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- [00:01]
Carvana Advertiser
All right, remember, the machine knows if you're lying. First statement. Carvana will give you a real offer on your car. All online.
- [00:07]
Narrator/Host Intro
False.
- [00:08]
Ricky
True.
- [00:08]
Carvana Advertiser
Actually, you can sell your car in minutes.
- [00:10]
Ashley
False. That's gotta be false.
- [00:12]
Carvana Advertiser
True again. Carvana will pick up your car from your door, or you can drop it off at one of their car vending machines.
- [00:17]
Ashley
Sounds too good to be true. So true.
- [00:20]
Carvana Advertiser
Finally caught on. Nice job. Honesty isn't just their policy. It's their entire model. Sell your car today, too.
- [00:27]
Ashley
Carvana.
- [00:28]
Energy Trust of Oregon Announcer
Pickup fees may apply at Energy Trust of Oregon. We understand that energy isn't just what happens when you flip a switch. It's what happens afterwards. It's a home that can provide both shelter and peace of mind. It's a business that can run more efficiently and keep their dream alive. And it's communities that can thrive today and flourish tomorrow. That's energy. And that's why we partner with local utility companies to help you save energy and lower costs. For cash incentives and resources that can help power your life, visit energytrust.org.
- [01:06]
Ashley
Hey, crime salad listeners, I'm Ashley.
- [01:08]
Ricky
And I'm Ricky.
- [01:09]
Ashley
And before we dive into today's case, we just wanted to mention that we've updated our website with some brand new merch. And right now we are having a flash sale.
- [01:20]
Ricky
A flash sale.
- [01:22]
Ashley
And it's all been beautifully put together, thanks to our friends at Dashery who helped bring the new Crime Salad collection to life. Crimesaladpodcast.dashery.com Definitely check it out when you get the chance.
- [01:34]
Ricky
Also, if you hate ads as much as we do, check us out on Patreon where you can get ad free listening for as little as $1. That's patreon.com crimesaladpodcast and thank you all.
- [01:45]
Ashley
So much for subscribing to Crime Salad and listening to our show. All right, so let's get into it. Today we're telling a story that is filled with quiet, uneasy moments, unexplained behaviors and questions that have haunted everyone who's looked into this case involving a 16 year old girl named Michaela Bawley who vanished in broad daylight. Anyone who studied the surveillance footage from that spring day in 2016, they can sense it. Something about Mikayla's movements feel off, like she's hiding something or running away from something. Her final hours on April 12 are frozen in time. A breadcrumb trail of text sightings and transactions have puzzled investigators for nearly a decade. And today we're retracing those steps, examining the evidence and exploring the Theories that might finally explain why Michaela vanished without a trace. Because buried somewhere in her digital footprint could be the answer to who she was really talking to and. And what she was trying to escape from.
- [02:54]
Ricky
And here we are, almost 10 years later, and we're still left with more questions than answers.
- [03:00]
Ashley
In 2023, there were 2,533 individuals who were reported missing. Two Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted Police. And out of those, 140 remain classified as a long term missing persons case in the province. Each one is a name, a a face and a family left without answers. And one of those names is Mikayla Bali. It's a chilly Tuesday morning, April 12th of 2016, and 16 year old Mikayla Bolly walks into Sacred Heart High School in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, just after 8:20am she blends in with the other students, clutching her phone, her backpack slung over one shoulder. But within 10 minutes, surveillance cameras and witness accounts show her slipping quietly out a back door. Not signing out, not telling a friend, not leaving a note, just leaving. And over the next few hours, she's captured on camera all over town. A Tim Hortons, a pawn shop, a few random businesses. And she even circles back to school around noon, only to disappear again, this time heading towards the STC bus depot. But the strange thing is, she never got on a bus.
- [04:17]
Ricky
The last confirmed sighting of Michaela came sometime between 1 and 1:45pm that afternoon inside the STC bus depot. Cameras caught her wearing her glasses, a teal infinity scarf, jeans, and a burgundy coat that almost looked purple under the fluorescent lights. Her wavy blonde hair hung loose around her shoulders. She moved calmly, unhurried, almost like she knew exactly where she was going. Then she walked into the early afternoon light. And that was it. Michaela Bali was never seen again. In the years since, her disappearance has taken on a life of its own. Online, entire Reddit threads and Facebook groups have analyzed every frame of footage, every time stamp, every rumor. Dozens of theories have surfaced, some logical, others outlandish, each trying to explain the unexplainable. But nearly a decade later, despite all of the searching, all of the speculation, and all the hope, no one truly knows what happened to Mikayla.
- [05:19]
Ashley
It's eerie, right? And for all the cameras and witnesses, it's like she just stepped out of the frame and vanished before the world knew her name. Through news headlines and missing person posters, Michaela Bali was just a small town girl with big dreams. She was born on July 2, 1999 in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, a prairie city of about 16,000 people, where everyone seems to know someone you know. And it's the kind of place where kids grow up playing sports together, crossing paths at school, and where community really does mean something. And Mikayla lived at home with her mom. And by every account, she was deeply loved. Friends and family described her as kind hearted, bubbly and. And always willing to help. She had a natural warmth, the kind of personality that drew people in and made them feel comfortable right away. But she wasn't just outgoing, she was ambitious. Her teacher said she was bright, curious and determined to build a future that she could be proud of. She carried herself with an optimism people still remember. And when she smiled, it had a way of filling a room.
