0:00

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to

0:02

the vanished ad-free right now. Join

0:04

Wondery Plus in the Wondery App

0:06

or Apple Podcasts. This

0:16

episode originally aired on May 12, 2018. We're

0:20

currently on our holiday break and we'll be

0:23

back with new episodes on Monday, January 8th.

0:29

We didn't know anything about him. My parents

0:31

weren't aware of him at all

0:34

until later. It

0:36

was eight months later that he attacked

0:38

one of his neighbors. And that's when he

0:42

came on my parents' radar and that was because she

0:44

survived the attack. And she came

0:46

out and said, well, he did it.

0:48

He took Mackel. 11-year-old

0:52

Mackel Biggs disappeared from her Mesa,

0:54

Arizona neighborhood on January 2nd, 1999.

0:59

She had been playing outside with her younger

1:01

sister, Kimber. Mackel was riding Kimber's

1:03

bike while Kimber had their dog on a

1:05

leash. The two were waiting for an

1:07

ice cream truck that they could hear in the distance.

1:10

Kimber started to get cold and decided to give

1:12

up on the ice cream truck. She

1:14

returned home and her mom told her to go back and

1:16

tell Mackel that it was time to come in. It

1:20

was getting dark. Investigators estimate

1:22

that Kimber was only gone for about 90 seconds. And

1:26

in that 90 seconds, Mackel disappeared.

1:28

Kimber found her bike on the ground with the

1:31

tire still spinning and the quarters that Mackel had

1:33

been holding for the ice cream truck were on

1:35

the ground not far from her bike. What

1:38

happened to Mackel in those 90 seconds? She

1:41

has now been missing for almost 20 years and

1:43

no trace of her has ever been found.

1:46

I'm Marissa and from Wondery, this is episode

1:48

123 of The Vanished. Many

2:10

put their hope in Dr. Serhat. His

2:12

company was worth half a billion dollars.

2:15

His research promised groundbreaking treatments

2:17

for HIV and cancer. But

2:19

the brilliant doctor was hiding a

2:22

secret. You can binge

2:24

Dr. Death, Bad Magic, exclusively and

2:26

ad-free by subscribing to Wondery Plus

2:28

in the Wondering app. Kimber

2:31

contacted me several months ago to see if

2:33

I would cover Mikkel's case. She

2:36

has been pushing really hard for answers over the

2:38

past few years. I was already aware

2:40

of Mikkel's case because it's one that I personally

2:42

have followed for many years. There's

2:45

something so puzzling about how a person can

2:47

be taken in such a short timeframe

2:49

without anyone seeing or hearing a thing.

2:52

11-year-old Mikkel was the oldest of her

2:55

siblings, then Kimber who was 9, 5-year-old

2:57

Nathan, and their

2:59

baby sister Lenelle who was just 9 months

3:01

old. Leading up to Mikkel's

3:03

disappearance, she was busy doing all of the

3:05

things that kids her age do. She

3:07

was an honor student at Lindbergh Elementary School,

3:09

but she was on break for the holidays

3:12

so the two nights before she went missing

3:14

she had a sleepover at a friend's house.

3:16

She returned home on the 2nd and was there with her

3:19

mom, her three siblings, and some relatives

3:21

who were visiting. Nothing seemed

3:23

out of the ordinary that day. After

3:26

that evening, Mikkel and Kimber went outside

3:28

together. Mikkel was on Kimber's bike

3:30

while Kimber walked their dog on a leash.

3:33

Kimber told me what she can remember from that evening.

3:36

She was riding my bike that I

3:38

had just gotten for my birthday that

3:40

previous year. It was

3:42

evening time, 6 I want

3:45

to say, and all

3:47

the neighborhood kids had been playing outside

3:49

and it was January so it was

3:51

getting cold and kids started going inside, going

3:53

inside for dinner. I got cold,

3:56

we were waiting for the ice cream truck and

3:58

it never came over and I got cold. impatient and I was

4:01

getting cold and I knew the street lights were

4:03

coming on soon, which meant that that was our

4:05

curfew. So I decided to go inside. I told

4:07

her it was cold and I didn't want to

4:09

wait for the ice cream truck anymore. And she

4:11

didn't care. She wanted to wait a little longer

4:13

and kept riding the bike. And so

4:16

I turned and walked down the street and went to

4:18

the house. I remember I was

4:20

standing across the street from our house and

4:22

I had to look down the

4:24

road to cross the street and I looked

4:26

and I saw her riding and I looked

4:29

the other way and cross. And

4:31

that was the last time I saw her was when I went

4:33

to cross the road and I walked up

4:35

to my house. I walked in through the garage that

4:38

was open and I opened

4:40

like the garage door. And before

4:42

I could even get inside and complained

4:44

to my mom, she told me

4:46

to tell Mikel that it was getting dark

4:48

and it was dinnertime and to have her come in. And

4:51

so of course I'm irritated that I had to

4:54

walk all the way back to the house for to turn

4:57

around and walk back. So I turned around

4:59

and I kind of go out

5:01

to the end of the driveway and I yelled for

5:03

her because I didn't want to have to walk to

5:05

the end of the street again. It was about three

5:07

houses down where she was riding. And

5:09

I yelled for her that it was time to come

5:11

in and I looked and I didn't see her. And

5:14

so I kind of went out a little bit further

5:16

to like look down further

5:18

down the street and I

5:20

could see something in the road and I

5:22

couldn't tell what it was really. And as

5:24

I walked closer, I realized it

5:26

was my bike in the road. It was about like

5:29

a foot and a half from the curb. And as

5:31

I got closer to it, the

5:33

back tire, I could see the tire was still spinning

5:35

on the bike. It was a weird feeling. I

5:37

was confused for sure. I didn't know why she left

5:39

my bike in the road. I didn't know where she

5:42

was and I was mad because she

5:44

left my bike in the road. So even

5:46

though my main focus was anger and I

5:48

was yelling at her, yelling into

5:50

the air that I was going to tell on her,

5:52

you know, there was just that subconscious feeling

5:55

that something was eerie, something was off.

