A man has been charged in the 1988 kidnapping and killing of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht from a Hayward store parking lot, law enforcement officials announced Monday.
David Emery Misch, 59, is charged with murder and two special circumstances, including murder during the course of a kidnapping and having been convicted of a previous murder, according to Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley.
Misch is currently in Santa Rita Jail awaiting trial in a separate double murder case and has been in prison since 1989 on another murder conviction, O’Malley said at a news conference Monday.
PRESS RELEASE FROM ALAMEDA COUNTY D.A. (below):
DA CHARGES DAVID MISCH WITH SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES MURDER IN THE 1988 DISAPPEARANCE AND KILLING OF NINE-YEAR-OLD MICHAELA GARECHT
Police identify suspect and DA files charges in cold case that has haunted the Bay Area for over 30 years
Oakland, CA- Alameda County District Attorney Nancy E. O’Malley today filed a criminal complaint against David Misch. The complaint charges Misch with the murder and kidnapping of Michaela Garecht on November 19, 1988, in the city of Hayward. In addition to the charge of Murder, a violation of Penal Code Section 187, the District Attorney also alleges Special Circumstances in that Michaela was murdered in the course of a kidnapping, a violation of Penal Code Section 190.2(a)(17)(ii), and the Special Circumstance of being convicted previously of murder, a violation of Penal Code Section 190.2(a)(2).
Michaela Garecht was only nine years old when she was kidnapped outside a neighborhood market in Hayward. The brazen kidnapping occurred mid-morning on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. For more than 32 years, Michaela has never been seen or heard from, nor has her body or any of her remains been found. However, fingerprints found on the scooter she was riding at the time she was abducted matched Misch’s fingerprints. Further, eyewitness evidence places Misch in the immediate location at the time the kidnapping occurred.
“The kidnap and murder of a child is horrific. The pain to the family and friends is indescribable, especially when their child is not found. This crime shocked not just the local community, but the entire Bay Area and the nation,” said DA O’Malley. “I hope that today’s action and announcement will provide some comfort to Michaela’s family in knowing that justice will prevail, even after 32 years since this horrible crime.”
Michaela was kidnapped on the morning of November 19, 1988 after she and her friend rode scooters to the Rainbow Grocery on Mission Blvd in Hayward. They left the scooters outside while they entered the store to buy some snacks. Several minutes later when they came out, one of the scooters had been moved behind a car parked in a nearby space. When Michaela went to fetch the scooter, the driver of that car grabbed her as soon as she walked past his door. He forced her into the front seat of the car. He backed out and sped south on Mission Blvd.
Hayward Police Department never stopped looking for the man who kidnapped and killed Michaela. Around the 30th anniversary of Michaela’s kidnapping, they once again scrutinized all evidence, leads and potential witnesses. Their current fingerprint examiner was provided names of persons of interest. Misch’s name was one of the names provided to her. She began comparing the fingerprints of the names given to her. She was able to match Misch’s fingerprints to those on the scooter. Their ability now to compare prints has been significantly advanced through software, technology and science.
These charges come after more than three decades of investigation led by the Hayward Police Department with the help of many local law enforcement agencies as well as the FBI. The tireless work of Hayward detectives, who never gave up on the case, enabled the DA’s office to file these charges.
District Attorney Nancy O’Malley thanks the Hayward Police Department and their dedicated personnel for their unwavering efforts to solve this case. Deputy District Attorney Mark Melton from the Cold Hit Unit worked tirelessly with the Hayward investigators over the entirety of this investigation. The District Attorney’s Office will continue to work to see justice done.
Misch is currently facing other charges in Alameda County for the murder of two women in Fremont committed in 1986, and is also currently serving time in State Prison for the 1989 murder of a woman in the Hayward area.
Misch is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday, December 22nd at 8:30 am in Department 712. All proceedings are conducted remotely via Bluejeans.
Once convicted as a child killer other inmates will exact justice.
WOW! I remember when that happened. One of the crimes that helped launch the missing child on a milk carton craze.
Your timing is a little off. Putting missing children in the back of milk cartons started in 1984.
Without doubt, a total waste of protoplasm.
Thank goodness it has not only been solved but a monster has been arrested. May her family find a tad bit of solace in it.
Remember so well the day this happened….
Wow. It makes you wonder how many other people he’s murdered. In prison since 1989 and awaiting trial on a double murder.
Why is he even still alive?
Thank you newscum for eliminating the death penalty in cali. And thank God this didn’t happen in Contra Costa. Our D.A. would have found a way to let this scum out with good behavior and unemployment benefits.
How many other little girls are alive today, because this filth has been locked up for so many years ? ? ? ? ? ?
EVIL exists in this world, despite what progressive liberals want you to believe, and it needs to be separated from society.
Original G-
I totally agree. The problem is keeping murderers
locked up. Almost 500 killers have been paroled
and then they murdered again. Keep them locked
up with no parole.