- [06:25]
Ricky
And you can tell that people still talk about her that way, as this bright, genuine kid who has had so much ahead of her. And what makes her disappearance so hard to comprehend? When you hear about someone so full of energy, so connected to her friends and her community, it just doesn't fit the picture of someone who would simply vanish without an explanation.
- [06:46]
Ashley
And that exact thing will be called into question later. But according to her mother, it wasn't unusual for Mikayla to step out on her own. She was responsible, independent, the kind of teenager who could run an errand or meet a friend without anyone worrying. Still, she was very much a homebody. Most nights, she'd rather stay curled up in her own bed than spend the night out, even when her friends begged her to come to sleepovers. But that Tuesday in 2016, something shifted. Her routine broke in a way no one could have predicted. After leaving Sacred Heart High School just minutes after arriving, Mikayla moved from place to place around Yorkton, a pattern that seemed aimless, yet deliberate all at once. Around 1pm, she was seen for the final time. And from that moment on, she was gone. There were no calls, no texts, no trace.
- [07:40]
Ricky
This was broad daylight in a busy part of town where people could have passed her on the street without even realizing it. For her to be on camera one minute and then gone the next, it's fueled this type of confusion and heartbreak. And the hardest part, her family still had no idea.
- [07:57]
Ashley
And you don't expect this kind of thing to happen. But by that afternoon, Michaela's grandmother pulled up outside of the Sacred Heart High School, just like she always did. To pick up Mikayla, she parked, waited, and watched students spill out of the building. But Michaela never came out. At first, it seems strange, but not alarming. Maybe she lost track of time. Maybe her phone had died. But as the minutes turned into hours, the worry started to grow. Calls to her cell phone went unanswered, and there was still no sign of her anywhere. By early evening on April 12, her family reported her missing to police. Investigators responded quickly, hoping that Mikayla was somewhere nearby and could be found safe. They launched a large scale search through Yorkton and the surrounding countryside, checking neighborhoods, the businesses that she was known to visit, and even the rural roads that stretched out just beyond town.
- [08:51]
Ricky
The team left no stone unturned in those first few hours, which, as we know, are often the most critical in a missing person's case. Police used every available resource. Ground searches, canine units, door to door canvassing. But there was still no sign of Mikayla. Investigators began piecing together her movements across Yorkton hour by hour, retracing every step she took that day, and searching for even the smallest clue of what might have happened. By July of 2016, nearly three months after Michaela vanished, the timeline still had gaps. And with every week that passed, hope started to fade. Inspector Jennifer Ebert of the RCMP made a public plea urging anyone with even the slightest bit of information to come forward.
- [09:39]
Ashley
Investigators had already conducted more than 100 interviews with people who might have crossed paths with Michaela that day. They also received 38 tips from the public. But despite all of this, the trail still stopped cold. On April 12, there wasn't a single confirmed sighting of Michaela after she walked out of the bus depot. Still, investigators were able to piece together a detailed timeline of her movement between 8:20 and 1:45 that day. They used witness accounts, security footage, and hours of interviews. And what they discovered was a pattern of behaviors that even now, nearly a decade later, remain both unsettling and confusing. So let's start at the beginning with the days leading up to Mikayla's disappearance. On April 11 of 2016, she spent the afternoon like any other 16 year old. She piled into a car with two of her classmates, Shelby and Oksana, and the three of them grabbed lunch at a local fast food place. And during lunch, Mikayla talked about wanting to go somewhere, maybe Moose Jaw, maybe Prince Albert. And her friends remembered her mentioning different places at different times. Some said that she talked about a family trip to Regina. Others remembered her bringing up Saskatoon. Shelby recalled that Mikayla also mentioned a boy named Josh. But when she asked more about him, Michaela brushed it off. Another friend named Amy later told police that Michaela had also talked about a man named Christopher, someone who was supposedly coming to Saskatchewan to meet her. In the days before she vanished, Mikayla had been talking about leaving town, maybe just for A vacation, maybe something more. To her friends, though, it sounded like harmless daydreaming almost. Shelby remembered how they all joked about moving to bigger cities one day, to places like Saskatoon or Regina, where there was more to do and more people to meet. After that lunch on April 11, Michaela went back to school for her Christian ethics class. And her teacher later told police that she seemed upset that day, but never said why. And later that afternoon, after classes ended, Mikayla texted Oksana asking for a ride to the bank that day. She said it was really important. And between 5:30 and 6pm she called TD's customer service three different times and checking her balance and transferring $25 between accounts. Then between 8:50 and 9pm she sent messages to several people. Her ex boyfriend, her friends Shelby and Amy. And when police later interviewed them, Amy said Michaela had texted that she needed help, but she never explained what she meant. Shelby remembered a message about a boy that Michaela felt bad for someone and had been crying. And her ex boyfriend told investigators that Michaela said she was unhappy and thinking about going to Regina for a few days.
- [12:39]
Ricky
There are so many little hints here that Mikayla might have been planning to run away, but none of them were strong enough to raise alarm bells with her friends, her family, or even her teachers. It feels more like fragments of something deeper, small pieces of personal struggle that maybe no one fully understood. And whether she chose to leave on her own or something far more tragic happened. That's the question that haunted this case ever since.
- [13:06]
Ashley
Yeah. So looking back at those comments, it definitely gave the impression that Mikayla might have been planning to disappear, or, as we'll discuss later, that someone could have coerced her into doing so. But the timeline of the day she vanished, instead of clarifying things, only made the picture more confusing for investigators, her friends and her family. At 6:41am, before school even started, Mikayla texted her friend Oksana again, asking for a ride to the bank. She said she had $5,000 and needed to withdraw it. But when police later checked her account, there was nowhere near that amount inside of her bank account. It was a lie. Or maybe something she wanted people to believe. Either way, Oksana turned down the request, and by 8:20am Mikayla's grandmother dropped her off after at the Sacred Heart High School, and she went straight to her locker and placed a binder inside like any other morning. But just a few minutes later, she slipped quietly out a back door and walked away from the building. When she didn't show up for class, her ex boyfriend texted her and asked where she was and why she missed first period. And by then, Mikayla was already on the other side of town.
- [14:18]
Ricky
So when I first heard this part, I assumed that the binder meant something like maybe it held a clue or some kind of plan. But police retrieved it from her locker and found nothing unusual inside. It just leaves you wondering, why put a binder away if you're planning to walk out of the school minutes later, right?
- [14:37]
Ashley
And it only gets stranger as the day goes on. Between 8:50 and 8:55am, surveillance footage shows Mikayla walking into a local bank, phone pressed to her ear. And as soon as the teller lifted the security shutters, she hung up, stepped forward and asked to withdraw $55. Just five minutes later, around 9am, she stopped by a nearby pawn shop and tried to sell some silver jewelry, but the owner told her that it wasn't worth enough to buy. And by 9:15 in the morning, she was inside a Tim Hortons and Wendy's combination restaurant. She ordered a drink and sat down in a booth, this time with a backpack beside her. And friends later said that she usually carried a purse but not a backpack, which made investigators wonder if she was preparing to leave Yorkton for good. On the footage, Michaela looks nervous, glancing towards the doors, the windows, the people passing by. And at 9:23, she got up, walked out through one door, and moments later came back in through another door before leaving again. Then at 9:49am she returned once more, still on the phone, and and sat at a booth facing the front doors. And at 10:12, this is when she texted her friend Shelby, saying, hey, I need your help. But just minutes later, she followed up with, never mind, I figured it out. She left again, only to return two minutes later, sit in the same booth, still on her phone. And at 10:43, she stood up, walked towards an older woman sitting alone nearby. And Michaela asked if the woman could help her rent a hotel room under her name, but the woman declined. Two minutes later, Micaela walked out again, phone to her ear, and by 11:35am cameras captured her walking westbound back towards Sacred Heart Heights School. She texted Shelby again, saying that she would see her at lunch. Around noon, Micaela returned to the school. Friends remembered her saying that she was planning to take a bus to Regina, and one of them later told police that she might have had two phones with her at the time. Just three minutes later, she left the school for the last time and made her way to the STC bus depot. Inside, she learned that the next bus to Regina wouldn't depart until 5pm, so she didn't wait. Instead, she went into the Trail Stop restaurant inside the depot and ordered food. And there's no CCTV footage of her here, but employees confirmed seeing her. According to witnesses, sometime between 1 and 1.45pm, Mikayla walked out of the depot and disappeared. From that moment on, she was gone. Michaela never returned home, and by 7:00am the next morning, her phone was shut off for good, and police later confirmed that she never bought a bus ticket. Where she went after she stepped out of those depot doors, no one had ever been able to say this episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. October 10th is World Mental Health Day, and this year BetterHelp is saying thank you, therapists.
- [17:48]
Ricky
BetterHelp therapists have helped over 5 million people on their mental health journeys. Behind every story is a therapist who showed up, listened and helped someone take a step forward.
- [17:58]
Ashley
Sometimes it's that one moment in therapy, a safe space to cry, the right question or a small win that can change everything. This World Mental Health Day, we're celebrating the therapists who make those moments possible.
- [18:12]
Ricky
If you've ever thought about talking to someone, it can really help, especially when something keeps you up at night. BitterHelp's been connecting people with licensed therapists for over 12 years, using a simple matching process that helps you find the right pick.
- [18:26]
Ashley
So if you're ready to find the right therapist for you, BetterHelp can help you start that journey. Our listeners get 10% off their first.
- [18:34]
Ricky
Month at betterhelp.com Crimesalad that's betterhelp.com Crimesalad Mr.
- [18:44]
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- [19:14]
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- [19:48]
Ricky
So now the investigators, they're left with a timeline that is just packed full of detail. But the one thing that I can't stop thinking about, that you mentioned, is the fact that she lied about how much money she had. Why would she say she had that much money if she didn't?
- [20:04]
Ashley
Yeah, it was almost like she was thinking out loud, maybe like, I need $5,000 somehow, some way.
- [20:12]
Ricky
Right. And then she's out trying to pawn jewelry and then asking a complete stranger to rent a hotel room for her. It's weird.
