Children's Safety Zone
Mikelle Biggs Story Index
Contact The Mesa Police Department immediately with any new information!
Mesa Police, Criminal Investigations 480-644-4078, Sgt. Steven Stahl, steven_stahl@mesa.ci.mesa.az.us
A bicycle and two quarters left on a residential street.
A suspected molester who tried to grab a child a mile away.
An ice cream truck that Mikelle Biggs, 11, heard but no one ever saw and police never found.
All these components of Mikelle's disappearance are included in an FBI profile turned over to Mesa police this week.
"They've given them a profile based on what they've seen so far," said Special Agent Ed Hall, an FBI spokesman in Phoenix. "Possibly, the profile could expand. This is not something written in concrete."
Although specific details were not released Wednesday, authorities say the profile includes such characteristics as age, sex, race, environment, sexual orientation and whether the suspect is likely a sex offender, as well as behavioral traits, including whether the suspect is violent. It was compiled by two profilers from the FBI Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit in Quantico, Va.
Detective Jose Martinez, a Mesa police spokesman, said investigators "seem pretty excited about at least having a direction."
Police are sifting through more than 4,000 leads, using an FBI computer software program to help put them in priority. Police detectives are working under the theory that Mikelle was abducted but still have no witnesses to the crime or any evidence to support their suspicions.
On Wednesday, Outdoor Systems donated space on 10 billboards scattered throughout metro Phoenix carrying Mikelle's picture and a phone number through which anyone knowing anything about her disappearance can pass along the information.
Four of the billboards are in Phoenix, three are in Mesa, one is in Gilbert and two are in Tempe.
Also on Wednesday, police excluded two possible leads, a pair of inmates in the Gila County Jail.
Globe authorities alerted Mesa police because the men resembled a composite drawing of a suspect in an attempted molestation on Christmas Day near the Biggs' neighborhood. Police believe the attempted molestation and Mikelle's disappearance may be related because of their proximity, but have not established a link.
The man in the attempted molestation is described as a tall, thin White male with bad teeth, a receding hairline, 30 to 40 years old, with light brown or blond hair. He wore a waist-length army coat, a white T-shirt and blue jeans.
Some reports put the molester with another transient or a woman, and still others say he was riding a blue mountain bicycle, police say.
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Reproduced with permission from: The Arizona Republic Written by: By Jim Walsh ©Copyright 1999 Arizona Republic |
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