5:57

And I picked up my phone.

6:00

bike and I walked back to the house. I had

6:02

the bike and the dog with me. I had

6:04

to walk back to the house and I went through the

6:06

side gate and put my bike and the dog away and

6:08

went inside and told my mom that Mikel left

6:11

my bike in the road and I don't know where

6:13

she went. And my mom was like, okay,

6:15

well, maybe she went over to the neighbor's

6:17

house to play. Their house was at

6:19

the end of the street and she was riding just past their

6:21

house. So I turned around and went back over

6:23

to their house and they said they hadn't seen her. And

6:25

they said she was just out here riding her bike.

6:28

And I said she left my bike in the road. I

6:30

don't know where she went. And I believe it

6:32

was their oldest son came out to help me

6:34

look for her. And at the time, and I

6:37

don't recall this because I didn't know this is

6:39

what happened, but I guess he

6:41

found her, um, her money from the ice

6:43

cream truck on some quarters on the ground and,

6:46

you know, they were like sprawled out and

6:48

you could tell he seemed worried, but

6:50

I didn't really understand at that moment. And he said, go

6:52

home and tell your mom, we can't find the cow. And

6:55

so I went home and I told her, I said,

6:57

we can't find the cow. That's kind of

6:59

where it gets blurry. I remember my mom's face, you

7:02

know, her face kind of dropped. She went pale. You

7:04

could tell it was instant. She

7:06

knew the cow was missing. And that

7:09

was the second that I realized that

7:11

maybe something happened. And everything from there kind

7:13

of gets fuzzy, but I know within 30 minutes,

7:15

you know, my dad was home, the

7:17

police were there and there was a

7:19

hundred people forming search parties and going

7:21

door to door. Mackel's

7:23

case was not one that was ignored by

7:26

the public or law enforcement. The

7:28

search was massive. The police spared

7:30

no resources and members of the community came out

7:32

to help in any way that they could. It

7:36

gets really fuzzy from there on like

7:38

that night. They started going door to door with

7:41

the search parties. And I'm pretty sure

7:43

that mostly everyone was willing to let

7:46

people come in and look around and

7:48

you know, when they would go door to door, then

7:50

more people would come out and help kind of thing. I'm

7:53

not sure to what extent, how far

7:55

they went in the search party

7:58

or like how thorough the house. were

8:00

searched since it was just volunteers. I don't know

8:02

about that but I do know that they definitely

8:04

went and searched people's houses. And I guess

8:07

my mom had her

8:09

cousin visiting and like a

8:11

couple of her cousins. So when I said we can't find

8:13

Mikel, they jumped in their

8:15

truck and started driving the neighborhood looking for

8:18

what my mom called the police. When

8:20

search dogs were brought to the scene, they were

8:22

able to pick up Mikel's scent but lost it

8:25

after a few feet. That has led investigators

8:27

to believe that Mikel had been placed into

8:29

a vehicle. I think

8:31

it was within three feet that they lost her

8:34

scent. They determined that she

8:36

was definitely pulled into a vehicle and they

8:39

drove off with her. I forget if

8:41

they knew what direction the

8:43

vehicle went or anything. I don't think

8:45

they actually determined that. No

8:48

one saw what happened to Mikel but people

8:50

came forward giving tips about anything they had

8:52

seen that was out of the ordinary or

8:54

possibly suspicious. Yeah,

8:56

there were a lot of possibilities. I

8:59

know there were quite a few descriptions.

9:01

People's names would come up or neighbors

9:03

would mention a car that

9:06

they'd seen a while ago or something but

9:08

they were all investigated and nothing was found

9:10

of them. It was nothing substantial.

9:12

I think it was more just people were

9:14

trying to give anything that

9:17

might help but there wasn't like

9:19

a definite suspicious vehicle that everyone

9:21

kind of thought of. Police

9:24

tracked down those leads but nothing significant ever

9:26

came from them. We know

9:29

that when kids go missing, the parents are

9:31

always looked at and Mikel's case was no

9:33

different. Mikel's dad wasn't

9:35

home when she disappeared so they focused

9:37

in on him initially. He agreed to

9:39

take a polygraph but failed. Investigators

9:41

have said that it's quite possible that

9:43

he failed because he was so emotional

9:45

over the disappearance of his daughter. It was

9:48

frustrating for the family to have Mikel's father

9:50

focused on when they believed that he wasn't

9:52

involved in her disappearance. You've

9:55

heard other families mention this on the show.

9:57

They know they need to be ruled out but it can feel like

9:59

a waste of time. of time and resources knowing

10:01

that the person responsible is still out

10:03

there. But even with

10:05

his frustrations, he always cooperated with

10:07

law enforcement. He was eventually

10:10

cleared of any suspicion. Detectives

10:12

believed that it would have been impossible for him

10:14

to be responsible with a small window of time

10:16

that he had before he was on scene searching.

