CANADA Canada - Mekayla Bali, aka M Niebergall, 16, Yorkton, Saskatchewan, 12 April 2016
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I wonder whether this man has been identified. It doesn't look like a bright sunny day, yet he is wearing sunglasses indoors. He's fidgety at the counter and Mikayla looks at him both when he enters and when he leaves. (time 4:48)
If she expected $5000 in her account, I wonder whether she was supposed to book a hotel room. When the money was not in her account, she withdrew money and then tried to pawn jewellery. Later she asked a stranger how to book a hotel room.
If she expected $5000 in her account, I wonder whether she was supposed to book a hotel room. When the money was not in her account, she withdrew money and then tried to pawn jewellery. Later she asked a stranger how to book a hotel room.
The hotel info is interesting. One video said that she asked the woman at the other table how to rent a hotel room, this last video says she asked the woman to rent a hotel room for her at the nearby Ramada. I think someone put her up to that. I think she was waiting to meet a man (video states that she had met men online in the past and friends were concerned).
The $5000 is interesting - she must have provided her bank information to the man so that he could deposit the money in her account. The question I have is : what did she agree to give him in exchange for $5000? Was it an afternoon in a hotel room?
He was probably still promising $5000, but claiming there were bank issues so he'll give her the money in cash. He suggests that she ask someone in the restaurant to book a hotel room for her so there's no trace of his name or hers on the registration card, although I doubt he intended to meet at the hotel.
When we add up $5000, a hotel, and a short trip to Regina (pronounced with a long i for those who are unfamiliar), I suspect that the man who groomed her listened to what she wanted and promised it to her. I don't think a trip to Regina was real. Although she went to the bus station, perhaps now thinking that she would take a short trip at 5PM to collect her $5000, I think she was falling deeper into the man's control. The video states that the bus from Regina arrived in 5 hours. Was she thinking that he was arriving by bus in 5 hours?
Interesting that she never carried a backpack but carried one that day. Completely out of the blue thought - but I wonder whether she was promised a modelling job. $5000 was for the first photo shoot, the hotel room was to take the portfolio photos, she brought along some clothes for a photos shoot?
This seems like a straight forward online grooming where we see the final hours leading to the abduction. I suppose that leaves 2 options: she was dead within 24 hours and her body remains to be found, she is being held somewhere (unlikely). What I find interesting in the final hours is that he keeps her waiting throughout the morning and seems to be directing her to go places and do things. He may have told her to go to her school at noon and tell friends that she's going to Regina for a short visit.
All speculation ...
The $5000 is interesting - she must have provided her bank information to the man so that he could deposit the money in her account. The question I have is : what did she agree to give him in exchange for $5000? Was it an afternoon in a hotel room?
He was probably still promising $5000, but claiming there were bank issues so he'll give her the money in cash. He suggests that she ask someone in the restaurant to book a hotel room for her so there's no trace of his name or hers on the registration card, although I doubt he intended to meet at the hotel.
When we add up $5000, a hotel, and a short trip to Regina (pronounced with a long i for those who are unfamiliar), I suspect that the man who groomed her listened to what she wanted and promised it to her. I don't think a trip to Regina was real. Although she went to the bus station, perhaps now thinking that she would take a short trip at 5PM to collect her $5000, I think she was falling deeper into the man's control. The video states that the bus from Regina arrived in 5 hours. Was she thinking that he was arriving by bus in 5 hours?
Interesting that she never carried a backpack but carried one that day. Completely out of the blue thought - but I wonder whether she was promised a modelling job. $5000 was for the first photo shoot, the hotel room was to take the portfolio photos, she brought along some clothes for a photos shoot?
This seems like a straight forward online grooming where we see the final hours leading to the abduction. I suppose that leaves 2 options: she was dead within 24 hours and her body remains to be found, she is being held somewhere (unlikely). What I find interesting in the final hours is that he keeps her waiting throughout the morning and seems to be directing her to go places and do things. He may have told her to go to her school at noon and tell friends that she's going to Regina for a short visit.
All speculation ...
