Sorry if this has been posted already. It appears that Loren Herzog who recently committed suicide and is possibly tied to the Swedish hitchhikers murders is now possibly tied to the kidnapping of Michaela Garecht. She was the little girl who went to the convenience store with a friend and was grabbed by a young blond man with a pockmarked complexion.

Apparently Herzog, one half of the Speed Freak Killers, is now being accused by the other half Wesley Shermantine of kidnapping and killing Michaela. Shermantine also has stated that he will lead authorities to several bodies that he and Herzog killed and buried. I think this is good because it will hopefully lead to some closure in long ago disappearances, but it will also be heartbreaking to the families that have been hoping these loved ones are still alive. Here are links to the articles:

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_19868258
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/01/31/hayward-police-looking-at-speed-freak-killers-in-1988-case/

Herzog looked EXACTLY like the composite sketch! I can't believe I never put the pieces together before.

Tell me if you think the composite from the show looks like Philip Garrido, who kidnapped Jaycee Dugard in 1991. He is considered a suspect in her abduction as well.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/429614_350219741662373_100000230503611_1324421_982954827_n.jpg

There are some similarities, but I think the sketch resembles Herzog more (judging from photos of Herzog during that time period)

There are some similarities, but I think the sketch resembles Herzog more (judging from photos of Herzog during that time period)

Couldn't really find a pic of Garrido from around that time period, so the recent one is all I had.

Here's Herzog and the "pockmark" sketch from the mercury news article in post #1. And a photo of Philip Garrido in January 1988. Michaela went missing in November 1988. IMO, Garrido's nose and the sketch are identical, but the eyes look more like Herzog. I could go either way on which of these two could be involved. I wonder where they both were in November 1988, and what kind of cars and hairstyles (or wigs!?) they had.


http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2012/0117/20120117__herzog~1_GALLERY.JPGhttp://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2012/0201/20120201_011321_garechtsketch_GALLERY.jpghttp://www.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID1168/images/Phillip_Garrido_1988.jpg

Even though Wesley Shermantine is a pathological liar and may just be stringing the authorities along, I just can't get past how much Loren Herzog resembles that composite sketch! As far as I know, it wasn't in the M.O. for either of them to abduct and murder children, but I'm sure psychopaths like these can be capable of anything.

Here's Herzog and the "pockmark" sketch from the mercury news article in post #1. And a photo of Philip Garrido in January 1988. Michaela went missing in November 1988. IMO, Garrido's nose and the sketch are identical, but the eyes look more like Herzog. I could go either way on which of these two could be involved. I wonder where they both were in November 1988, and what kind of cars and hairstyles (or wigs!?) they had.


http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2012/0117/20120117__herzog~1_GALLERY.JPGhttp://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2012/0201/20120201_011321_garechtsketch_GALLERY.jpghttp://www.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID1168/images/Phillip_Garrido_1988.jpg
Herzog had the long hair in the late 80s!! Just like the sketch. I'm going to do a little research and try to find a good picture of him with the long hair. The only one I can find right now is the one from a charley project page he's listed on as a suspect. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/v/vanderheiden_cynthia.html

Scroll to the bottom and there he is in the middle, looking just like the sketch! :eek: It says circa 1999, but I'm pretty certain he had the hair in the 80s as well.

In that charleyproject photo, he really does look like the sketch. This guy seems to have been another criminal who deliberately changed his look over the years. And in the last, larger photo, he looks very scary.

I noticed that when his hair grows out, it's wavy, just like in the composite. It will be interesting to find out more on this guy. I thought Shermatine was just a liar looking for attention but maybe he's onto something with this claim.

http://www.charleyproject.org/images/w/wheeler_herzog.jpghttp://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/assets_c/2010/08/HERZOG-thumb-250x348-13921.jpghttp://www.kcra.com/2010/0724/24375307_240X180.jpghttp://serialkillers.briancombs.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/loren-herzog-249x300.jpg
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/lodinews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/91/4910c4ea-93ff-11df-82b6-001cc4c002e0/4c459ec9d9878.image.jpg

For those interested, Michaela's mother has an entire website dedicated to her daughter, a note to the kidnapper(s), and to others to protect their children. This compassionate, strong woman deserves answers.
http://www.missingmichaela.com/home

If Herzog was responsible and he took his own life without telling where she is and what happened...I can't even form the words of hate that makes me feel.