10:20

It's hard not to hold resentment in

10:22

that situation. I think it

10:24

was a waste of time, a waste of resources.

10:27

He was constantly battered

10:29

in lie detector tests

10:31

and everything, and he was under so much

10:33

stress. He was miserable

10:36

and terrified. His daughter was missing. I

10:39

know that in a lot of young

10:41

children, when they go missing, the parents are

10:43

generally the first ones that are looked at. I know

10:45

that's very common. But I feel like they

10:47

took it too far. I feel like there was far

10:50

too much focus on it, and it could have

10:52

had time and resources better spent.

10:56

The Mesa Police Department continued to follow

10:58

up on leads and tracked down thousands

11:00

of tips that they received. Just

11:02

as we often see with some of these

11:04

higher profile cases, some of the leads

11:06

turned out to be hoaxes. They traveled

11:08

far and wide to follow these leads,

11:10

but then something happened. Something

11:13

that made everyone realize that there was someone dangerous,

11:15

very close to home. On

11:17

September 27, 1999, about eight months after McCall had

11:19

vanished, a 42-year-old woman

11:24

living in the same neighborhood was

11:26

brutally attacked inside her home. She

11:29

came home to find a man waiting inside for her.

11:31

He had been hiding behind her refrigerator with

11:33

his pants unzipped, exposing himself.

11:36

He beat and raped her, then set a fire

11:39

inside of her home. Despite

11:41

having severe injuries, including a broken neck,

11:43

she survived and was able to call

11:45

for help. The man who attacked

11:47

her also lived in the same neighborhood. His

11:50

name is Dee Blaylock, and he was

11:52

a registered sex offender. He

11:54

had been convicted in three different states for

11:57

crimes against women and children. Blaylock

12:00

was interviewed by the police. He claimed that he

12:02

hadn't attacked his neighbor and said, See

12:04

now, don't get me wrong. I've done a lot

12:06

of things in my life, okay? And I'm not

12:08

proud of them. But there's one thing

12:11

I've never done. And you can look back on

12:13

my record. I've never on any of my rapes,

12:15

my child molesting, any of that ever hit

12:17

one of them. They were able

12:20

to find Blaylock's DNA on his victim

12:22

and her DNA in his underwear. He

12:25

was convicted of sexual assault,

12:27

aggravated assault, sexual abuse, kidnapping,

12:29

and burglary. Blaylock received a

12:32

187 year sentence for this crime. The

12:36

Bigs family had no idea that this predator was

12:38

living so close to them until this

12:40

attack happened. Yeah, we

12:42

didn't know anything about him. My

12:44

parents weren't aware of him at all

12:46

until later. It

12:49

was eight months later that he attacked one

12:51

of his neighbors. And that's when he came

12:54

on my parents' radar and that was because she

12:56

survived the attack and she came

12:58

out and said, well, he did it. He

13:01

took Mackel. He never told her

13:03

that he did. She just felt that way, I

13:05

guess. That was her belief. And

13:07

I don't think she ever explained why

13:10

she felt that way. She just said

13:12

he was responsible. Since the attack on

13:14

her was so brutal, that's when the

13:16

police thought maybe he could be responsible and

13:18

that's when they went back. Kimber

13:20

explained to me just how close Blaylock lived

13:22

to their home. I

13:25

would say maybe a quarter of a mile. We

13:28

lived on a street, it's called El Moro.

13:30

Mackel was riding her bike in the T in

13:33

the road of El Moro and Toltec. And then

13:35

he lived on Toltec about,

13:38

the road kind of curved around and he lived

13:40

kind of at the end of the road

13:42

where it curved. So from his

13:44

house, you couldn't see where she was riding on the

13:46

corner, but as soon as you come around, if you

13:48

were driving on the road, as soon as you come

13:50

around that bend, you could see her kind of thing.

13:52

So yeah, I would say it was probably a quarter

13:54

mile. Being

14:07

an actual royal is never about finding your

14:09

happy ending, but the worst part is, if

14:11

they step out of line or fall in love with

14:13

the wrong person, it changes the

14:15

course of history. I'm

14:18

Arisha Skidmole-Williams and I'm Brooke Sifrin. We've

14:20

been telling the stories of the rich

14:22

and famous on the hit wonder show

14:24

Even The Rich and talking about the

14:26

latest celebrity news on Rich and Daily.

14:28

We're going all over the world on

14:30

our new show, Even The Royals. We'll

14:33

be diving headfirst into the lives of the

14:35

world's kings, queens, and all the wannabes in

14:37

their orbit throughout history. Think succession

14:39

meets the crown meets real life. We're going

14:41

to pull back the gilded curtain and show

14:44

how royal status might be bright and shiny,

14:46

but it comes at the expense of,

14:48

well, everything else. Like

14:50

your freedom, your privacy, and sometimes even your

14:53

head. Follow Even The Royals on the

14:55

Wundery app or wherever you get your

14:57

podcasts. Listen everywhere on January 8th or

14:59

you can listen early and ad free

15:01

on Wundery Plus right now. Join

15:03

Wundery Plus in the Wundery app or on Apple Podcast.

15:06

The holidays usually include hours on

15:08

planes, cars, trains, crying baby next

15:11

to you, put on this

15:13

noise canceling headphones. Mom and dad

15:15

arguing about directions in the car, air pods

15:17

in. No matter how you listen, we

15:19

have the perfect headphones on distraction. A

15:22

new season of the critically acclaimed Dr.

