The abduction of an eleven-year-old girl who disappeared in the blink of an eye while waiting outside her Mesa house for an ice cream truck continues to haunt a peaceful neighbourhood in Arizona.
On a chilly January night, Mikelle Biggs was playing with her nine-year-old younger sister Kimber when she vanished.
Mikelle’s home is in a “cookie cutter neighbourhood,” according to filmmaker Elliot Feld, who has been working on a documentary about her disappearance 20 years ago. Feld also told the Daily Mail that “Kimber was getting cold.” She ran inside because she wanted to be inside.
Tracy, the mother of the sisters, questioned Mikelle where she was shortly after she entered the house. Kimber stated, “She’s still out there. She’s waiting.” Tracy responded, “Go back out and get her.”
Feld stated, “It was probably between ninety seconds and two minutes.”
When Kimber returned to the end of her driveway and looked down the street, she saw her sister’s bike in the middle of the road with two quarters on the ground beside it and a spinning tyre.
It happened as quickly as you could have imagined. Feld remarked, “You’re talking about it only taking a couple of minutes.”
He went on, “There’s a chance that Kimber was cycling into the driveway with her back turned and her sister was being taken right behind her.”
While waiting for the ice cream guy, 11-year-old Mikelle Biggs disappeared from her Mesa, Arizona, neighbourhood.
This image shows the neighbourhood from which Mikelle disappeared. For a new documentary about her disappearance, filmmaker Elliot Feld has been interviewing her relatives.
While her sister Kimber had her back to Mikelle for only ninety to two minutes, Mikelle disappeared. The tyre of her bike was still spinning when it was abandoned in the middle of the road.
In an effort to locate her sister, Kimber has publicly discussed what transpired numerous times since that awful day on January 2, 1999.
She was standing on the bike’s pedals. The sun is kind of setting, you know. Kimber told AZFamily, “It’s that golden hour.”
Behind her, her blond hair is blowing. She had a blissful smile on her face.
I recall telling my mother, “We can’t find Mikelle,” as soon as I walked in, and her face kind of turned pale.
There were police cars within hours. The road was closed down. News cameras were present. Helicopters and search teams with posters already up were present.
Mikelle’s abrupt disappearance had a profound impact on the entire City of Mesa, MPD Detective Paul Sipe told 12News.
He told the newspaper, “It was a huge incident that occurred here at the time.” “We’ve talked to at least a thousand people there.”
Feld told the Daily Mail that the MPD got thousands of reports and numerous calls from psychics claiming to have spoken with Mikelle or to know her location.
Feld conducted interviews with three of the primary investigators involved in Mikelle’s case, revealing the extent to which her disappearance affected them.
Kimber claimed that “everyone liked” her older sister and recalled how adorable she was.
If she passes away, I’d like to know how. I would like to know the whereabouts of her body. Kimber told AZFamily, “And if she’s still alive, I need to know where she’s been all this time.”
A mysterious dollar bill that was discovered in Wisconsin in 2018 and believed to have Mikelle’s handwriting on it offered some optimism.
“My name is Mikel Biggs, kidnapped from Mesa, Arizona, I’m Alive,” the bill said.
The Neenah Police Department received the dollar, but they weren’t convinced it would be a significant development in the investigation.
With a $1 bill, it is problematic. Two days earlier, it might have been in a different nation. Where has it been? Who knows. Detective Steve Berry of the Mesa Police Department told People at the time that “someone gets on a plane with it in their pocket and it moves from here to there or wherever.”
“We’ll do everything we can, interview anyone we need to, and hopefully we’ll learn something new from this. We have excellent forensic folks here.”
Kimber expressed her doubts about it finding her sister to The Arizona Republic, saying, “I don’t believe she would have written it, as the circumstances of it don’t make much sense.” There is always a glimmer of optimism, but at the moment, I believe all we want is for it to lead to someone with knowledge.
Other ideas regarding Mikelle’s whereabouts have focused on Dee Blalock, a renowned sexual predator who was residing in the region at the time.
The bill, which said, “My name is Mikel Biggs kidnapped From Mesa AZ I’m Alive,” was given to the Neenah Police Department in 2018.