No way does it look like Garrido. Especially not the eyes.

No way does it look like Garrido. Especially not the eyes.

He is still a suspect in her abduction though. I don't think it's based on the composite, but by how far away he lived from where Michaela was abducted.

What also is eerie is that if Herzog is indeed responsible for the Swedish Hitchhiker murders, he was only 18 years old or so at the time. Whoa.

A skull was found yesterday during a search on Shermantine's family property. Authorities notified Cyndi Vanderheiden's family. The age, gender, and ID of the remains haven't been determined yet.


http://www.news10.net/news/article/177798/2/Human-remains-found-at-Calaveras-Co-search-site


http://www.news10.net/news/article/177864/2/Murder-victims-father-hopes-to-get-closure-after-remains-found-in-Calaveras-Co?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Cbc%7Clarge

A skull was found yesterday during a search on Shermantine's family property. Authorities notified Cyndi Vanderheiden's family. The age, gender, and ID of the remains haven't been determined yet.


http://www.news10.net/news/article/177798/2/Human-remains-found-at-Calaveras-Co-search-site


http://www.news10.net/news/article/177864/2/Murder-victims-father-hopes-to-get-closure-after-remains-found-in-Calaveras-Co?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Cbc%7Clarge
I just got chills! This is wonderful news, if some family is going to finally have answers.

They mentioned the teeth had fillings in them. Cyndi did not have fillings. Whomever the skull belongs to, there's a family out there whose been missing someone for many years.

They mentioned the teeth had fillings in them. Cyndi did not have fillings. Whomever the skull belongs to, there's a family out there whose been missing someone for many years.
The article quotes her father as saying that she did have fillings.

The remains of Chevelle Wheeler and Cyndi Vanderheiden have been found on Shermantine's property.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099654/Wesley-Shermantine-Bodies-murder-victims-killer-draws-maps-death-row-cell.html

The article brings up the Michaela Garecht case, saying there's "still no sign" of what happened to her.


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eta: Sorry to use a tabloid as the source here. I was doing a search on killers who had accomplices and this article was the first thing google brought up. I wanted to share the info ASAP and haven't looked for a regular news source yet.

Looks like regular news media hasn't got this info out there yet. Here's a Modesto Bee article (via the Associated Press), but it's 2 days old. It does say that Cyndi Vanderheiden was ID'd, and it appears that today's Daily Mail article linked above quoted most of this one word for word.

http://www.modbee.com/2012/02/10/2064140/serial-killers-tip-leads-to-remains.html

The remains of Chevelle Wheeler and Cyndi Vanderheiden have been found on Shermantine's property.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099654/Wesley-Shermantine-Bodies-murder-victims-killer-draws-maps-death-row-cell.html

The article brings up the Michaela Garecht case, saying there's "still no sign" of what happened to her.


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eta: Sorry to use a tabloid as the source here. I was doing a search on killers who had accomplices and this article was the first thing google brought up. I wanted to share the info ASAP and haven't looked for a regular news source yet.
Oh, my Lord. I was only recently reading about these cases, too. Thank God they were finally found.

I fear that Michaela is probably there as well :( It will be just as tragic, but a closure for her family. Hopefully they will identify the remains ASAP, since they were already able to do the first two bodies.

I fear that Michaela is probably there as well :( It will be just as tragic, but a closure for her family. Hopefully they will identify the remains ASAP, since they were already able to do the first two bodies.

Wishful, I'm going to go try to find the source, but just this morning, I was reading that they have found 300 bones at a filled in well on/near the Shermantine property. They are expecting to find many more victims at that location.

In a way, I hope Michaela is there so her loved ones will finally have her remains and know what happened, but on the other hand, finding remains ends all hope.

BRB - will post a link if I can find the article....

Here's a slide show with an aerial view of how big one area is that they are digging in. Photos seem to indicate they are using somewhat of an archaeological method to the excavation.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/shermantine-340262-herzog-vanderheiden.html?pic=2

Leonard Padilla (well known bounty hunter) is giving Shermantine $33,000 in exchange for disclosing the location of the remains, which he has done on hand drawn maps.

Shermantine plans to spend some of the money on headstones for his parents' graves. Headstones that his victims have been denied while being buried dozens of feet below the surface in a makeshift dump! It's disgusting.

And he really wants some of the cash to go into his commissary account at the prison so he can buy CANDY BARS! His fata** doesn't look like he's going hungry. IMO, they should put the cash into some other guy's account in exchange for giving Sherm the Herzog treatment.

Padilla's cash offer convinced Shermantine to talk and Herzog to kill himself. Herzog was already out of prison, but shunned by the community and was living in a trailer on prison property. He hung himself because he knew the discovery of more victims would send him back to prison. Personally, I'm not sure if he killed himself or had help. He was supposed to be under surveillance by the prison guards. I can't imagine that anyone was all that thrilled that this serial killer got out about 60 years early on a technicality.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/shermantine-340262-herzog-vanderheiden.html


Haven't read this article yet, but it does say that there are several filled in wells on the property, rather than just one, as I had thought.

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/News/Local-News/More-bones-found-on-Shermantine-property-in-well

Haven't read:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/garcia-340100-shermantine-well.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-serialkiller-20120213,0,2221324.story

THIS ISN'T THE ARTICLE I WAS TRYING TO FIND, BUT CLOSE ENOUGH. It mentions the 300 bones and 10 or more victims:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/13/speed-freak-killer-bones-california

Here's a slide show with an aerial view of how big one area is that they are digging in. Photos seem to indicate they are using somewhat of an archaeological method to the excavation.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/shermantine-340262-herzog-vanderheiden.html?pic=2

Leonard Padilla (well known bounty hunter) is giving Shermantine $33,000 in exchange for disclosing the location of the remains, which he has done on hand drawn maps.

Shermantine plans to spend some of the money on headstones for his parents' graves. Headstones that his victims have been denied while being buried dozens of feet below the surface in a makeshift dump! It's disgusting.

And he really wants some of the cash to go into his commissary account at the prison so he can buy CANDY BARS! His fata** doesn't look like he's going hungry. IMO, they should put the cash into some other guy's account in exchange for giving Sherm the Herzog treatment.

Padilla's cash offer convinced Shermantine to talk and Herzog to kill himself. Herzog was already out of prison, but shunned by the community and was living in a trailer on prison property. He hung himself because he knew the discovery of more victims would send him back to prison. Personally, I'm not sure if he killed himself or had help. He was supposed to be under surveillance by the prison guards. I can't imagine that anyone was all that thrilled that this serial killer got out about 60 years early on a technicality.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/shermantine-340262-herzog-vanderheiden.html


Haven't read this article yet, but it does say that there are several filled in wells on the property, rather than just one, as I had thought.

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/News/Local-News/More-bones-found-on-Shermantine-property-in-well

Haven't read:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/garcia-340100-shermantine-well.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-serialkiller-20120213,0,2221324.story

THIS ISN'T THE ARTICLE I WAS TRYING TO FIND, BUT CLOSE ENOUGH. It mentions the 300 bones and 10 or more victims:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/13/speed-freak-killer-bones-california

Hope they can get on that right away and put the DNA in the FBI database.

Yeah, I wondered why Herzog killed himself at first, but now I see why (if that is indeed what happened). I want to read more about this bounty hunter; he seems awesome for putting the money forward.