Thank god they finally caught this guy, that composite always freaked me out since I was around Michaela’s age. It figures he would be a pure monster.
With that MO and timeframe, you have to be believe this guy could also be a good candidate for the disappearance of Illene Mischoff too, abducted late January 89, when this guy was still on the loose.
@ Mitch, wondered the same thing too…said he went to prison in ’89, but not when.
The murders in Fremont were after Ilene disappeared, so he was definitely out and about.
That poor little girl. How could a person do that to a defenseless child?
People will say his arrest will bring closure! No there is nothing that will help the wounded hearts. Her parents will never ever recover. Having caught this creep will bring the mystery to an end. Such a tragedy. A reminder that there are sick folks out in the world so do not let your kids play unsupervised. Very sad.
The article says the two women murdered in Fremont was in 1986 – before Ilene disappeared. He’s been in a mental institution in Stockton since 9/11/2000.
I hope he gets a short life sentence.
So happy that our lost child from Hayward will have justice…wonder if this evil doer was already in prison when Ilene Mischelhoff was taken back in January of ’89?
I looked him up in the Inmate Locator for California. He was admitted to state prison on 9/11/1990.
A person is usually in county jail awaiting trial a year & a half before they are sent to prison.
So happy that our lost child from Hayward will have justice…wonder if this evil doer was already in prison when Ilene Mischelhoff was taken back in January of ’89?
Dig a pit 10′ deep
Throw him in there naked
Fill it with broken glass
Tell him “If you can crawl out you’re free to go.
Doctor you were doing good until you got to the “free to go” part.
As if it would be possible.
Very tempting to feel that way, but we don’t want to become the monsters in the process. I remember this story very well, as Amber Swartz from Pinole, both were my daughters age, so I paid close attention.
I hear a sad violin playing behind your comment Hanne…. how do you do that?
Anyway I’ll bring some shovels, the rest of you bring glass bottles and hammers.
Dr. Jellyfinger, why would you need hammers to break the glass? Can’t you just throw the glass into the pit and they would shatter? Hammers seem very unnecessary, I mean your a Doctor, where is your common sense?
Wonder if he had anything to do with that ice skater girl who disappeared about the same time. Can’t remember her name. Her parents were holding a vigil for her every year. Maybe it was Eileen.
Nothing would be too bad of a treatment for cowards like him.
Ilene Misheloff from Dublin 🙁
Ilene Misheloff disappeared Jan 30th 1989 in Dublin. Sadly, her mother Maddie Misheloff passed away a few months ago. I’m hoping these recent developments will cause some dominos to fall, dots to get connected. There are 3-4 other well known abductions in the same timespan that remain unresolved. It’s time to put them all to bed and get some kind of closure.
Was it the COVID test that linked his DNA to the crime?
I have no real knowledge of the case, but I may have read that as far as physical evidence they had only a fingerprint.
Don’t forget Amanda Campbell from Fairfield in December of 1991. I think the bay area child abductions are described in Stalemate by John Philpin.
Awesome book if you can still find it…….
Got one through inter-library loan a few years ago.
Why has he been allowed to leach off of the system and kept alive all these years considering his crimes. The death penalty needs to be used more often especially with how the DA’s in this area are continually allowing crime to increase.
I truly hope he has a change of heart and let’s the family know where the remains are. Michaela’s mother is fighting cancer and the entire family needs to know. In addition to any others he may have murdered. I also hope his fellow inmates in act the punishment he so rightly deserves. Prisoners have their own justice system.
I believe in a higher power who will right this wrong. What was not accomplished as punishment while this person was on earth may that higher power step in on judgement day and allow for some justice and solace for this family.
Does anyone else question why it took 3 decades to match a palm print of a known killer in custody from the same area?
@BOOYAH, I’m with you. What the heck. And why is he still alive? Maybe his fellow inmates are not aware he is a baby rapist and killer. Need to get a couple of pen pals in the jail/prison he is in and spread the word.
Palm prints aren’t typically stored like fingerprints in the system. Once a connection is made, then you could get the suspect’s palm print to make a comparison. Glad Fremont PD connected some dots and reached out to Hayward.
My primary reason to recall Newsom for eliminating the death penalty. Scum like this should pay the ultimate price. I don’t care if it’s a deterrent or not.
In chronological order. The 1st 3 are within a few months of each other:
– Amber Swartz-Garcia 6/3/1988
– Michaela Garecht 11/19/1988
– Ilene Misheloff 1/30/1989
– Amanda Campbell 12/27/1991
Let’s not forget that non human piece a bodily excrement named Phillip Gurrido was also trolling during that time. Jaycee Dugard was abducted on June 10, 1991. Although she was abducted in South Lake Tahoe, Gurrido was living in Antioch. Always thought he abducted Garrett as well. The composite was dead on with what he looked like at the time. Many in the know still believe he was responsible for others.