Kimber has been in the dark about the disturbing incident for 27 years. Finding out what happened to her older sister has been her life’s work. A shot from Feld’s documentary in which a young actress reenacts the events as Kimber
He was a local resident who had participated in a few vigils before being taken into custody for an attempted rape and assault on a neighbour. Feld told the Mail, “He served two life sentences in prison.”
According to online records, Blalock was arrested by the Arizona Department of Corrections in November 2000 on charges of unlawful confinement, kidnapping, burglary, sexual assault, aggravated assault, and sex offender registration violation.
In a video that ABC15 was able to obtain, Blalock was shown telling the camera at a “block watch” gathering just ten days after Mikelle disappeared: “If you’re my neighbour and I notice that you’re living next to me, and I see something weird going on… You can be sure that I would dial 911.
At first, Blalock denied any involvement in Mikelle’s abduction and provided an alibi, saying he was in his garage watching a football game on TV when she disappeared. His spouse supported him.
However, following his arrest in the 2000 case, his wife acknowledged that she had brought him sandwiches in the garage on the day Mikelle disappeared, and he had urged her to keep away, making it impossible for her to explain his presence during the hour Mikelle disappeared.
Sgt. Kevin Baggs of the Mesa police department told People in 2018 that Blalock allegedly admitted to being involved in Mikelle’s disappearance in a jailhouse confession.
“Everything in my eyes points in one direction, and that is Dee Blalock,” Baggs continued.
However, I believe it’s just as crucial that we mention that it might be someone else. We might never receive those answers until the murderer, if it’s not him, steps forward and shows us where her corpse is. Blalock has never been charged in connection with Mikelle’s disappearance.
Ten days after Mikelle disappeared, Blalock made an appearance in a video that ABC15 was able to obtain (shown). At a “block watch” event, he said to the camera, “If you’re my neighbour and I see that you’re living next to me and I see something strange going on… You can be sure that I would dial 911.
When Mikelle disappeared, Dee Blalock was her neighbour. He was detained and found guilty of attacking a neighbour the year after she vanished. He’s still in prison.
Mikelle is shown with her sister and brother. Out of three sisters and a brother, she was the oldest.
When Mikelle vanished, the police initially blamed Darren, Mikelle’s father.
Feld told the Mail, “That was kind of an incorrect route.” “They spent a lot of time investigating Darren, only to discover that he was not a suspect after a few months.”
According to Feld, Darren suffered greatly during the initial months of Mikelle’s absence. In addition to losing his daughter, he was being monitored and wiretapped by law enforcement.
This unfortunate dad lost his daughter, and now he was being held accountable for it. That therefore stayed with him for a very long time. Since then, he has accepted that the police were merely carrying out their duties and that, even if they were mistaken, some of them were certain it was him. Feld, who has been interviewing the family for the documentary, stated, “And they were trying to solve the case.”
Feld has also conducted interviews with three of the primary detectives involved in Mikelle’s investigation, all of whom revealed the extent to which her disappearance impacted their own mental health.
“We’re asking them questions that they’ve deliberately tried to forget, but they’re trying not to remember this case that they couldn’t solve, which is also really hard when you’re a detective; that’s your job,” Feld remarked. “Some of them got teary eyed in the interview.”
Feld claims that one investigator talked about Mikelle’s case over lunch but declined to be interviewed.
It has a significant impact on him. Just one of those people he will never forget. Feld remarked, “He didn’t want to open all those doors again.”
Before determining that their father Darren had nothing to do with his daughter’s disappearance, police had long accused him.
While waiting for the ice cream man at the end of her street in Mesa, Arizona, Mikelle Biggs vanished in January 1999.
Kimber has devoted her life to investigating her sister’s disappearance, and she frequently speaks about her (shown).
Feld continued, “They’re living their lives and doing their best to just work and put food on the table,” adding that the family has all made an effort to continue living. However, they all have a subtle, somewhat different feel. Each of them has suffered a significant loss.
“Hope is always present.” Hope is always present. When examining the situation statistically, you look at the length of time it has been. Do I believe Mikelle is still alive, if you ask me? Most likely not.
Feld thinks that on that fateful January night, someone had been observing Kimber and Mikelle.
He stated, “I believe that if I had to place a wager, I would say that someone was watching them, even if it was only for a few minutes.”
Kimber Biggs and the Mesa Police Department were contacted by The Daily Mail for additional comment.
Feld’s documentary is anticipated to screen at film festivals once it is finished.