15:24

Death podcast is back with a story

15:26

of miraculous peers, magic, and murder. When

15:29

a charismatic hotshot doctor announced revolutionary

15:31

treatments for cancer and HIV, it

15:34

seemed like the world had been given a miracle cure.

15:36

Medical experts rushed to praise Dr. Serhat

15:39

Gumruku as a genius. But when the

15:41

company's stock skyrocketed to over half a

15:43

billion dollars, a team of private researchers dive

15:45

into Serhat's background and they begin to suspect

15:47

the brilliant doctor is hiding a

15:49

shocking peak. Binge

15:52

Dr. Death Bad Magic right now

15:54

exclusively and ad free on Wundery Plus

15:56

in the Wundery app or on Apple Podcast.

16:00

whole cross-country drive in front of you, catch up

16:02

on all four hit seasons of Dr. Death only

16:04

on One Tree Plus. One

16:18

thing about Blalock is that he doesn't have

16:20

a defined victim profile. He

16:22

didn't just go after women, he had abused

16:25

children before too. I

16:27

do know that his victim, like

16:29

he wasn't picky with his victim,

16:31

boy, girl, adult, child,

16:34

it was anyone basically. And they

16:36

were all crimes of just

16:38

the sexual nature. They were not violent

16:41

crimes at that point. And they

16:43

later, I guess, determined that when they

16:46

believed that he was responsible for Mackel,

16:48

that that's really when he

16:50

kind of snapped and went from just

16:52

sexual crimes to violent crimes. And that's

16:54

what led him to brutally attack his

16:57

neighbor, Susan Quinnett. He was

16:59

hiding in her house when she came home and he

17:01

like jumped out and attacked her, like beat and

17:03

raped her. And then I guess he

17:06

left like he put boxes or something on the

17:08

stove or in the oven or so that they

17:11

would catch fire and left her unconscious

17:13

in a burning house. And she

17:16

miraculously survived and

17:18

escaped. And of course, you know, identified him. While

17:22

I was talking to Kimber, I couldn't help

17:24

but wonder if anyone else in the neighborhood

17:26

had ever considered Blalock to be threatening

17:28

before he attacked his neighbor. Did

17:30

the kids ever notice him watching them? For

17:34

me personally, I was not aware of

17:36

him. I don't believe I ever met

17:38

him. I don't believe my parents knew

17:40

him. I'm not sure about other people

17:42

in the neighborhood. From what I

17:44

know, I think he kept a pretty low profile

17:46

and pretty much no one really knew

17:48

him. Or knew much

17:50

about him or had much contact

17:52

with him to get any kind of sense

17:54

of worry, I guess. I

17:57

didn't know at the time before Mikel was taken. know

18:00

where he lived or anything but you know we used to

18:03

ride our bikes around the whole neighborhood and

18:05

I remember I always used to

18:07

ride my bike down Toltec and his house

18:09

kind of was set back the

18:11

road divvied a little bit and instead of

18:14

riding in front of his house I would

18:16

always cross the street at that point and

18:18

I don't know why I just always did

18:21

that I didn't want to ride in front of that

18:23

house it was creepy for some reason and it was

18:25

years later that I found out that that's where he

18:27

lived that's kind of my only experience was thinking he

18:30

was creepy and I didn't even know it was him

18:32

and I never saw him it was just the house

18:34

gave me a creepy feeling and I would not ride

18:36

my bike in front of it. Before

18:39

McCall's disappearance she had taken piano lessons

18:41

from one of their neighbors who just

18:43

so happened to live right across the

18:45

street from deep Leylock. Many wonder

18:47

if he could have noticed her coming and going

18:50

to her lessons. When McCall went

18:52

missing the police did go and speak

18:54

to all of the sex offenders in

18:56

the area including Leylock. Since

18:59

he was a registered sex offender the time of

19:01

McCall's disappearance I believe his house was searched and

19:03

they all got an alibi from him his wife

19:05

had said he was home and in the garage

19:07

or on the carport working on his car or

19:10

truck or whatever it was and then eight

19:12

months later when he was arrested for

19:14

this attack I believe that's when she

19:16

like recanted her statement and said that

19:19

well actually I left the house and he went

19:21

on a beer run and I

19:23

don't know where he was for this hour and

19:25

a half and that's really when they

19:27

started to investigate him and they

19:30

were never able to find substantial evidence against

19:32

him so I guess he can't officially

19:34

be named a suspect but it

19:37

is believed that he was responsible it made

19:39

the most sense. It's

19:42

interesting to note that when his wife changed her

19:44

story she said that he had gone for

19:46

a beer run the day that McCall disappeared. That's exactly

19:48

what he claimed he was doing when

19:50

he attacked his neighbor inside her home.

19:53

He had told police that he went on a beer run to

19:55

a local Texaco and then to the grocery

19:57

store to pick up some flowers. It

22:01

was like the letter was almost like a

22:03

tease. He did say something that led them

22:05

to believe that maybe he would admit

22:08

guilt or knew something. McElle's

22:11

parents went and visited Blaylock in prison.

22:14

Convinced that he was responsible, they hoped he'd

22:16

decide to come clean. They

22:19

did. They went and talked to

22:21

him, I believe just the one time, and they

22:23

had exchanged letters. And then he

22:25

agreed to see them. From what

22:28

I understand, he retained

22:30

innocence and acted

22:32

like he didn't know much. And, you know,

22:35

I'm so sorry that happened kind of attitude

22:37

and, you know, wouldn't give my parents anything.

