On January 2, 1999, Mikelle Biggs was last observed riding a bicycle close to her family’s home in Mesa, Arizona. Mikelle and her younger sister asked their mother for money because they thought they could hear the music from an ice cream truck in the distance. Around 5:50 p.m., Mikelle and her sister waited for the truck at the intersection of El Moro Avenue and Toltec Street. When her sister got cold, she went back to the house to get a coat. Mikelle had vanished when their mother sent her back to look for her.
The location of Mikelle’s bicycle and her two quarters were discovered close to the street. The bicycle was partially facing the house and not at the corner. The wheel was still spinning while it was lying on its side. Mikelle had only been apart from her sister for about 90 seconds.
Mikelle’s family’s neighborhood was thoroughly searched by authorities, but no information about her whereabouts was discovered. Her scent was lost by search dogs after only a short distance, indicating that she may have been loaded into a car and driven away. All ice cream vendors in the vicinity were exonerated of involvement in Mikelle’s case, though authorities were unable to confirm whether an ice cream truck was nearby at the time of her disappearance. Also exonerated of any connection to Mikelle were local known se*x offenders.
In Mikelle’s case, there have been a lot of fruitless leads. Outside of Mesa, police on January 9 unearthed what appeared to be a recently dug grave. Nothing was discovered. In an effort to get two witnesses to remember something, hypnosis was used on them, but nothing happened. When Mikelle was last seen, a copper-colored jeep was reportedly seen close to her house. However, when the driver of that jeep was found, he was eliminated as a suspect because he had seen nothing unusual.
With the owners’ permission, search warrants were executed in the neighborhood but to no avail. The only homeowner who objected to a search is not thought to be a suspect. A man allegedly attempted to kidnap two girls, ages 10 and 11, from a schoolyard on March 10, 1999. Police suspected the incident might be related to Mikelle’s case, but it was later discovered that the “abduction” was a hoax.
Sketches of two potential suspects in Mikelle’s disappearance have been made public by the investigators. Along with this case summary, both images are posted. Since authorities are not certain if the men are connected to her case, the sketches were not widely publicized.
Mikelle’s father is confident that he is aware of the perpetrator of his daughter’s alleged kidnapping. In 1999, Dee Blalock, the man, lived two blocks away from the Mikelle residence. He was listed as a sex offender and had prior convictions for sex offenses in three different states. He was found guilty in 2001 of raping a neighbor and attempting to k*ill her. He is currently incarcerated in Arizona serving a fifteen and a half year sentence.
This case summary is posted with a picture of Blalock. His wife gave him a plausible explanation for Mikelle’s disappearance, claiming that he spent the entire night in their garage. When Mikelle’s parents visited him in jail, they directly questioned him about her disappearance, but he insisted time and time again that he knew nothing about it.
Gilbert, Arizona is now home to Mikelle’s family. Her family held a funeral for her with an empty casket on the fifth anniversary of her disappearance. They think Mikelle was k*illed soon after she vanished. In her case, no one has been indicted on any charges.
As an honor student, creative, intelligent, and outgoing, Mikelle is described. She was a clarinetist and a part of the student council at her school when she vanished. When she was older, she wanted to work as an animator. She has two younger sisters and a younger brother, and her favorite color is purple. Mikelle’s disappearance has a dearth of leads, and her case is still open.
