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'My name is Mikel... I'm Alive': Tip in Mesa girl's disappearance written on $1 bill

Could a handwritten message on a 2009 dollar bill be a lead in a 19-year-old case?

MESA, Ariz. - Before Monday, investigators haven’t had any significant leads in the 19 years since a Mesa girl had gone missing. A dollar bill surfaced in Neenah, Wisconsin with a written message along the edges: My name is Mikel Biggs kidnapped From Mesa Arizona I’m Alive.”

When the ice cream truck comes rolling through a neighborhood you can usually find a group of kids close by. Kimber and Mikelle Biggs were two of those kids who loved ice cream and would chase the truck down the street.

Kimber was just, 9, and Mikelle, 11, when they thought they heard an ice cream truck drive through their Mesa neighborhood back in January of 1999. The two girls were only about 300 feet from their house when Kimber went inside.

Mikelle never showed up. It was quickly clear she had been abducted.

Within minutes Mesa Police had a swarm of officers in the neighborhood searching. Investigators spent weeks and months searching for the bright-eyed girl with an engaging smile. Unfortunately, none of the tips or leads panned out, Mikelle was never found.

In the past 19 years the case has grown cold and there has been no significant break in the case.

“Cases like this people don’t forget," said Mesa Police Det. Steve Berry. "You don’t forget an 11-year-old being abducted while waiting for the ice cream truck.”

The message, written in what appears to be child-like handwriting, on a 2009 dollar bill misspells Mikelle’s name and capitalizes words that would normally not be, but Mesa police are considering the bill to be a potential lead.

“Anytime you get a tip on a cold case, whether it be Mikelle Biggs case or anything else that we think the information we are getting is something we can follow, we follow it,” Berry said.

Before police were able to contact Kimber and let her know about the dollar bill, she heard about it on Facebook.

“I saw that and it was out of nowhere, I didn’t expect to see it, and I didn’t know how to take it,” she said.

Her sister’s disappearance drew national attention as hundreds of officers and volunteers searched for the young girl.

“Will this turn into something, certainly we don’t know. We are always hopeful,” Berry said.

Police in Wisconsin are less optimistic that any information or evidence can be pulled gleamed from the bill. Put into circulation in 2009, the bill was not around until 10 years after Mikelle went missing.

“In my head, I think how did she get a dollar bill 10 years after she was taken and how did she get it back out into circulation,” Kimber said.

Mesa police are not yet in possession of the bill but expect to get it soon. Detectives plan to check for any forensic evidence and see if the handwriting on the bill matches Mikelle’s. The challenge is that Mikelle would have been at least 21 years old when the message was written. A person’s writing could certainly change over time.

Kimber plans to meet with detectives from Mesa on Wednesday to get an update about the bill and to share information she has been provided from her Facebook page.

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