22:40

Despite that, my parents came out of that feeling

22:42

like he was responsible. They just got that feeling.

22:44

They said the way he acted, the way he

22:46

talked, his body language and everything, he just

22:49

he seemed like he did it. And

22:51

when I spoke with the detectives about

22:53

Blaylock, they said that he's a habitual

22:55

liar and he claims to

22:57

have multiple personalities and that he

23:00

can't be responsible for what one

23:02

of his other personalities does. And

23:05

even when he's been presented with proof

23:07

of like past crimes of anything he's

23:09

done, he's completely denied

23:11

that he did it. At

23:14

this point, they're basically at a standstill with

23:16

Blaylock because they don't have enough evidence to

23:18

move forward with a case against him. But

23:20

he stands out because he did live so

23:22

close and has such a dangerous history. I

23:26

believe they cannot make an official

23:28

statement because there's no evidence to

23:30

name him a suspect, but they

23:33

do feel that he's responsible. The

23:35

detectives back then and I believe everyone who's,

23:38

yes, as detectives, you know, retire or move

23:40

to other departments, the case gets handed off

23:42

to the next person kind of thing. Everyone

23:45

who's had a chance

23:48

to be on this case has kind of felt the

23:50

same way, but they just aren't really

23:52

supposed to say that. They're, you know,

23:55

they can't name him a suspect because

23:57

there is no evidence, but it is

23:59

kind of unspoken. in

26:00

a street that kids played in regularly in

26:02

90 seconds is not a

26:04

lot of time to drive a car

26:07

up, grab, and drive off without being

26:09

noticed. It's something that

26:11

I still, you know, ask myself about constantly.

26:14

How is this possible?

26:16

The way the street was set up,

26:18

the two houses on the end, they

26:20

faced Toltec, so there were fences right

26:22

there. So, you know, depending on exactly

26:24

where she was, the houses on El

26:26

Moro wouldn't have been able to see

26:28

her, but there was a house right

26:30

there that right at the end of

26:33

the T that faced right where she

26:35

was riding. And, you know, had

26:37

they looked out their window or opened

26:39

their door or anything, they definitely

26:41

would have seen what happened. And I

26:44

believe those people, we knew pretty well.

26:46

I think they were in our church

26:48

group, but they had just gotten home

26:50

from work or something, you know, it

26:52

wasn't long before I walked back to

26:55

my house that they were outside as

26:57

well. It was literally just that small

26:59

window that everyone just happened to

27:02

not be outside or in

27:04

the window or opening closing doors, which was

27:06

very common. There was always people coming in

27:08

and out and kids were always on the

27:10

street and it was kind of just unspoken

27:12

that all the parents would kind of just

27:14

come out and keep an eye on the

27:16

kids, you know, kind of peek out out

27:18

and make sure everything was okay and it

27:20

was just a fluke, basically, that how at

27:23

that one moment no one looked,

27:25

no one was looking. One thing

27:28

that McElle's family decided to do after she

27:30

had been missing for five years was to

27:32

have a funeral for her. They were hoping that

27:34

this would give them a sense of closure and

27:36

peace. Families often mention to

27:38

me how hard it is to not have

27:40

closure and a grave site to visit. I

27:42

can understand why this was important to them,

27:45

but they've also been criticized for making

27:47

this decision. People

27:49

think that since they had a funeral

27:51

that we've given up and that we don't

27:53

want to find her anything. It's very

27:56

hard not to take it personally because

27:58

they are making it personal. they're

28:00

judging me for what I'm choosing to

28:02

do to try and cope with the

28:05

situation. And I would never

28:07

wish this situation my worst enemy, but

28:09

they have no idea. They don't know. And

28:12

I'm glad that they don't know. And

28:14

they don't understand it, that they've never been through this.

28:16

But it makes it extremely hard to

28:19

communicate that to them. You know, some people are

28:21

just so set in their own

28:24

ways and the way they think that there is

28:26

no communicating and trying to make

28:28

them understand how offensive what they're saying

28:30

is. We do feel she

28:32

passed, you know, it's just that feeling. And

28:34

I've tried to explain it to people before. If

28:37

you've never lost someone close to you,

28:39

maybe you don't know what it's like,

28:42

but you get that empty feeling.

28:44

You know, you can feel it in

28:46

your soul, that something is missing and

28:49

that, you know, she's passed. It's

28:51

just little things that make me feel like she

28:53

is no longer with us.

28:55

You know, I feel like I've felt her presence,

28:58

which maybe is weird to say, but people

29:00

don't always understand that. And the funeral

29:02

definitely was for a sense of

29:05

closure. The case wasn't closed at that point.