- [20:20]
Ashley
Yeah. And then there's the texts and the phone calls that really stand out. It seems very unsettling, like, is something wrong? Is she running from something? Is she hiding from something? Is she. What's going on? It just throws so many curve balls and questions. So this whole timeline, it didn't really do much except baffle everyone. And for her friends, those texts are something that they still carry with them. When Shelby got that message, the one where Mikayla said she needed help, she never imagined it meant anything serious. She would later tell reporters that she thought Mikayla just needed a ride or maybe help with an assignment. What makes it even harder is the mystery surrounding those phone calls. On surveillance footage, Mikayla is clearly seen talking on her phone multiple times that morning. But her carrier, Telus, had no records of any calls being made. That led police to believe that she might be using an app, maybe an anonymous one, to connect with people outside of Yorkton, or possibly using that rumored second cell phone that investigators never found. And friends of Mikayla's did confirm that she did talk to people online. Shelby said that she knew of at least four guys from Manitoba, others from the U.S. but police cleared every single one of them that they knew of. And since then, rumors of sightings have spread. Some from Regina, some from Saskatoon, even a few from across the border. But there's never been any proof that Mikayla had a passport. And not one of those sightings has ever been confirmed.
- [21:54]
Ricky
And probably one of the most heart wrenching parts of all of this was her mother Paula's response at a press conference in July of 2016. Paula choked back tears as she said she felt like she failed Michaela, failed her in the most important role of her life because she couldn't protect her. She wanted Mikayla to know she wasn't in trouble and that her family was desperate to bring her home. By that point, it seemed clear to police that Michaela had run away.
- [22:23]
Ashley
Yeah, at least on the surface, given her movements and what looked like an effort to keep her calls from being traced. But it leaves you asking, why would someone described as quiet, kind, bright and gentle, someone so loved, want to disappear at all? And that's when Mikayla's personal life began to come into focus. In the months before she disappeared, she was active on social media in ways that, in hindsight, raised a lot of concern. Just two months before she went missing, Mikayla shared a post on Snapchat that read, looking for Snapchat friends because I have none in real life. Add me, please don't be a greasy F and send me gross nudes. Just looking for a friend. She was also known to have several social media accounts under different aliases. Some of her older posts, written years before she disappeared, painted a bleak picture. References to self harm, depression and suicidal thoughts. Others hinted at feeling unhappy at home. One friend told police that Mikayla had scars from cutting and had reached out to online groups about suicidal ideation. That same friend believed Michaela's mother and others were aware that she had been struggling, but might not have realized how serious it really was. According to online discussion reports from people close to the case. It's been suggested that after Paula discovered some of Mikayla's troubling post, Mikayla made new private accounts under different names, accounts that didn't include family, friends or classmates.
- [23:53]
Ricky
So this tells us that Mikayla was likely in a really fragile place mentally and emotionally, and she was actively reaching out online and trying to make new connections. And that opens up two very different possibilities. That she chose to disappear on her own, or that someone saw her as vulnerable and took advantage of it.
- [24:13]
Ashley
And this gave weight to one of the leading theories, that Michaela might have been planning to run away, possibly with someone that she met online. And investigators suspected that someone could have contacted her around the same time that she posted what she did on Snapchat. And some have theorized that Mikayla was planning to meet them later, maybe in Regina, since that's where she tried to buy a bus ticket that day. And as we mentioned before, police also learned that Micaela had been messaging with a man named Christopher. She told her friends that he was planning to visit Sasasha when allegedly to see his mother. And police searched his home, but they found no evidence that he ever traveled to Canada around the time Michaela disappeared. In fact, Christopher told CBC News that he'd never left the United States in that Same interview, he revealed something darker. That Michaela had previously attempted suicide. But he said she seemed to be doing better in the weeks leading up to April of 2016. As for the man named Josh, who was also mentioned by friends investigators, they couldn't find a clear match without a last name. Police tracked down and cleared every possible Josh in Michaela's life, leaving little to go on regarding her online communications. And as the investigation continued, police began to uncover more of what Mikayla had been struggling with. Behind closed doors, they learned she'd likely been using messaging apps like Kik, platforms known for their anonymity, where conversations don't always leave a trace. Is believed she may have been in contact with someone through one of those apps and that she might have arranged to meet them.
- [25:51]
Ricky
And from all of that, her movements, her messages, the idea that she could have been lured online really isn't that far fetched. McKayla was clearly looking for connection. And for teenagers, that kind of vulnerability can make them easy targets. Kik already had a reputation for being used by predators to contact and groom minors. There'd been several cases across North America linking the app to grooming and exploitation. In fact, police in Canada have warned parents about Kik for years, pointing out how few parental controls it has and how easy it is for strangers to contact young users without restriction.
- [26:32]
Ashley
And what's frustrating is police said that they were unable to trace many of Michaela's conversations on the app because of privacy laws in the United States, a challenge that complicated their efforts to see who she might have been talking to before she disappeared. That gap in the investigation fueled one of the most persistent theories in this case, that Mikayla was lured by someone she met online. And what's also interesting is Kik is actually a Canadian based company. But because some of its data Is stored on U.S. servers, investigators ran into legal barriers when trying to recover message histories. And that's not to say that Kik refused to cooperate. The company has turned over IP information in other cases, but in Mikayla's situation, the timing and jurisdictional red tape meant crucial leads may have been lost. With those theories swirling in the dead ends around Mikayla's online conversations, investigators stressed how critical it was to account for every single moment of her day. They focused on the periods that still lacked clarity, like the stretch of time between when she left the Tim Hortons and when she returned to school. And the window between 1 and 1:45 when she walked out of the bus depot and vanished. One detail investigators kept coming back to was a man seen at the bus depot that same time that Micaela was there. Witnesses described him as being 40 to 50 years old, with a stocky build, muscular arms, and a large tattoo of a cross surrounded by flames below his left elbow. Inspector Jennifer Ebert emphasized that this man was not considered a suspect. He was simply seen leaving the depot around the same time Michaela did. And police believed he might have information that could help fill in those missing minutes.
- [28:21]
Ricky
And that man quickly became the focus of a lot of online speculation about what might have happened to Mikayla. On forums and social media threads, people started connecting him to all kinds of things. Hate groups, predators, even violent crimes. None of which was ever proven. By October, police still hadn't been able to identify or locate the man. But that didn't stop people online from convincing themselves that he had to be involved.
- [28:49]
Ashley
And by then, investigators had received more than 130 tips, some from as far away as British Columbia, following the public plea for information that July. But despite the outpouring of support, the investigation wasn't any further along. Inspector Jennifer Ebert reiterated what had already become one of the central mysteries in the case. The unidentified man who may have been with Michaela at the bus depot. Police again emphasized that this man was not considered a suspect, but he was believed to be one of the last people to see Michaela before she vanished. Despite all of the online speculation, police made it clear that they didn't believe that he was responsible for her disappearance, but they were desperate to identify him. Ebert explained that investigators needed to confirm whether a conversation took place if Mikayla mentioned where she was going, or if she said anything that hinted at who she might have been meeting. Eventually, a man did come forward, saying that he thought he might be the person police were looking for. The RCMP interviewed him and determined he simply held the door open for Michaela that day. His name was never released. At that point, police still had nothing concrete. No confirmed sightings, no hard evidence of where Michaela might have went after leaving the bus depot. They continued to follow every lead, but none of them led anywhere certain.
- [30:14]
Ricky
And it's heartbreaking. The investigators, they're doing everything right, but it's like the trail just evaporated. Every lead circled back to the same place, that bus depot. Meanwhile, the Bali family kept leaning on the strength of the community. They raised the reward to $25,000 for information leading to Michaela's safe return and continued to host grassroots events. Paula and her family thanked everyone who helped, not just those who donated money, but those who shared Mikayla's photo organized searches or simply showed up at vigils to keep her name alive.
- [30:50]
Ashley
And By December of 2016, the weight of Michaela's absence had become overwhelming for her family. Paula admitted that holidays were unbearable. They stopped celebrating birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas because, as she said, there was nothing to celebrate until she knew what had happened to her daughter. Around that time, Paula made her fourth trip to Vancouver in just eight months, searching the streets for any sign of Michaela. Even though Mikaela had lived a clean life before her disappearance, Paula couldn't shake the fear that drugs might have played a role. Another theory that had begun circulating online. Local officials said Paula's fears weren't unfounded. Missing persons advocate explained that Vancouver had long been a magnet for young people, A city that promised bright lights and opportunity, but often delivered danger and disappointment instead. And with the fentanyl crisis tightening its grip in 2016, the risks were deadlier than ever. And it shows just how far Paula was willing to go. She never stopped searching, even when every lead seemed to fade away.
- [31:56]
Ricky
And that reality becomes even more concerning when you look at what Mikayla might have been going through in those months before she disappeared. Two of her classmates told investigators that Michaela once brought oxycodone to school, Showing the pills to friends, and, according to rumors, even selling them. Others, though, said that she simply had been showing people her acne medicine and pretending that it was something else. The point is, there's a lot of conflicting information about whether drugs ever played a role in her life at all.
- [32:28]
Ashley
Yeah. And officers, they were quick to clarify that while they're always aware of drugs circulating in high schools, there's no real evidence suggesting that drugs had anything to do with Michaela's disappearance. So while Paula's fears were heartbreaking and very real, the investigation itself didn't point in that direction. But Paula wasn't willing to leave any possibility unexplored. She said that many of the tips were coming from Vancouver. So she kept searching, hoping that one of them would finally lead her to Mikayla. And as you can imagine, this led to a huge personal cost. Paula admitted the search was exhausting, not just for her, but for her entire family. It was especially hard on her other children, who were trying to cope with their sister's disappearance While watching their mother devote every ounce of energy to finding her. She eventually took a leave of absence from work so she could focus entirely on the search. And even through the exhaustion, she stayed hopeful, believing her daughter could still be found safe. And around that time, RCMP reiterated that There was still no evidence of foul play, but that finding Mikayla remained their top priority, if only to confirm that she was alive and safe. Police said that they had followed every possible lead, including one from a man who falsely claimed to be Michaela's father. And that situation is another part of Mikayla's personal life that only really surfaced once investigators started digging into her case.
- [33:57]
Ricky
Yeah, friends at school, they gave conflicting accounts of what Michaela had said about her father. One friend remembered her saying that she thought her dad had died. Another recalled Michaela talking about wanting to meet him and. But not knowing who he was.
- [34:12]
Ashley
But what's interesting about that, soon after Michaela disappeared, there was a man named Rick who came forward saying that he believed he might be her biological father, though he couldn't be certain. He told reporters that five days after Michaela went missing, the RCMP contacted him, asking if he knew where she was. And three months later, two plain clothes officers showed up at his home in Saskatoon. They searched the property, collected DNA samples, and even carried out a similar search at his mother's house. The RCMP later confirmed that there was no evidence linking Rick to Michaela's disappearance. But despite that, he created his own Facebook page separate from the one that Paula manages to share information and encourage new tips about the case. And Mikayla's mom, Paula, who declined to speak with CBC News about this, told them that there's no evidence that Rick is Mikayla's father. And Rick himself even admitted that he never even spoke with Michaela and didn't think she even knew who he was.
- [35:13]
Ricky
So this is just another strange, unresolved piece of the case, one that adds to the confusion about what really happened to her. There are so many conflicting facts, theories, and stories about who Michaela was and what she was dealing with around that time.
- [35:29]
Ashley
And that confusion lingered until August of 2019, more than three years after Michaela vanished, when her mother, Paula, got a phone call that gave her a glimmer of hope. A man from Edmonton said that he believed that he spoke with Michaela outside the High Run Club earlier that March. He told Paula that he hadn't even realized that she was missing until he came across a post about her case online. Remembering that brief encounter, he decided to call the number on the post and ended up speaking directly with Paula. According to his account, he talked with a young woman for just a few minutes, and what struck him wasn't her appearance, but her demeanor. Demeanor. He said that she didn't seem like someone who belonged in that part of town. That she came across as sweet, polite, and even a little naive. For Paula, it was that description that stood out the most. When he described this person, it sounded just like Michaela, A very gentle soul.
- [36:27]
Ricky
And that sighting really struck a chord with people online on Reddit. It became one of the most discussed leads in Michaela's case. And what stands out is that the man said she introduced herself using her real name. If she truly didn't want to be found and there was no foul play, why would you give a stranger your real name? And that single detail has kept people wondering for years. Whether she ran away by choice or whether she was groomed and taken to Edmonton, or if she's out there somewhere wanting to come home but not knowing how.
- [37:03]
Ashley
And while police never confirmed that sighting, for Paula and for everyone else who'd followed this case, the possibility that it was Michaela kept hope alive that she might come home someday. But like so many other leads in this case, that one eventually faded, too. When it came time for Mikayla's classmates to graduate. Shelby remembered how Mikayla had always talked about wanting to wear a big, poofy cupcake dress. The group even tried to convince the principal to leave an empty chair for her at the ceremony, but there just wasn't enough room to do it. Shelby and Amy even both told CBC news that if Michaela were still here, she'd probably be working towards a career, helping children or animals, Something that fit her kind and gentle personality. Over the years, police have investigated more than 600 tips, including reported sightings as far away as Scotland and Columbia, and not a single one has ever been confirmed. Investigators have said that limited resources make it hard to follow up on every lead quickly, especially if Mikayla was being trafficked and constantly moved from place to place.
- [38:14]
Ricky
Impala never stopped running her own campaign to keep Mikayla's story alive. By 2019, the reward for information had grown to $50,000, half of it donated anonymously. Around that same time, the RCMP said there was still nothing to suggest Michaela's disappearance was a homicide. Investigators said they remained hopeful that she could still be alive.
- [38:37]
Ashley
Basically, it came down to what everyone was thinking, that every theory was still on the table and that there were no solid leads in any one direction. And even then, there were still small signs of hope that her friends held onto. Shelby once told reporters that she'd sent Mikayla a message on Snapchat the day that she disappeared, and about three months later, someone opened it. She said it gave her a little bit of hope, even though many believe it could have been just a technical glitch. But during graduation, Shelby sent another message, but that one was never opened.
- [39:12]
Narrator/Host Intro
Her name was Elizabeth Short, but the world would come to know her by another name.
- [39:18]
Mr. Monopoly (McDonald's Ad)
The Black Dahlia.
- [39:19]
Ricky
The Black Dahlia.
- [39:20]
Ashley
The Black Dahlia.
- [39:21]
Narrator/Host Intro
The Black Dahlia. In 1947, her body was found severed in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. The headlines were sensational, the rumors endless. But who was the real woman behind the myth? How did Elizabeth's life lead her to become one of the most infamous murder victims in history? And the question that still haunts us nearly 80 years later, who came killed her? Join me for my new six part series of Once Upon a Crime, the Black Dahlia Murder. I'll peel back the layers of truth and legend to uncover the real Black Dahlia and provide details lost to history in this chilling case. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen or watch on YouTube.
- [40:18]
Ricky
Mr.
- [40:18]
Mr. Monopoly (McDonald's Ad)
Monopoly here Monopoly is back at McDonald's. Register in the McDonald's app so you're ready to get your bag. Two ways to peel for a chance to get your bag physical peels with select items and digital peels with others. To get your bag, play Monopoly at McDonald's.
- [40:39]
McDonald's Ad Voice
No purchase necessary. See rules at play@mcd.com for full details and amoe.play@mcd.com to play without purchase ends November 23rd, but bonus play ends November 2nd. Monopoly is a registered trademark of Hasbro. Copyright McDonald's.
- [40:48]
Dutch Vet Service Announcer
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- [41:20]
Ashley
By August of 2022, more than six years had passed since Michaela's disappearance and still none of the leads had led investigators to anything concrete. Yet the effort to bring her home, it never stopped. There was still a significant reward for any information that could help police locate her, and her case continued to be discussed online. In May of that year, the Saskatchewan RCMP partnered with the Washington State Patrol in a new cross border initiative. Together they unveiled two long haul trucks with Mikayla's photo and the reward information printed on the sides. This was Designed to travel across Canada and the U.S. keeping her face visible to thousands of people every week.