She had 2 phones and it seems like she switched out the SIM card at one of the restaurants - probably under his direction. It's unfortunate that she didn't realize that she was essentially eliminating every option for finding her after switching to apps for phone calls and replacing her SIM card.
Nice to "see" you otto, ita with absolutely everything you suggested in this post- makes a lot of sense!
Cannot help wondering if the perp (assuming there was one) had been surreptitiously watching all her moves to see just how compliant she could be. Thinking of your post just up thread.
Big question though, where is Mekayla now?
imo.
Wow! What a great collection of info and insight … I’m still at Terry’s Pawn and Bargain … learned she arrived at 9 a.m. and when the shop owner was interviewed he said she wanted to have a silver ring assessed … then he said maybe there were two rings.
Mekayla was last seen wearing ‘a Ruby gemstone ring’.’ I’ve attached a photo of her wearing that ruby ring. This video shows a number of opportunities to see her hands, however not clear enough to see if she is still wearing the ruby. I’m hopeful a member with the eyesight and skill to be able to make a call on whether or not she is ... If you’re thinking about giving it a try, Please do
Mekayla was last seen wearing ‘a Ruby gemstone ring’.’ I’ve attached a photo of her wearing that ruby ring. This video shows a number of opportunities to see her hands, however not clear enough to see if she is still wearing the ruby. I’m hopeful a member with the eyesight and skill to be able to make a call on whether or not she is ... If you’re thinking about giving it a try, Please do
Attachments
Thank you! I suspect that a suspect was directing her and monitoring her throughout the morning. I wonder whether he was in the bus station or one of the restaurants at the same time that she was there. I hope investigators looked at this possibility and tracked down people who sat in parking lots or briefly entered the restaurants while she was there. The suspect was very careful, but they all make at least one mistake.
After switching out what appears to be the SIM card, she was missing for an hour and then she went to school at noon for 5 minutes to tell 2 friends about taking a short trip to Regina (the big city for her). Then she vanished. I think that was the last thing that she was told to do - leave a trail that would misdirect the investigation.
I suspect that she is little more than bones today, well hidden bones that may never be found. A lot of thought was put into luring her, so he would be cautious to ensure her body would never be connected to him.
I have to wonder whether there isn't another similar story in another part of Canada. Anyone who successfully lured a child through online manipulation will drive a long way to close the deal, and being so successful with Mekayla would enbolden the suspect to do it again.
... all speculation for the purpose of stringing together what we know to better understand what happened. It could be the same suspect that abducted Amber Tuccaro near Edmonton.
TedMac
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BBM...Either she had modeling clothes or simply a change of clothes, toiletries, etc. for an overnight trip. I believe she told her friends she was going for a short trip to Regina. Like you, I believe she had no intention of going there or getting on a bus to go there and it was just something to send LE on a "wild goose chase" as she figured someone like her mother would be searching for her. However, I do believe she was planning to go somewhere else for a night or two. The $5,000 was probably promised to her by whoever is responsible for her disappearance to do whatever he had told her to do (modeling, sex acts, etc). MOO
It strikes me as a sophisticated lure of a teenage girl. She wanted to get out of the small town, Regina seemed like a big city, so somehow that "big city" is mentioned. Easy money is always attractive to teens. Clifford Olson, serial murderer of children near Vancouver in the 1980s, offered teens a job and alcohol during abduction and murder. Children thought their parents would be proud of them for earning some money.
I'm leaning towards the money being for modelling. It's easy to groom a young girl with flattery about her stunning beauty and the riches she'll have after a portfolio is produced. Teens view that as a safe / non-threatening way to earn money. Even though we know that Mekayla was waiting for hours, first in one coffee shop, then another, then the bus depot, she expected something that was too good to pass up. She should have had red flags at the delays and whatever she did with the phones, but not enough to stop what she was doing.
The missing information, in my opinion, is whether investigators spoke to everyone who was in the restaurants while Mekayla was at those locations. I'm convinced that whomever abducted her was watching her throughout the morning to ensure that she wasn't "bait" in a police sting.