29:07

It was just that it went from actively

29:09

searching for a missing child to actively

29:12

looking for who did this. That's really the

29:14

turning point for what the case was. And

29:17

people don't understand that. The

29:19

funeral was definitely for a sense of

29:21

closure, I think more

29:23

for my parents than anything. They

29:25

wanted to have a place to go

29:27

visit her, essentially. And we have gone to her

29:29

gravesite before. We go there once in

29:31

a while. When my parents lived here, we would go or

29:34

they would go on their own. And I still go there once

29:36

in a while. It's nice to

29:38

have like a dedicated spot when

29:40

you just want to go and think about

29:43

her or we've gone and

29:45

told stories and shared memories about her, like

29:47

on her birthday. And we played some

29:49

of her favorite songs and we had cupcakes

29:51

with, you know, purple frosting because that's her

29:54

favorite color. It helps our

29:56

family grieve because in this situation,

29:58

it's... It's

30:00

a unique situation. There is

30:02

no grieving because grieve is

30:04

supposed to come after the answers

30:07

and we haven't gotten any. Have

30:20

you heard? You can listen to your

30:22

gripping investigations ad-free. Good news. With

30:25

Amazon Music, you have access

30:28

to the largest catalog of

30:30

ad-free top podcasts included with

30:32

your Prime membership. To start

30:34

listening, download the Amazon Music

30:36

app or visit amazon.com/True Crime

30:38

Ad Free. That's amazon.com/True

30:41

Crime Ad Free and catch

30:43

up on the latest episodes

30:45

without the ads. It

30:47

was the fight before Christmas when two lovers

30:49

called it quits. I can't come home this

30:52

year. I think this is about Ally because

30:54

she ripped out my heart's thumps on it.

30:57

Okay. And his family surprised him

30:59

with an unwelcome gift. You're

31:02

kind of freaking out. You invited my

31:04

ex-fiancee to Christmas. You know, I really

31:06

should go. You're not going anywhere. Now

31:08

streaming only on freebies. Bring out the

31:10

games. My family will work up

31:12

the courage to ask you to leave before Christmas

31:15

morning. You want a bet? You're

31:17

gone. Or you're gone. Will

31:19

they fall back in love or will it go

31:21

down in flames? Does it have

31:24

to be crazy this entire holiday? Surrender

31:26

anytime you want. Never. They

31:29

are proud to progressively hate each other. How about

31:31

that? I think that they actually love each

31:33

other. Quite confusing. Starring Leighton

31:35

Meester and Robbie Amell. Nothing for

31:37

you right here, Graham. Oh,

31:40

hope it's not another act. Xmas

31:42

now streaming only on freebies.

31:58

Can be read on the Facebook page. for Mackel and

32:00

she hopes that by keeping her sister's story

32:03

out there, it may eventually reach someone who

32:05

knows something. I

32:07

originally actually started the page, it was called

32:09

Remember Mackel Bigs and I just started it

32:12

for my own place to

32:14

talk about her. I spent many years

32:16

not talking about her. I got a

32:18

lot of criticism from my peers that

32:20

they'd say I just wanted attention and

32:22

I kind of learned that I

32:25

couldn't talk about it. So I started that page

32:27

to kind of overcome that. It

32:29

turned into something so much more. The

32:31

page got more attention than I expected

32:34

it would and that's when I changed

32:36

the page name from Remember Mackel Bigs

32:38

to Justice for Mackel Bigs and it's

32:40

just taken off from there and it's really

32:42

what has led me into being her advocate

32:44

now. After my parents did the

32:46

2020 interview in 2010, I believe that was kind of their

32:48

last time

32:52

in the spotlight. That was when they were

32:54

really just, it was too much at

32:56

that point and they had to take

32:58

a step back and then after that is when

33:01

I decided I was ready really

33:03

to do something about it. I

33:06

believe, not for any particular reason,

33:08

but I do just believe that we will

33:10

have answers and I hope

33:13

that it's as a result

33:15

of things that I am doing

33:17

now. I hope that what I'm

33:19

doing makes a difference. Like I

33:21

said, I'm trying to be her advocate

33:23

and I feel like it's just a

33:25

matter of reaching people. I'm

33:27

just a matter of people that are aware, maybe

33:29

reaching that person who really touched

33:31

them to make them feel for

33:34

our family. Maybe it's

33:36

just a matter of doing that

33:38

and I'm hoping that that's all

33:40

it's going to take and I

33:42

don't know how long but I do feel that

33:44

I will find answers. If

33:47

Blaylock is responsible for Mackel's disappearance,

33:49

is it possible that he acted

33:51

alone and never confided in anyone

33:53

else? Maybe someone he knew

33:55

noticed something suspicious. There's always

33:57

a possibility that someone may know their name.

34:00

something and not even realize that it's

34:02

important. That would

34:04

be our best cases. I mean, I

34:06

don't know how anyone could go almost 20 years

34:09

without saying anything to anyone, even

34:11

unintentionally, you know, just letting something slip.

34:14

It doesn't seem likely. So I think

34:16

our best chance at figuring out what

34:18

happened is not through D. Blaylock

34:20

himself, but someone who he

34:23

may have confided in or someone who found

34:25

something out and they have that

34:27

information. With a case

34:29

like this one that has received a lot of

34:32

media attention over the years, it pulls in

34:34

many people who want to help, but we

34:36

often see the darker side of the internet

34:38

sleuthing community too. Even though

34:40

the police department has investigated McElle's father

34:42

and were able to clear him of any

34:45

suspicion, there are people out there who

34:47

still cling to that theory. While I

34:49

was preparing to cover this case, I was

34:51

seeing Kimber fighting some of these attacks on

34:53

Facebook. The trolls

34:55

try and bring that up and I've

34:58

gotten to where when they do that, I will just

35:00

tag my dad and I tell them, if you want

35:02

to talk like that about my dad, you can say

35:04

it to him. And that usually

35:06

makes them stop because he is

35:08

very good at logically letting people

35:10

know. And that generally

35:12

makes them back up. And I've actually

35:14

had people delete their comments and block

35:17

me and my dad because they

35:19

didn't want to face him, essentially.

35:21

And I hate it. It's frustrating.

