I saw the segment on the disapperance of Amber Swartz and other California girls (http://www.unsolved.com/0239-Swartz.html) about a week or two ago, and one thing made me curious: when they got to the abduction of Michaela in her town of Hayward, I noted that the footage was obviously old - it was like the 'fuzziness' of the segments in UM's first few years. So I wondered if UM covered that story separately soon after it happened. I wasn't able to glean anything from the episode guide.

For those curious or don't know, the footage was of the abductor grabbing Michaela from her bike and putting her into a car, as her friend screamed "MICHAELA!" just before the car drove away.

I remember that case from UM. I only remember it because of the last part you posted.

Yes, it was on one of the older UM's. I have it in my collection.

Sorry to bump an older thread, but this is the first time I've seen this story on Lifetime in quite awhile. Does anybody have any updates on this sad case?:(

On a side note, maybe this means Lifetime is going to show some of the other segments that dont get aired a lot. One can only hope.:)

Sorry to bump an older thread, but this is the first time I've seen this story on Lifetime in quite awhile. Does anybody have any updates on this sad case?:(

At the following link, she listed as having been born in 1979. It notes that she would currently be 26 years old (that is, if she is still alive). So, due to the current nature of the data, it is obvious that her fate remains a mystery. :(

http://geocities.com/farmgirl1032001/michaela_garecht.html

As many of you probably know, Michaela Garecht was focused on not one, but two UM segments. She was first profiled on the show in the spring of 1989, and became the secondary focus of a 2002 segment about Amber Swartz, a girl whose 1988 disappearance is believed to be connected to a series of California abductions, including that of Michaela Garecht.

A man named Tim Bindner has been considered a person of interest in the Amber Swartz case. Despite all suspicions towards him, there was no hard evidence to link him to any of the abductions.

For more info on the Amber Swartz case, go to the following link:

http://unsolved.com/0239-Swartz.html

Thanks for the info, Kane!

The weird thing about this case is that the authorities seem to think that Tim Bindner was in the vacinity of Michaela's abduction. However being that her abductor is one of the creepiest looking monsters I have ever seen in my life - I can definatley say that the man who abducted Michaela looked nothing like Tim Bindner. - So how does he tie in besides having an obsessive need to help locate these girls?

Weird

However being that her abductor is one of the creepiest looking monsters I have ever seen in my life


Totally agree, that sketch is pretty creepy.:eek:

The weird thing about this case is that the authorities seem to think that Tim Bindner was in the vacinity of Michaela's abduction. However being that her abductor is one of the creepiest looking monsters I have ever seen in my life - I can definatley say that the man who abducted Michaela looked nothing like Tim Bindner. - So how does he tie in besides having an obsessive need to help locate these girls?

Weird

If there is anything else that ties Tim Bindner to the abductions, chances are the cops are not saying, for fear that public disclosure of certain potential details could hinder the investigation. Also, if the abductions, including that of Michaela Garecht, are connected and Binder was involved, he may have had some help. This might explain why the composite sketch of Michaela's abductor didn't resemble Bindner.

In any case, I think we can all agree that there is currently too little evidence (if any) to link Bindner to the cases. However, the cops are unable to rule him out either.

The weird thing about this case is that the authorities seem to think that Tim Bindner was in the vacinity of Michaela's abduction. However being that her abductor is one of the creepiest looking monsters I have ever seen in my life - I can definatley say that the man who abducted Michaela looked nothing like Tim Bindner.

Stranger still, I have memories of an old AMW episode about child abductions, and the Garrecht case was mentioned. At the time, it was believed that there was a group of people abducting young children for pornography, prostitution, and slavery purposes. The name of the man who abducted Michaela was believed to be "Tony". I don't remember much else, unfortunately.

Just thought I would throw that out there, as it is a different angle in which Bindner is not a suspect (to my knowledge).

Stranger still, I have memories of an old AMW episode about child abductions, and the Garrecht case was mentioned. At the time, it was believed that there was a group of people abducting young children for pornography, prostitution, and slavery purposes. The name of the man who abducted Michaela was believed to be "Tony". I don't remember much else, unfortunately.

Just thought I would throw that out there, as it is a different angle in which Bindner is not a suspect (to my knowledge).

I too remember that America's Most Wanted did a segment about Michaela Garecht. I don't remember exactly when AMW aired the segment, but I'm positive that it was after UM first did so.

UM originally profiled the case in the spring of 1989, four or five months after Michaela's abduction. Since the case was so recent at the time of the UM broadcast, my guess is that the theory of a group of abductors wasn't generally known (or even thought of) until sometime after the segment had already aired.

Kane I would like you thoughts on something - Just hypothetical - "Isn't one perspective of looking at Bindner's interest in these cases is just taking his interest in solving these crimes many many steps further than something who calls up the police department looking for updates to cases that they are interested in?" - Now I know we have to figure in that Bindner's behavior deviates more from the norms than just an interested observer but in reality he could be just that?

The weird thing about this case is that the authorities seem to think that Tim Bindner was in the vacinity of Michaela's abduction. However being that her abductor is one of the creepiest looking monsters I have ever seen in my life - I can definatley say that the man who abducted Michaela looked nothing like Tim Bindner. - So how does he tie in besides having an obsessive need to help locate these girls?

Weird

I'd love to wager Tim Bindner had nothing to do with the abductions. He's an eccentric wacko. I saw the segment last week and it was sad Amber's mother was focusing so much on Binder, based on messages he left on her answering machine and so on. It seems to me the most convenient or obvious target is charged much more often than actually guilty. I applaud the authorities for not trumping up some phony charge against Binder, just to soothe the families.

Kane I would like you thoughts on something - Just hypothetical - "Isn't one perspective of looking at Bindner's interest in these cases is just taking his interest in solving these crimes many many steps further than something who calls up the police department looking for updates to cases that they are interested in?" - Now I know we have to figure in that Bindner's behavior deviates more from the norms than just an interested observer but in reality he could be just that?

There's a point in what you say, DarkDante. But I hope you don't think I'm implying that Tim Bindner is connected to the abductions just because of his unusual behavior.

Admittedly, there's nothing wrong with him (or anyone for that matter) being interested in the abduction cases. It's just that Bindner appears to be excessively fixated on them, so I agree with Awsi Dooger that he is "an eccentric wacko." However, I think we can all agree that it doesn't prove he's involved, and that you can't indict someone based on mere suspicion.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Cold-Case-Whatever-Happened-to-this-Missing-Bay-Area-Girl.html

Cold Case: Whatever Happened to This Bay Area Child?
Girl missing for 20 years
Updated 6:43 AM PST, Thu, Nov 20, 2008

For the last two decades a Bay Area mother has mourned for her lost daughter.

It was 20 years ago Wednesday, 9-year-old Michaela Garecht was kidnapped from a Hayward parking lot.

"We have tried for 20 years to reach out to someone who may have some information about this kidnapping," her mother, Sharon Murch, said.

For the last 20 years, on Nov. 19, Sharon Murch, has stood in this Hayward parking lot to search for answers.

"To someone who would have a lead that may help us find out what happened to Mikhaela," she said.

The ribbons from past years still hang in the trees near the parking stall where a stranger abducted her 9-year-old daughter.

"I feel this overwhelming need to keep Mikhala alive, the only way to keep her alive is in people's memories," she said.

Michaela and a friend had ridden scooters to the store to buy candy.

When they came out one of the scooters was laying in the parking lot next to a car.

She went to pick it up.

"A man jumped out of the car, grabbed her from behind, threw her in the car and took off with her," she said.

Over the years, police have sifted through thousands of leads.

One prison inmate lead investigators to where he said Michaela's body was buried.

He later admitted he'd made up the story.

"We've had leads come in the past 20 years we've worked over 13,000 leads the most recent one came in a couple weeks ago," said Officer Chris Orrey.

But without concrete answers, Murch does what she can.

Her friends and her tie ribbons around the parking lot and tape up flyers just in case.

"If Mikhala is still out there somewhere then perhaps she'll see it and i want her to know we still love her and we're still looking for her," she said.

Murch said a small part of her still believes her daughter could be alive somewhere and that's the part that brings her back here year after year.

"The one thing that I do believe is that I will see her again and I will hold her in my arms again," Murch said. "Whether it's in this life or the next. And that's my hope."

Investigators said they've gone back to reaxamine some early leads in the case.

They would not provide any more detail on the lead they received just a couple weeks ago.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Cold-...-Area-Girl.html

Cold Case: Whatever Happened to This Bay Area Child?
Girl missing for 20 years
Updated 6:43 AM PST, Thu, Nov 20, 2008

For the last two decades a Bay Area mother has mourned for her lost daughter.

It was 20 years ago Wednesday, 9-year-old Michaela Garecht was kidnapped from a Hayward parking lot.

"We have tried for 20 years to reach out to someone who may have some information about this kidnapping," her mother, Sharon Murch, said.

For the last 20 years, on Nov. 19, Sharon Murch, has stood in this Hayward parking lot to search for answers.

"To someone who would have a lead that may help us find out what happened to Mikhaela," she said.

The ribbons from past years still hang in the trees near the parking stall where a stranger abducted her 9-year-old daughter.

"I feel this overwhelming need to keep Mikhala alive, the only way to keep her alive is in people's memories," she said.

Michaela and a friend had ridden scooters to the store to buy candy.

When they came out one of the scooters was laying in the parking lot next to a car.

She went to pick it up.

"A man jumped out of the car, grabbed her from behind, threw her in the car and took off with her," she said.

Over the years, police have sifted through thousands of leads.

One prison inmate lead investigators to where he said Michaela's body was buried.

He later admitted he'd made up the story.

"We've had leads come in the past 20 years we've worked over 13,000 leads the most recent one came in a couple weeks ago," said Officer Chris Orrey.

But without concrete answers, Murch does what she can.

Her friends and her tie ribbons around the parking lot and tape up flyers just in case.

"If Mikhala is still out there somewhere then perhaps she'll see it and i want her to know we still love her and we're still looking for her," she said.

Murch said a small part of her still believes her daughter could be alive somewhere and that's the part that brings her back here year after year.

"The one thing that I do believe is that I will see her again and I will hold her in my arms again," Murch said. "Whether it's in this life or the next. And that's my hope."

Investigators said they've gone back to reaxamine some early leads in the case.

They would not provide any more detail on the lead they received just a couple weeks ago.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_11017627?source=most_viewed

After 20 years, girl's abduction still haunts Hayward
By Kristofer Noceda
The Daily Review
Updated: 11/19/2008 06:36:25 PM PST


Click photo to enlargeSharon Murch's daughter Michaela Gerecht was kidnapped from a south Hayward market 20 years ago....«12345»Today — 10:15 a.m., to be precise — marks the 20th anniversary of the kidnapping of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht.

The South Hayward girl was last seen being thrown into the back seat of a car in the parking lot of a market near her family's home.. The case remains unsolved.

Michaela's mother, Sharon Murch, has since moved to San Leandro. Hardened over the years from managing the grief from losing her firstborn and not knowing exactly what happened to her, Murch said she's been able to come to "some sort of normalcy in life."

Since the kidnapping, Murch has raised three grown children, with a teenager currently attending school in Castro Valley. She also has remarried and has a teenage stepdaughter.

"You never know where life is going to take you," Murch said this week. "I certainly never thought on the morning of November 19, 1988, that the day would take me where it did."

Day of abduction

It was the first day of Thanksgiving break when Michaela and her best friend were riding their scooters. The two girls decided to leave Michaela's home on Cornell Avenue in South Hayward and head over to the Rainbow Market, on Mission Boulevard near Lafayette Avenue, to buy soda, candy and other treats. (The store is now called the Mexico Super market.)

