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
More than two months after Mikelle Biggs disappeared, her family, friends and a missing children's organization will march today with the hope that the law of averages is on their side.
They believe that, despite having distributed more than half a million fliers of the missing Mesa girl, the poster simply hasn't been seen by the right person yet.
They believe that chances are, the suspect lives near the Biggses, as is the case in about 80 percent of abductions.
And they believe that someone, somewhere, with information will break the silence.
"We want to send a strong message that we know that somebody out there knows something," said Kym Pasqualini, president of the Nation's Missing Children Organization.
That hope, however, doesn't include finding Mikelle alive. Even her mother, Tracy Biggs, acknowledges that such chances dimmed some time ago and that life must go on.
"Realistically, because of the time, the chances are that she's not. I have to think of that possibility and try to prepare myself the best I can," she said.
Still, until she knows for a fact that Mikelle is dead, Tracy Biggs said, she will always have hope that her daughter is alive.
"As long as we can keep doing this to help people not forget, then I think we'll get the message across," she said. "We need to have closure. We'll never forget looking for her."
Police are working under the theory that Mikelle was abducted as she waited for an ice cream truck that she had heard, but have no evidence to substantiate the belief. Mikelle vanished about 6 p.m. on Jan. 2 at El Moro Avenue and Toltec Street, only four houses away from her home.
Tips on Mikelle's case have slowed to a trickle, said Detective Jose Martinez, a police spokesman. Detectives are searching through reports on hundreds of interviews in hopes of finding missed clues.
In addition to the march by the Biggses and their supporters, an annual children's safety fair will be held today in Mikelle's Mesa neighborhood, from 9 a.m to noon at Eastside Christian Academy, 1720 E. Eighth Ave.
The fair's goal is to prevent child abductions through fingerprinting and education, said Juane O'Rourke, president of the school's parent-teacher organization.
"We're trying to get the message out to all the children in the neighborhood," she said. "I think the kids are cautious. They're very aware of what happened. The kids are on the defense."
Police will fingerprint children and teach bicycle safety, while Mesa firefighters will teach fire safety, O'Rourke said.
The school has 125 students, she said, but she hopes at least twice as many children will be fingerprinted.
Nancy Johnston, a Block Watch captain in Mikelle's neighborhood, said residents have formed Block Watches on eight or nine streets since Mikelle's disappearance.
"You still don't see many kids on the streets at all. It's pretty devastating," she said. "Then you realize they haven't caught whoever did this."
O'Rourke said she hopes to start additional Block Watches immediately to the west of Mikelle's neighborhood, between Williams and Stapley Drive.
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Reproduced with permission from: The Arizona Republic Written By: Jim Walsh ©Copyright 1999 Arizona Republic |
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