35:24

That keeps getting brought up from my dad. I

35:26

can't speak for him. I don't know how he deals with it,

35:29

really, but I'm sure it's not a

35:32

pleasant feeling. And it's

35:34

hard on me when people bring

35:36

it up and act like he is still

35:38

a suspect. I can only imagine how

35:40

much harder it is for him. It's

35:43

weird to me that people still think he

35:45

would be responsible, even though when you look at the

35:47

facts, it makes no sense. Definitely

35:51

ignorance at its finest. They

35:53

spread misinformation. They take their

35:56

opinion. They state it as fact, and then they

35:58

want everyone to know it. And

36:00

that's, I don't think they

36:02

realize that not only does that make

36:04

them an insensitive person, but

36:06

that's hurting the case. When people believe

36:09

that we've given up, when people believe

36:11

that the case is closed, and

36:13

they believe that my dad is responsible,

36:16

then that's only hurting it because then

36:18

no one will come forward. No one

36:20

will help because they will think it's

36:23

pointless. I had people

36:25

harassing me online, saying horrible things.

36:27

It's more common than I was aware of, I'm sure.

36:30

It's just been recently that I'm seeing how

36:32

bad it is. And

36:34

if you Google, Mackel Big's endless

36:37

amounts of information and stories pop

36:39

up, sometimes I go down

36:41

that rabbit hole and I start clicking

36:43

on link after link and I'm reading

36:45

comments after comment after comment. And

36:48

a lot of people, like I said, it's

36:50

ignorance. They spread

36:52

misinformation. After

36:54

this year, there was a development in Mackel's

36:56

case. A dollar bill was

36:58

found in Wisconsin that said, my name

37:00

is Mackel Big's, kidnapped from Mesa, Arizona.

37:03

I'm alive. Mackel's name was spelled incorrectly

37:05

on the dollar bill and Kimber told

37:07

me that she thinks this is probably

37:09

just another dead end. Personally,

37:12

we do not believe that Mackel would

37:14

have written it or that even it

37:17

came from Mackel that someone

37:19

else wrote it for her kind of

37:21

thing. It's been speculation of people

37:23

online, I guess. Our family

37:25

does not personally believe that, but

37:27

our hope, and I've said before,

37:30

best case scenario, it's someone

37:32

who knows something. And they wrote

37:34

it in hopes to help.

37:36

Maybe they're nervous about coming forward

37:38

or don't think that they actually

37:40

know anything. It could be

37:42

a million different things, but best case scenario, it leads

37:44

us to someone who knows something. And

37:47

worst case scenario, it's a hoax. I

37:50

personally, at this point, I do believe

37:52

it is just someone playing a

37:54

cruel joke that is being investigated, but

37:56

I haven't heard anything as of yet.

37:59

Nothing has happened. come of it so

38:01

far. So I believe that it was

38:03

just someone who decided to mess with

38:05

our family for you know, God knows

38:07

why. When someone goes

38:09

missing, it deeply affects everyone close to

38:12

the case. Kimber was just

38:14

nine years old and she was the last

38:16

person to see her sister before she disappeared.

38:18

I wanted to hear from her how this has

38:20

affected her life, experiencing such a

38:22

tragedy from the perspective of a

38:24

child. Well, at the

38:27

time, you know, I was nine. I was

38:29

the last one to see her. I

38:31

was the one that left her when

38:33

she was riding the bike on the

38:35

street. I immediately went to guilt. I

38:37

blamed myself completely. If I hadn't left

38:40

her alone, then this wouldn't have happened,

38:42

kind of thing. I know a

38:44

few days after it happened, I

38:46

talked to my mom about that and I told her that I

38:48

felt like it was my fault. And you

38:50

know, she told me, you don't know that

38:52

like, it's not your fault. It's the person who took her

38:54

and you know, they could have taken both of you. And

38:56

you know, she

38:58

kind of explained and tried to comfort me

39:00

and everything. And I let it go. And

39:03

I never really mentioned it again, because in

39:05

my mind, it didn't matter how

39:07

I felt. I was put my

39:09

needs second to Mikel,

39:11

because it was more important

39:13

to find her than it was to

39:15

deal with myself. Though

39:17

I had good intentions, that was definitely,

39:20

I believe, a very damaging approach

39:23

to take. And even to the say, I'm still learning

39:26

and trying to figure out how to

39:29

not do that to myself and to take

39:31

care of myself and how to cope with

39:33

it and how to live day to day

39:35

and not beat up myself,

39:37

I guess. Kimberly

39:39

is now a mom herself and the events

39:41

of that January day, almost 20 years ago,

39:44

have also affected her as a parent. Definitely

39:48

100% has everything to do

39:50

with the way a parent I am.

39:52

I am a helicopter mom to a

39:54

T. I take my son

39:56

to the park and he is dressed in neon colors so

39:59

that I can see. him from far away.

