I love you, Michaela. Even though you are a woman now, you know that as long as you're living, you will always be my baby. Please, come home. Mom

CrimePAY$     $10,000 Reward     TipLine 1-888-755-TIPS (8477)

Michaela Joy Garecht (born January 24, 1979) 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 but now called Mexico Super. She has been missing for over 23 years.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the abductor of Michaela Garecht.

Garecht was abducted at approximately 10:15 am on November 19, 1988. Garecht and a friend left home at 10:00 am 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 further 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.

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 ft 0 in height and had a slender build.

Suspect Sketch

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.

Garecht’s kidnapping led to one of the most extensive police investigations by the Hayward Police department and they received 5000 tips in the first year alone.[2] 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.

CrimePAY$     $10,000 Reward         TipLine 1-888-755-TIPS (8477)

This entry was posted on Monday, August 6th, 2012 at 8:38 am and is filed under $10,000+, California, Cold Case, FBI Reward, High Profile Cases, Missing Persons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.