Michael Lee Watkins was 49 when he left Lincoln, Nebraska, in early November 1998 and was not reported missing until 2002. He may also have used the last names Hamilton or Walkins and had tattoos, including a marijuana plant on his upper left arm or shoulder and another tattoo on his left arm.

Police reportedly stopped him during a traffic stop in Signal Hill, California, on November 16, 1998. Later accounts place him in Tijuana, Mexico, where he was arrested or held in late 1998 and released on December 23, 1998. His vehicle was later found abandoned in Tijuana, and that release is described as the last confirmed indication of his whereabouts.

The Lincoln Police Department is listed as the investigating agency under case number A2-113278, and the case has been classified as endangered missing. Few details exist beyond the route from Lincoln through California to Tijuana and the abandoned vehicle in Mexico. If anyone knew Michael, saw him after December 23, 1998, or has information about his route to or from Tijuana, please come forward.