near Bali's high school in Yorkton.

He was described as having a stocky build, muscular arms, dark hair, and a large, prominent tattoo of a fiery cross on his forearm.

[18] In 2019, police began releasing extensive surveillance camera footage in hopes that it would bring new leads from people who saw Bali that day.

[34] In 2017, the police service of the Tsuutʼina Nation reported that they believed that Bali attended an event in January 2017 at the Grey Eagle Entertainment Centre.

[36] To help in the search, Bali's family organized fundraising events that allowed them to offer a $25,000 (CAD) reward for any information leading to her safe return.

[37] On July 31, 2017, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children joined the search effort and began disseminating information about the then 18-year-old Mekayla Bali.

[43] From the beginning, Bali's mother has continuously worked to keep her daughter's disappearance in the public's consciousness by organizing fundraising events and media appearances.

[53] Also in 2019, Bali's disappearance was covered by the investigative duo Victoria Dinh and Alicia Bridges who wrote a long-form news feature about her case that included interviews with her high school friends.

[54] Theories about her fate include her running away, committing suicide, being trafficked, and becoming the victim of an online predator possibly using a false identity.

[55][56][48][57] Police have consistently treated Bali's disappearance as a missing persons case and said that they have no evidence of foul play.

[28][1] Likewise, high school friends have opined that her actions that day were intentional on her part, with one of them saying "I know it was her decision but still I'm kind of kicking myself over it".

[13] Jordan Bonaparte, the host of The Night Time Podcast, said in an interview that "[i]nitially, I thought it was a clear-cut case of a runaway teen," but then added that he changed his mind since "[t]he longer it went, the less likely [it became]".

[48] Similarly, Bali's mother said she initially thought her daughter might have run away, but that she quickly changed her mind when she realized that her acne medication, as well as money she kept at home for emergencies, were untouched.

[58] In 2019, a government report was released detailing the problem of human trafficking in Saskatoon, citing "oil and gas developments [with] a largely male, transient workforce" as a major reason for its prevalence in the region.

[57] Investigators have consequently put substantial effort into acquiring information on her online history but said that US privacy laws caused significant delays.

[33] Kik has been accused of providing inadequate parental control and offering anonymity to potentially malicious actors and Bali's friends have confirmed that they did not know much about who she was in contact with online.