40:01

And if he's on the playground and

40:03

he goes behind the structure and I can't see him,

40:05

I get up and walk around to the other side

40:07

so that I can make sure I see him. We're

40:09

at the mall and I take him to go play

40:11

in the play area. He's not allowed to leave the

40:15

closed off play area at all. And

40:17

I'm the one walking, you know, it's a small enclosed

40:20

area and I'm still walking around to make sure I

40:22

can see where he is playing. And I

40:24

am more aware when we

40:26

go places, you know, walking through parking

40:28

lots, especially at night. Yeah, I'm

40:31

very aware of what

40:33

cars I park by, who's around

40:35

me. I'm, it

40:37

sounds like I'm crazy paranoid, but I check my,

40:39

you know, I look over my shoulder everywhere I

40:41

go. And, you know, just

40:44

simple grocery store trips that no

40:46

one else even thinks to

40:49

be alert for. I'm aware of

40:51

who's walking next to me in the grocery store, who's

40:54

around the corner, who just came onto the aisle I'm

40:56

on, who's walking out the door when I'm walking

40:58

out, who's getting in their car near me, even

41:00

when my son's not with me, but it's even

41:03

more so when he is. So

41:05

what happened to Mikel Biggs on January 2nd, 1999? The

41:08

Biggs family is convinced

41:11

that Dee Blaylock is responsible. I

41:13

can completely understand why they feel

41:15

that way. He had victimized both

41:17

women and children. We also

41:19

know that he was comfortable striking close to home

41:21

since he attacked a neighbor just months

41:23

after Mikel vanished. Did he have

41:25

been watching Mikel and other kids in the neighborhood?

41:28

Or maybe he just saw that short window

41:30

of opportunity when Kimber went inside for

41:32

those 90 seconds. We also know

41:34

that there were other sex offenders in the area. The

41:37

police had spoken to 20 of them when

41:40

Mikel first went missing. There's also a possibility

41:42

that there could be a predator out there who

41:44

has never been identified. There's

41:46

still hope that there could be someone out there

41:48

who knows something. Maybe the person

41:50

responsible has confided in someone or slipped

41:52

up at some point along the line.

41:55

While I was researching the Kel's case, I thought about

41:57

something that happened to me when I was the same

41:59

age. age. I had always

42:01

wanted my own dog and I finally got a

42:04

puppy for my 11th birthday. My

42:06

parents had one condition, I had to

42:08

take care of her myself. I

42:10

would walk her every day after school. While

42:12

I was on my walks, a man started to

42:15

stop and chat with me. I was

42:17

uncomfortable with this man but I had always

42:19

been taught to treat grownups with respect. I

42:21

also noticed that he had a car seat in his

42:23

car. In my 11 year old mind, that made

42:25

me think that he was safe because he was

42:28

a dad. One day he tried to convince me

42:30

to get into his car. I told

42:32

him that I needed to walk my dog but he

42:34

was persistent. I became so alarmed that

42:36

I began running with my puppy. My

42:38

mom called the police but I never saw the man

42:40

again and as far as I know they never figured

42:43

out who he was. When

42:45

I reflect back on that, I realize how easily

42:47

I could have become a victim. I

42:49

think many of us have had experiences like this

42:51

at some point in our lives. Even

42:54

though stranger abductions are rare, there

42:56

are predators out there looking for

42:58

an opportunity. Covering cases

43:00

of missing kids can be distressing, especially

43:02

as a parent myself with an 11

43:04

year old at home. But every

43:07

time someone hears McElle's story, I hope that

43:09

it serves as a reminder to stay vigilant.

43:12

If you would like to follow McElle's case on

43:14

social media, Kimber runs Justice for

43:16

McElle Biggs on Facebook. That

43:19

brings us to the end of episode 123. I'd

43:22

like to thank Kimber for taking the time to speak with

43:24

me. If you have a missing loved one

43:26

that you'd like to have featured on the

43:28

show, there's a case submission form at

43:30

thevanishpodcast.com. If you'd like

43:33

to contact me, there's a page and a

43:35

discussion group on Facebook, also on Instagram. If

43:38

you enjoy this show, subscribe

43:40

on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeartRadio,

43:42

laundry.com, or wherever you're listening

43:44

right now. Do you want to help

43:47

support The Vanished? There are a couple things that

43:49

you can do. Rate and review on Apple

43:51

Podcasts. Your five star reviews help other people

43:53

find the show. Another way to help

43:55

is to fill out a short

43:57

survey at wondering.com/survey. Thanks

44:00

for listening. Definitely

44:03

let people know that we are still

44:05

searching, we haven't given up, and that

44:08

I'm willing to do what it takes to get

44:10

to the point of getting my sister

44:12

justice. Hey

44:40

Prime members, you can listen to the

44:42

vanished ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the

44:44

Amazon Music app today. Or you

44:47

can listen ad-free with Wondery Plus

44:49

in Apple Podcasts. Before you

44:51

go, tell us about yourself by

44:53

completing a short survey at wondery.com/

44:56

survey. Being

44:58

an actual royal is never about finding your

45:00

happy ending, but the worst part is, if

45:02

they step out of line or fall in love with

45:05

the wrong person, it changes the

45:07

course of history. I'm

45:10

Arisha Skidmore Williams. And I'm Brooke Sifrin. We've

45:12

been telling the stories of the rich and

45:15

famous on the hit Wondery show, Even the

45:17

Rich, and talking about the latest celebrity news

45:19

on Rich and Daily. We're going all over

45:21

the world on our new show, Even the

45:23

Royals. We'll be diving headfirst

45:25

into the lives of the world's kings, queens,

45:27

and all the wannabes in their orbit throughout

45:30

history. Think succession meets the crown meets real

45:32

life. We're going to pull back the gilded

45:34

curtain and show how royal status might be

45:36

bright and shiny, but it comes at the

45:39

expense of, well, everything else.

45:41

Like your freedom, your privacy, and

45:43

sometimes even your head. Follow

45:46

Even the Royals on the Wondery app or

45:48

wherever you get your podcasts. Listen everywhere on

45:50

January 8th, or you can listen early and

45:52

ad free on Wondery Plus right now. Join

45:55

Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts.