Michaela Garecht

Michaela Joy Garecht was nine years old when she was abducted on November 19, 1988, in Hayward, California, San Francisco Bay Area, in broad daylight at the corner of Mission Boulevard and Lafayette Avenue, outside a grocery store then known as Rainbow Market, now called Mexico Super. Abduction: Garecht was abducted at approximately 10:15 a.m. on November 19, 1988. Garecht and a friend left home at 10:00 a.m. and rode their scooters to the market, two blocks from Garecht's home. They left the scooters by the side door as they went inside the store. Upon leaving the store, the two girls started walking home, completely forgetting about the scooters. When they realized they had forgotten them, they turned back to where they left them; however, they saw that Garecht's scooter was missing. Garecht then spotted her scooter farther down in the market parking lot, where it had been placed near a parked car. When Garecht bent down to pick the scooter up, an unidentified white male jumped out of the parked car, picked up Garecht from behind, and threw her into the back of his car. Garecht's friend was the only witness and she ran back into the store to get help. The abductor managed to escape with Garecht and she has not been seen or heard from since. Witness' description: Garecht's abductor is described as a white male in his 20s at the time of the abduction. The most distinguishing characteristic was that he seemed to have severe acne, boils and pockmarks on his face. He had shoulder length, dirty blonde hair. He may have been wearing his hair in a ponytail at the time. He was around 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) in height and had a slender build. The witness described him as having fox-like eyes. The abductor drove a large older model American-made sedan. It was possibly a four-door vehicle and was either cream or tannish gold in color. The car may have had cement splatters on the sides and lights set into the rear bumper. The front bumper was battered; the vehicle appeared run-down, it may have previously been in an accident. The car was last seen speeding south on Mission Boulevard towards nearby Union City, California, with Michaela inside. Search: Garecht's kidnapping led to one of the most extensive police investigations by the Hayward Police department and they received 5,000 tips in the first year alone. In 1994, The Daily Review reported that police had followed up more than 15,000 leads. More than two decades later, the investigation at the Hayward Police Station continues. Chief investigator Inspector Robert Lampkin declared, "We'll go anywhere, any corner of the earth to try to bring Michaela home". It has also remained an open case with the FBI and it is believed to still be solvable. At the time of the kidnapping, Garecht's photo was featured as a missing child on milk cartons nationally and thousands of fliers and posters were spread throughout the community. Garecht's kidnapping was one of the most high-profile missing-child cases and received national media attention. Garecht's case was the first missing-child case to feature on America's Most Wanted in 1988. The case featured once again on the show in 2009. The case has also featured on numerous other television shows including Unsolved Mysteries (twice) and many talk shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dateline NBC, Larry King Live, CNN, Geraldo, Leeza, Maury, The Susan Powter Show, The Jane Whitney Show, The Today Show, Good Morning and The Early Show. The case has since caught the attention of the international media. The reappearance of kidnapped schoolgirl Jaycee Lee Dugard, after 18 years in captivity, led police to be initially hopeful that Dugard's abductor, Phillip Garrido, might have also been involved in Garecht's disappearance. Hayward is within an hour's drive from Garrido's Antioch home in Contra Costa County, and Garecht's abduction took place three months after Garrido was freed from prison for rape and kidnapping. Like Garecht, Dugard was also thrown into the back of a car in broad daylight and in the presence of witnesses. The general description of the kidnapper and the car used in both kidnappings are also similar. Although no evidence has been found linking Garecht's abduction to the Garridos, a connection to the abductors has not yet been ruled out and the investigation continues. Wesley Shermantine, one of the so-called Speed Freak Killers duo, wrote a letter to The Stockton Record after his partner in crime, Loren Herzog, committed suicide in January 2012, in which he pointed out that Herzog bore a resemblance to the composite of the person who kidnapped "that Hayward girl." The anniversary of Garecht's kidnapping is marked every year by her family at the location where the kidnapping took place. Several ribbons are tied to the tree next to where the kidnapper's car was parked.