... all speculation
Thanks for this! It helps understanding when Mekayla was using her birth name Niebergall , new name or alias. There have been comments about Mekalya's mental health, what we have learned is that there may have been grief. G. Niebergall obituary 1 & 2
Former resident continues search for lost daughter
One of the videos mentions suicide, which, in my opinion, would be worth considering had we not seen her sitting at two restaurants clearly looking around for someone and making numerous app phone calls.
If she committed suicide, she couldn't be far from her home since she had very little money and no car. No one saw her hitchhiking. She would have had to walk into the nearby woods and then try to drown with her backpack? I'm not sure how she could commit suicide and not be found.
I'm not seeing anything that speaks to suicide so I'm with you there.
Random speculation .... she had a backpack that day for a reason. There were tensions in her life, she chose to leave and was vulnerable to an opportunity to do so ... groomed ... and as you posted earlier that person was 'directing her and monitoring her throughout the morning.' I didn't know how widespread Saskatchewan's security camera network was. Watching the videos that captured her morning on April 12th, I realized although I felt I recognized what it was, I had never seen it played out.
rbbm.
April 15 2018
Police looking for break on two-year anniversary of Canadian teen Mekayla Bali’s disappearance
“[Mekayla] had music lessons after school. She had a recital coming up, and she had been practicing the night before,” Paula told Dateline. She thought Mekayla might have gone to music class early, so she went to check there. But Mekayla was nowhere to be found.
Paula reported Mekayla missing to the Yorkton RCMP that night.
Paula would later learn that, just 10 minutes after being dropped off at school in the morning, Mekayla had left campus and walked to a pawn shop.
According to Paula, Mekayla did not pawn any items that day, and nothing was missing from their home: Mekayla’s makeup, phone charger, medicine and the family’s emergency money were all there.
Police obtained security footage which showed that after leaving the pawn shop, Mekayla’s next stop was T.D. Bank, where she withdrew a small amount of money her mother believes was for her lunch."
"RCMP hopes to identify a male person of interest. That man was seen at the Trail Stop Restaurant at the same time as Mekayla and has a large tattoo of a cross on his forearm."
I was wondering why Mekayla didn't have a violin with her when she was dropped off at school, thought maybe it was in the car until Gma drove her to her lesson ... but here her mother stated she 'thought Mekayla might have gone to music class early, so she went to check there' ... maybe she had two ... one for practice at home and one at the studio for performance
Mekayla Bali Family (@mekayla_bali) | Twitter
NOTING.
ETA @ 1:40 the man with the tattoo was simply opening the door and is unrelated to the case.
Ok ... thanks again ... I can take the man with the tatto off my whois list along with a boy named Josh and a man named Christopher.
In one video, the friends are quoted a saying that she normally carried a purse, not a backpack. Her family said that she did not take her Accutane skin treatment pills with her, which she would have done had she planned to be away. Between taking the backpack and leaving medication behind, my impression is that she did not plan to be away longer than a day. Have her parents said what was missing? Maybe she planned to tell her mom later in the day that she was having a sleep over at a friend's house. Maybe she thought she was going to Regina for the day, expecting to leave at 9 or 10 AM and be back in time for supper?
Children who play in the school band typically have one instrument for school and one for home - still, it's a good question. Perhaps her mom was grasping at straws and checking whether she showed up for her lesson. Missing school, missing after school ride and missing her music lesson was probably enough to set off alarms.
It does sound like the backpack was new that day ... it looks stuffed, not sure how heavy ... Not sure what to think about the medication left behind ... Accutane generally is a four month treatment, some descriptions of her missing talk about the acne and the improvement ... I can see her not taking the medication if she was at the end of her treatment.
Her mother mentioned the medication, so I'm guessing it was important.
Clothing is my guess. Friends said she typically carried a purse (ref: videos linked above) and the backpack did not look heavy. She put her binder in her locker after her grandmother drove her to school.
If it is clothing, then the beautiful-model $5000 payment for portfolio ruse seems likely. Photographer don't pay for portfolios, models pay. Pedophiles have been using the I'll pay to take your modelling portfolio photos ruse since the early 1970s.
If not clothing or medication in her backpack, and she mentioned a "short" trip to Regina friends, what might have been in the backpack?