Is Handwritten Note Found On Dollar Bill From Mikelle Biggs, Missing Since 1999?

March 21, 2018
By: Mike McPadden

Mesa Police Department/National Registry of Missing Persons

Possible lead dollar bill and Mikelle Biggs

MESA, AZ — On January 2, 1999, 11-year-old girl Mikelle Biggs stepped outside her family’s Mesa home to await the local ice cream truck. She has not been seen since.

In the years since Mikelle vanished, police have tracked down numerous leads only to be continually frustrated.

Mesa Police Department

Dollar bill with possible lead in Mikelle Biggs case.

Now, suddenly, a fresh clue may have cropped up by way of a dollar bill used to purchase Girl Scout cookies in Neenah, Wisconsin, a town about nine miles outside of Appleton. Hand-scrawled in ink along the edge of the bill is a message:

“My name is Mikel Biggs kidnapped from Mesa AZ I’m alive.”

Neenah Police Chief Kevin Wilkinson said a man walked in, turned over the bill, and said it had been in a collection taken for Girl Scout cookies.

Wilkinson wasn’t familiar with the Mikelle Biggs case offhand. Upon looking up the facts, the chief reached out to the Mesa Police Department immediately. He has since sent them the physical bill and said:

“The oddity in the note is that her first name is spelled wrong. That certainly seems odd and it would sway you to believe that it might not be legitimate. But why would you pick that one, a case that’s nearly 20 years old? It’s somebody who knew something about that case.”

Kimber Biggs was nine when her sister Mikelle disappeared. She said the message on the bill gave her a “glimmer of hope,” followed by a crushing sense that nothing will come of it.

First and foremost, Kimber pointed out, the name is spelled wrong. She also told the press:

“I was looking at the bill, trying to look at the handwriting and see if it could mean something, and I got sick about it. ‘Is this a hoax?’ ‘Did someone play a cruel joke?’ And that made me upset, or ‘Is it real?’ and even the thought of that upsets me if it’s real.”

No matter what, Mesa Detective Steve Berry says, his office will follow this lead until there is nothing left to follow.

Berry pointed out that Mikelle’s disappearance remains an open and active investigation, and added: “You never know where a lead or a tip is going to come from that can break a case.”

If you are in search of a missing person, make sure to enter their information into the database of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Next Up

It's Been More Than 15 Years Since Bianca Piper Vanished At Age 13

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has a hotline dedicated to finding missing kids. If you know where Bianca "B" Piper is today, please reach out directly: 1-800-THE-LOST

12-Year-Old Celina Mays Was 9 Months Pregnant When She Vanished In 1996

Celina Mays was 12-years-old and two weeks away from giving birth when she disappeared in the middle of the night from her New Jersey home. If you have any information about Celina Mays, please call or text the IN PURSUIT hotline directly: 833-378-7783 (3-PURSUE).

In February 2001, Steven Kraft, Jr. Took His Dogs Outside And Disappeared

Over two decades ago, a 12-year-old boy went missing from outside his home in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The two dogs he was playing with have since been found but he remains missing.

Three Michigan Boys Vanished In 2010 After Spending Thanksgiving With Their Father

John Skelton claimed he gave his sons Andrew, Alexander and Tanner to an underground group.

5 Things You Need To Know About Susan Powell

In 2009, mother-of-two Susan Powell disappeared without a trace in West Valley City, Utah. Then in 2012, her husband Josh killed himself and their two sons after custody of the children was granted to Susan's parents.

5 Curious Details About The Missing Sodder Children

While they were first declared dead in a Christmas Eve house fire, some believe that five children were kidnapped just before their family home burned to the ground.

Inside The 27-Year Investigation Of JonBenét Ramsey’s Murder

On Dec. 26, 1996, the pageant princess was found strangled to death in her family’s home in Boulder, Colorado.

Louisiana Woman Disappears While Road Tripping To Colorado To Start New Life

“Our family will never give up looking for our daughter,” the parents of Caitlyn Rose Case say.

The Twists And Turns Of The Infamous Susan Smith Case

On October 25, 1994, the 23-year-old South Carolina mother drowned her two young children.

How The Abduction And Murder Of A 9-Year-Old Led To The AMBER Alert System

The AMBER alert system first debuted in 1996 as a collaboration between news media and police in Arlington, Texas. Named for Amber Hagerman, the alerts have helped find more than 1,000 abducted children.