- [42:03]
Ricky
Police still classify Michaela's disappearance as an active investigation. They've said they remain hopeful that someone out there holds the key to finding her. And for a while, people really believed that the effort could make a difference. At that point, the search had gone far beyond Saskatchewan, and they also thought.
- [42:22]
Ashley
That this would yield results. But in 2023, Mikayla had still not been found. The reward for information leading to her safe return stood at $100,000, and more than 1,000 tips had been reported to the Saskatchewan RCMP, 200 of them in 2023 alone. April 12th of 2024 marked eight years since Michaela's disappearance. And Paula reflected on what that day in 2016 was like for her. She said that someone at her work had said Mikayla's grandmother was there needing to talk to her about a family emergency. Paula said she looked at her mom's face and knew immediately that something horrible had happened. For one, Michaela's grandmother had never come to her work, so she knew the gravity of the situation immediately. There was something wrong, and her heart sank into her gut. Paula also spoke about her frustrations with how the case had been handled, saying that sometimes in stories of missing people, the people we think should be the heroes sometimes become the villains. Talking about her experience with the rcmp, she explained that Michaela's disappearance had been deeply traumatic for her entire family and she felt unsupported through most of it. But the RCMP responded to those claims. They said that they had 140 files of long term active investigations and a very small unit that was trying to handle all of them. The RCMP Assistant Commissioner, Rhonda Blackmore, said that they don't have someone dedicated to each of those files. And they had been working with the province to get more resources so that they could spend more time on each file and make sure that they were giving regular updates to the families that deserve them. They understood how important it was for Michaela's family to hear from them. But there were 139 other families that deserved it, too. And there were only so many people to handle these cases. On April 12th of 2025, the people of Yorkton gathered once again. There were friends and family and supporters. They all came together for a solemn vigil marking nine years since the disappearance of Michaela. Paula stood before the crowd saying that their lives had been filled with a painful kind of silence. One that no family should ever have to live with. She said that she didn't want the silence to be an end, but a continuation. And determination. Keep searching, hoping, and keeping her memory alive until the silence is broken by the sound of her return. And to this day, that silence still lingers in Michaela's case.
- [44:59]
Ricky
But even now, as of just yesterday, there are still countless online groups and communities dedicated to trying to solve Michaela's case. And with those have come more rumored details, theories, and alleged comments from people who claim to have known her. So I think it's important that we at least mention some of what's out there, because it shows just how far people have gone trying to make sense of her disappearance.
- [45:26]
Ashley
Yes. So by all accounts that we came across, she was a shy, sweet, generous girl, mature beyond her years, but deeply naive. She had skipped school in the past, so leaving that morning wasn't necessarily shocking to those that knew her. But people continued to talk about the fact that Mikayla was lonelier than anyone realized. Online, people who claim to know Mikayla have described her friendship as distant and shallow. One person wrote that Mikayla was right in saying that she had no friends and that her best friend was told not to talk about her. Others expressed frustration that her apparent friends were apathetic about her disappearance, saying things like, we expected she'd just kill herself one day, or I don't know why this is going on and no one cares. Others said she had been desperate, that she used marijuana, or that she had dropped out, though none of those claims have ever been verified by investigators. Still, it shows the disconnect between how the community saw her and what she might have actually been going through internally.
- [46:29]
Ricky
I think a lot of this ties back to just how brutal high school can be. People start rumors. They say things that aren't true, and sometimes they're just plain meaning. But what came out of this is a clearer picture of how much Mikayla might have been hurting. It's left behind a lot of questions about her mental health and how vulnerable she was at the time, especially when it came to her friendships and where she really stood with the people around her.
- [46:57]
Ashley
Right. And that becomes even more pressing when many people in online spaces have talked about the fact that her home life wasn't easy, and many people were vocal about that. People speculate that she might have wanted distance from it. They think that she ran away and maybe even started over somewhere else. Someone even mentioned that they knew the family, and many people in the family speculated that Mikayla wanted to get away from the heaviness of the drama at home. The idea is that if Micaela wanted to stay hidden, she could. But it's also hard to imagine that she wouldn't have just reached out to someone after all of this time. Many people believe that she was leaving Yorkton with help from someone she met online. Whether that person had good intentions remains unclear, and that theory does line up a lot with what we know. So Mikayla was young, isolated, looking for connection. It's easy to imagine her finding someone online who made her feel understood, offering her an escape from what she saw as a small town in and a difficult home life. Another detail that pointed to the credibility of that theory was the fact that Mikayla was seen taking apart her phone and putting it back together while sitting in the booth at the Tim Hortons restaurant, causing people to speculate that she was changing the SIM card in her phone so she couldn't be tracked.
- [48:17]
Ricky
But there are a few details that just don't fit for one, Mikayla left all of her makeup and her acne medicine at home. Friends said that she struggled with acne, that she'd been bullied for it, and that she depended on that medication. She never went anywhere without wearing makeup.