Hope they can get on that right away and put the DNA in the FBI database.

Yeah, I wondered why Herzog killed himself at first, but now I see why (if that is indeed what happened). I want to read more about this bounty hunter; he seems awesome for putting the money forward.

I remember when Herzog got out, there was a big protest. I didn't know who he was, that he was getting out early, or anything, because I hadn't followed his case. I thought everyone was just mad because a murderer (who I had assumed completed his sentence) was being paroled into their community and they didn't want him there.

I remember when they came up with the solution of having him move into a trailer on prison property. Seems like a condition of his parole forced him to be in a certain location and the locals were having none of it, and that's how they came up with the solution for his living arrangements.

When he killed himself, I thought, "oh yeah, that's the murderer who'd been living in a prison trailer," and then I moved on to other topics. Until I came here. Then I finally learned about Shermantine, and remembered the name "speed freak killers", things that had been going on in Michaela Garecht's case, and these guys connection to Chevy Wheeler's disappearance. I didn't know they were suspected in so many other murders and disappearances.

This Leonard Padilla character.... I don't know what the heck to think about him. Didn't he somehow interject himself into the Caylee Anthony murder case? One article I quickly looked over says he's the guy who posted Casey's half million dollar bond back in 2008. I don't know the details of what he was hoping to accomplish in that case. It seems Casey had no shortage of men in high places who were willing to serve her. Even men in low places were proposing marriage. Sick freaks.

Anyway, one article (I think I linked it above) says that Padilla told Herzog right to his face that Shermantine was getting ready to literally tell where the bodies buried, leading directly to the suicide. What a huge convoluted mess. I'm glad they are finding and identifying victims, tho, but I have no use for Shermantine. IMO, they need to use him for all the info they can get out of him then he needs to hurry up and fatally OD on his $30,000 worth of candy bars.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/14/MN411N78UL.DTL

"""Based on the findings so far from Shermantine's tips, some associated with the case believe the number of victims might actually climb to well above 30."""

Michaela mentioned on Page 2 of this article:

[Retired FBI agent] Rinek is also apparently the first one to whom Shermantine mentioned the possibility that Herzog kidnapped and killed 9-year-old Michaela Garecht of Hayward in 1988, and that her body is now in the area being excavated. However, Rinek said Shermantine did not tell him that he personally knew that his partner killed the girl - "just that the sketch (of Michaela's kidnapper) looked like Herzog."

Michaela's parents said they aren't taking this latest lead in their daughter's disappearance any more seriously than any other.

"If Herzog did it, he would have told Shermantine," said Rod Garecht, who now lives near Lake Camanche. "I don't think he was involved. But we're always glad when Michaela's story gets out there again, because maybe we'll get more tips."

Wow after reading Michaela Garecht's Charley Project page, Tim Binder really looks even more like a creep.

This story creeps me out. She was taken two hours from were I live. I remember when she was taken because I went to the store with my mom one night shortly after the news started reporting this. And I saw a man in line in front of us with dirty blond hair and a horrible bad complexion. I thought he looked like that guy that took Michaela. Boy I hope I was wrong hate to think I actually recognized him. ewe!

Have all of the remains in the well been identified?

Ran across this article from October 2012: http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/10/10/childs-remains-found-in-linden-well/

When officials returned the remains of JoAnn Hobson to her family, her mother decided to have independent DNA testing done on the bones.

The lab says there were a minimum of three different victims' remains mixed together!

If the mother hadn't had that testing done, those other victims would never have the chance to be identified and their cases would remain as missing persons. Who else did the officials do this to? How can we be sure Michaela Garecht or another victim's remains haven't been provided to some other family and buried or cremated under the wrong name?

wow i remember Michaela's case. is there any new info about who the other bodies in the well were?

wow i remember Michaela's case. is there any new info about who the other bodies in the well were?


I can't find new info about who's been identified and almost all the articles that come up in a search are from 2012.

IIRC, authorities believe there are 22 victims, but I don't think all the victims were placed in the same location that they searched. Shermantine claimed that there were up to 20 victims in the well, including Michaela Garecht, but she wasn't found there. He is also claiming that there are a total of 72 victims, all Herzog's fault of course, but that's all probably just more of his lies, trying to get a Serial Killer With The Most Victims award or something.

In addition to the victims who've been named in this thread, the article linked below says that another victim, Kimberly Billy, was identified.

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120331/A_NEWS/203310319

This 2012 article says that the remains of one teenager are still unidentified and they also discovered the remains of a fetus. It sounds like there were only 5 victims and the fetus at that site, with the fetus and one victim remaining unidentified as of 2012.

Were any of the known victims pregnant at the time of their disappearance? And at what gestational age was the fetus? I can't find info on that.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/30/speed-freak-killer-wesley-shermantine-_n_1926938.html



Victims who have been identified:

Chevelle Wheeler

Cyndi Vanderheiden

Kimberly Billy

JoAnn Hobson

Apparently Michaela was never identified as being one of the victims found at the sites Shermantine led investigators to. I feel like I'm derailing this thread with links to news stories and commenting about Shermantine/Herzog and their other crimes. Sorry for that.

Here's another article I found today dated Februrary 2013. It has info that I had read elsewhere:

Most of their alleged victims have never been found. But with the promise of $30,000 from a Sacramento bounty hunter, Shermantine from his death-row cell last year directed investigators to the burial sites of five women and a fetus. Authorities also drove Shermantine around the area under heavy guard in August so he could point out additional burial sites."

and:


"Since providing information that aided recovery of five victims in February 2012, his claims have lacked necessary specificity. He now refuses to meet with us, stymieing future investigation and excavation."

and:

Brown said the FBI and San Joaquin Sheriff's Department spent a combined $200,000 excavating the 100-foot well, mostly by hand.

The sheriff's office excavated the first well, which yielded human remains, in February 2012. But it was criticized for the way it handled the first dig and called in the FBI to lead the excavation of the second well.

and:

The sheriff's office used heavy machinery to dig up the first well, and the remains of the three bodies and the fetus found there ended up being mixed together, including those of JoAnn Hobson. Hobson's mother, Joan Shelley, filed a federal lawsuit in Sacramento this month accusing the San Joaquin Sheriff's Department of inflicting emotional distress for mixing up the remains.

http://www.policeone.com/investigations/articles/6128072-FBI-ends-search-for-Speed-Freak-Killers-victims/

Thankyou :) that is so sad that if the girls mother never got the remains tested no one would have ever known what happened to Kimberly Billy.
i hope they havent given up and are still digging.
im guessing he lied about a lot just so he could be taken there to point out places. he probably just pointed at random spots.
its weird he picked Michaelas case and said his partner killed her. i think they must of. why make that up, if he was just wanting to add to the body count he would of named some more victims.

I don't know what to think about Herzog's involvement in Michaela's case. I know he was said to have been visiting a sister who lived 15 miles from the store from where Michaela was taken. But Tim Bindner was only two miles away from the store failing a fireman's agility test. He started drinking beer and left the fire department building at 9:30am and Michaela went missing at about 10:00am. He would most likely have passed that store on his way home. He had also correctly told the FBI that the next victim would be 9 or 10 years old. Michaela was the next victim and she was 9 years old.

If I had to pick who was involved based on the sketches, I'd say it was Herzog. If I had to guess based on circumstances, I'd say it was Bindner. Then there's also Phil Garrido, who has apparently been ruled out, but was found to have a car like the one used in Michaela's abduction stored on his property.

It seems like that whole area was over run with kidnappers during those years. There were more than the few I've named here.

As for why Shermantine mentioned Michaela's case, I think it has more to do with the case being so high profile. He's a liar and an attention whore and he wanted the attention he would get from being connected to such a well known case. By claiming to know details about what happened to Michaela, he'd be doing interviews, get taken out of prison to go on excursions to point out where he thinks she might be buried, get to go back to the scene of where he actually did bury his victims and relive his crimes through that, etc.