The girls were on their way home and halfway across the parking lot when they realized they had forgotten their scooters. But


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when they returned to the place where they had left them, Michaela's was missing. Reports show the scooter was spotted near a parked car and Michaela went to retrieve it. As she bent over to pick up the scooter, a young, blond-haired man snatched her from behind and stuffed her into the back seat of a large car.

Botched response

Michaela's friend immediately ran back to the market for help and a clerk subsequently called police to report the kidnapping. The clerk — who thought she had seen the man drive by earlier — offered a wrong description to a police dispatcher, according to Dennis J. Oliver, a former reporter who covered the case for The Daily Review.

Oliver, now 45, reviewed 911 tapes during his coverage and recalls the dispatcher relaying a description provided by the store clerk who said "I seen him earlier."

"Never did she say 'I witnessed the kidnapping'," Oliver said during a phone interview Tuesday.

The false description that went out to police and the public was a white male in his 30s with a mustache and driving a burgundy car.

But it wasn't until after police interviewed Michaela's friend that they were able to release a composite sketch of the suspect and a new description of the vehicle two days later.

"Here's a drawing of this completely different person, and for two days the Hayward Police Department allowed media to publish false descriptions of the suspect," Oliver said. "The first opportunity and best opportunity to rescue this girl was immediately after it happened, and for two days they were looking for the wrong person. The dispatcher took information from the wrong person — and from there on out communication was just not handled correctly in the crucial first 24 to 48 hours."

The new description was of a slender white man with dirty-blond, shoulder-length hair, in his late teens or early 20s, with a pockmarked or pimply complexion, wearing a white T-shirt. His vehicle was described as a large, beat-up, older-model car — possibly gold- or tan-colored, with four doors.

Media attention

Michaela's kidnapping caught national attention and posters with her photo were featured on milk cartons. "America's Most Wanted" and other television programs aired reports about the case, each one bringing in new calls from people eager to share rumors, speculation and possible clues.

There also have been reports that the FBI was able to obtain the suspect's palm print from the scooter. Lt. Christine Orrey of the Hayward Police Department refused to comment on the matter and would not confirm or deny that a palm print had been retrieved.

In 1994, The Daily Review reported that police followed up more than 15,000 leads, all to no avail.

One of those false leads came from Indiana prison inmate Roger Haggard, who in December 1992 told authorities he helped a friend bury Michaela's body in the Hunter's Point area of San Francisco.

Officials began to question the validity of Haggard's claim, however, because he changed his account — and even told authorities the child's body was buried in a Union City gladiolus field.

"If I knew where to dig, I would," Murch said during a Daily Review interview in 1993.

Haggard, who was serving an 11-year prison term at the time, was flown to the Bay Area. After spending eight hours in the field, he admitted he made up the story because he wanted to give the family "peace of mind."

His sentence was subsequently lengthened by six-and-a-half years as a judge ruled the emotional distress to Murch was "incalculable."

Haggard also was ordered to pay $6,836 in compensation to Murch, who at the time was on stress disability from her job as a secretary. She was later fired.

New leads

Two decades later, police continue to investigate the case — with the most recent lead coming in just a few weeks ago, said Orrey, who would not release any details because police do not want to compromise the investigation.

"The case is made difficult to solve for many reasons, not the least of which is the thousands of leads that have come in from so many sources," Orrey said. "There are hundreds of registered sex offenders in the area, hundreds of possible suspects. We won't give up. We will continue to investigate leads that come in and continue to hope that we can find Michaela and bring her abductor to justice."

Murch said she credits the Hayward Police Department for keeping up the investigation.

Remembering Michaela

Today, Murch plans to revisit the area where her daughter was last seen, and flood the streets with fliers and yellow-and-pink ribbons.

"This is my way of keeping Michaela alive," she said. "There's also that chance that if she's alive somewhere, perhaps we can reach her and she can still see that we are looking for her. We still love her."

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/missingmichaela. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Hayward Police Inspector Rob Lampkin at 510-293-7079.

Reach Kristofer Noceda at 510-293-2479 or knoceda@bayareanewsgroup.com.