‘Please tell us if you took her’

Published: 03 Sep 2009
THE mother of a girl snatched near where Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped has begged Phillip Garrido: "Put us out of our misery and tell us if you took her."

The Sun revealed on Monday how police had reopened cases of three girls grabbed just miles from Garrido's home.

Sharon Murch's daughter Michaela Garecht, who bears an uncanny likeness to Jaycee, was nine when she was seized in Hayward, California, in 1988. Sharon said: "I've had so many disappointments over the years. This is the strongest lead ever."

The mum of three, 55, of San Leandro, added: "My greatest fear is Garrido kidnapped her and she wouldn't be compliant - perhaps he killed her and found somebody who would.

"I beg Garrido to do the decent thing and give us closure. I am just waiting for the knock at the door to say my ordeal is over."

Ann Campbell, 59, whose girl Amanda, four, was snatched in Fairfield in 1991, said: "All missing kids' mothers have this pain. Garrido took Jaycee and if he took others he should put his hand up and say so. We just want this to end."

The third kidnap victim Ilene Misheloff, 13, was taken in nearby Dublin in 1989. Cops were last night using diggers and sniffer dogs as they continued to search Garrido's home.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2619625/Please-tell-us-if-you-took-our-girls.html

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_13250794

At first, I was skeptical that Garrido could be the man involved in the Michaela Garecht case. Proximity to similar disappearances isn't enough to convince me. However, some things stick out that make me think he could have been involved.

First is the fact that the police have said he's not a suspect in the disappearances/murders of several prostitutes in the area. If they've claimed he's innocent of those crimes but haven't exonerated him of Garecht's disappearance, there may very well be some evidence in that compound that points in his direction.

Second, it's quite possible that he abducted other girls in a sort of "Trial run" scenario--seeing what he could and could not get away with in terms of abducting them--before moving on to not only abducting Jaycee, but holding her captive.

Third, the side-by-side picture of Garrido in 1976 (when he had shoulder-length hair) and the sketch of the Michaela Garecht suspect are eerily similar. That, to me, is very important. Also, the girl who was with Michaela when she was abducted apparently told Michaela's mother that the car found in Garrido's yard looked like the car that Michaela's abductor used.

I've included the sketch below (hopefully it works).

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2009/0903/20090903_090918_garridopair_GALLERY.jpg

Yeah at first I was actually skeptical because they had been showing pictures or Garrido from the 70's and he always seemed to keep his hair short and it looked like it was a darker brown color to me.
But I'm starting to come around on the viability of him as a suspect for Garecht. It would be intersting to see what else is hidden in his past. Apparently when he raped the girl back in 1976, he told her he had abducted two other girls in his past.

It's possible, too, that he grew his hair out, dyed it blonde (perhaps to avoid being recognized), then cut it off after he abducted Michaela.

It's possible, too, that he grew his hair out, dyed it blonde (perhaps to avoid being recognized), then cut it off after he abducted Michaela.

This website features a photo of Phillip Garrido and his wife supposedly taken in 1988 around the time of Garecht's abduction. I don't know how it could be verified that it was taken around that time.

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/09/new-photo-phillip-nancy-garrido-3-years-kidnapping-jaycee

News says that a bone that is "probably human" was found in Garrido's yard.

http://www.examiner.com/x-18953-San-Diego-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m9d8-Bone-found-near-Garrido-home-probably-human

The police are searching the Garrido property for evidence linking him to Michaela Garecht and Ilene Misheloff. There's a press conference going on right now and another will be broadcast at 4:30.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hKFfVCJqwbVScAsu7A5fSNLMsUgA

On Friday night's Dateline segment, Michaela's friend said Garrido's eyes had the same look as those of Michaela's abductor.