He said the only evidence he had that Herzog took Michaela was that he thought Herzog looked like the sketch. That's it. So he knows no more about who took Michaela than we do. Herzog didn't confess to him, he didn't help Herzog bury the body, he just thinks the sketch looks like Herzog.

I watched this case yesterday for the first time in awhile. I remember watching the original broadcast many years ago, and I have always felt a great deal of sadness for Michaela and her family. This segment was also the stuff of nightmares for me growing up. It played into the childhood fear of"stranger danger" and the possibility of would-be abductors lurking around corners in places I frequented as a child.

Anyhow, watching this with an adult perspective I made the following observations.

The following two points I am certain of...

Michaela Garrect is most likely dead and killed within hours of her abduction.

The crime was sexually motivated.

One thing I have always found unusual is how brazen this guy is/was. Even the detective interviewed in the segment seemed to hint at this saying it was unusual to have an eyewitness to a crime like this.

The crime has organized and disorganized elements.

Organized - the guy planned to do this. I highly doubt the offender was going about his routine activities and just happened upon Michaela and her friend and decided to try to grab them. I think he was familiar with the layout of the parking lot, and knew how to maneuver around it quickly and escape. This could suggest the offender was local. On the other hand, I find it unusual his composite and car description weren't recognized if he was local, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of him being local based on this fact alone.

Disorganized - he let himself be seen. He grabbed a girl off the street in broad daylight in front of witnesses or others who may have been able to intervene or identify him. Two possibilities - he was inexperienced, and this was his first, or one of his first crimes of this nature. Second possibility, he was so focused on his "endgame" (what he was going to do with her) he didn't even think about the means or mechanics of the abduction.

This case has always stuck in my head, since we are about the same age, and my friends and I had scooters too. (They were quite the rage circa 1990, lol)

I was recently looking at her missing persons page on the FBI website, and noticed something interesting that I had not seen elsewhere. Under "Remarks" it states "Michaela Garecht was last seen wearing a white t-shirt with the word "Metro" across the front and pictures of people on the midsection. She had on denim pants rolled above her knees, black shoes, and wore three-inch pearl or white colored earrings which resembled feathers."

I have to say that this is an example of how seriously the UM producers took their re-enactments. With the exception of her pants being rolled up only part way, the actress is wearing the exact same clothing that Michaela was last seen wearing. Even the (rather obscure?) t-shirt is the same.

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It's such a same she has never been located, this is one of those cases that I really wish the family could get some sort of resolution.

This case has always stuck in my head, since we are about the same age, and my friends and I had scooters too. (They were quite the rage circa 1990, lol)

I was recently looking at her missing persons page on the FBI website, and noticed something interesting that I had not seen elsewhere. Under "Remarks" it states "Michaela Garecht was last seen wearing a white t-shirt with the word "Metro" across the front and pictures of people on the midsection. She had on denim pants rolled above her knees, black shoes, and wore three-inch pearl or white colored earrings which resembled feathers."

I have to say that this is an example of how seriously the UM producers took their re-enactments. With the exception of her pants being rolled up only part way, the actress is wearing the exact same clothing that Michaela was last seen wearing. Even the (rather obscure?) t-shirt is the same.

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That's exactly what I said when that incredibly sad picture was posted online of the skeletal remains of Wendy Camp, Cynthia Britto and Lisa Kregear. You knew who was who because of the clothing the actresses wore from the reenactment. Every piece of clothing matched perfectly.

That's exactly what I said when that incredibly sad picture was posted online of the skeletal remains of Wendy Camp, Cynthia Britto and Lisa Kregear. You knew who was who because of the clothing the actresses wore from the reenactment. Every piece of clothing matched perfectly.

Yeah. That was awful. Well done on the part of UM, but such a sad detail...