- [48:36]
Ashley
If she truly planned to run away, especially to meet a boy, they're thinking that she would have brought it with her. And this is what confuses a lot of people who lean towards the runaway theory. It doesn't make complete sense that she would plan a new start, especially if it was someone she wanted to impress and leave behind something that mattered so much to her. And that brings us to another strong theory online that this was foul play. People from around the Yorkton area have passed along stories that claim to know what happened. One posted that Mikayla overdosed at a party the night that she went missing, claiming that she was dismembered and burned in the wildlife lands. Another said that a drug dealer had threatened to make them quote the next Michaela Bali if she didn't pay them on time, saying that the higher up drug dealers were involved in her death. In other Reddit posts, different commenters verified this claim, saying that they heard from a drug dealer that she was murdered, dismembered and buried in a ditch, and had actually reported it to Crime Stoppers and rcmp. According to them, however, the dealer was questioned and cleared by police. And just to note, none of these claims have ever been verified by investigators. The RCMP has confirmed that they've received numerous tips, including anonymous ones sent through Crime Stoppers, but there's actually no evidence to support any version that points to foul Play, drugs, or any specific individuals.
- [50:01]
Ricky
A lot of people online have said that the RCMP aren't doing enough to verify these claims of grooming or foul play. But I think it's important to point out that Kim Stewart, one of the original investigators on Michaela's case, is still looking into it, even after transferring to a different department. People within the RCMP have been deeply affected by this case. And from everything we've read, there are still investigators who remain personally dedicated to finding out what happened to Michaela.
- [50:34]
Ashley
It just shows that people are still desperate for answers. When years pass without progress, people try to make sense of the silence and whatever they can. But until there's evidence, all anyone can do is keep sharing information and hope that the truth eventually surfaces. So, to sum everything up, there's four main theories as to what happened to Mikayla. The first one's a runaway. Some believe that Michaela's actions on the day that she disappeared, Withdrawing money, visiting multiple businesses, spending hours on the phone with someone who investigators still haven't identified, leads to the belief that she voluntarily disappeared. But Paula doesn't think that this theory fits. She pointed out that Michaela left behind her acne medication, her makeup, emergency funds, and had no history of running away. And there was nothing to suggest that she planned to disappear permanently.
- [51:26]
Ricky
And the second theory is that Mikayla may have been lured by someone that she met online. She was active on multiple social media platforms and messaging apps, including Kik, a service known for its anonymity and reputation in grooming cases.
- [51:41]
Ashley
Police have said that her calls that morning couldn't be linked to any known numbers, and what happened following that is unknown, with some believing that she's still alive, being held captive, while others are thinking she may have been murdered. And something else that leads into our third theory, which is trafficking. Given the suddenness of her disappearance and the lack of any digital evidence since some people have wondered if Michaela could have been trafficked, Investigators haven't found anything concrete to support this theory, but they haven't ruled it out either, especially with the wide expanse of alleged sightings and the fact that her phone went completely black after April 12th of 2016. And the last one is foul play. While RCMP have never confirmed it, the total absence of leads has led many to fear that Mikayla may have been the victim of a crime. Investigators have followed up on more than a thousand tips over the years, but none have led to her. This led people to turn these rumors of alleged ODs or homicides by drug dealers. But whether she ran away, met someone she trusted, or encountered danger she couldn't have predicted her disappearance. It remains one of the most haunting unsolved cases in Saskatchewan, and people are still searching for answers. Thank you all so much for listening to this week's episode. If you have any information of the disappearance of Michaela Bali, please check out the contacts we have listed in our description and share this episode with a friend, because the right person hearing this episode could be the break this case needs.
- [53:17]
Ricky
All information discussed in this episode was sourced from publicly available records, media reports, and official statements. Our goal is to raise awareness, not to assign guilt. Thank you so much for listening to Crime Salad and we'll see you next week. Crime Salad is a Black Cat production. Find out more at Black Cat FM. Mr.
- [53:53]
Mr. Monopoly (McDonald's Ad)
Monopoly here Monopoly is back at McDonald's. Register in the McDonald's app so you're ready to get your bag. Two ways to peel for a chance to get your bag physical peels with select items and digital peels with others. To get your bag, play Monopoly at McDonald's.
- [54:13]
McDonald's Ad Voice
No purchase necessary. C rolls@playmcd.com for full details and amoe.playmcd.com to play without purchase ends November 23rd, but bonus plans November 2nd. Monopoly is a registered trademark of Hasbro. Copyright McDonald's.
- [54:23]
Dutch Vet Service Announcer
Time is precious and so are our pets. So time with our pets is extra precious. That's why we started Dutch. Dutch provides 24? 7 access to licensed vets with unlimited virtual visits and follow ups for up to five pets. You can message a vet at any time and schedule a video visit the same day. Our vets can even prescribe medication for many ailments and shipping is always free. With Dutch, you'll get more time with your pets and year round peace of mind when it comes to their vet care.
- [54:53]
Mr. Monopoly (McDonald's Ad)
Mr. Monopoly here Monopoly is back at McDonald's. Register in the McDonald's app so you're ready to get your bag. Two ways to peel for a chance to get your bag physical peels with select items and digital peels with others. To get your bag, play them an o Monopoly at McDonald's.
- [55:14]
McDonald's Ad Voice
No purchase necessary. See rules at play@mcd.com for full details and amoe.play@mcd.com to play without purchase and November 23rd, but bonus plans November 2nd. Monopoly is a registered trademark of Hasbro. Copyright McDonald's.