basil grew up in the foster care system with her sisters ida and crystal. ida says that their experience there bonded them; they called each other daily at 10 am. mackie was part of the tl'azt'en nation, based out of tachie, south of the kuz che reserve. basil lived in fort st. james at the time of her disappearance, working part-time as a secretary and as a teacher's assistant at the school. she had recently split from her long-time partner and father to jamison.