Police And FBI Chase New Lead In Kidnapping Cold Case

HAYWARD, Calif. -- The FBI is hoping that a strong new lead and an increased reward might finally end the mystery of nine-year-old Hayward resident Michaela Garret's kidnapping over two decades ago.

She won't reveal much about it, but FBI Special Agent Marty Parker says that the Bureau and Hayward Police have a solid new lead in Garret's disappearance.

"This case has gone on way too long and the parents just want to know what's happened to their little girl," explained Agent Parker, a cold-case specialist.

Garret's mother, Sharon Murch, is hoping for closure, no matter what the outcome. "Even though there's a possibility that I might find out things I don't want to know, I really need to know," said Murch.

The kidnapping took place on the Saturday afternoon before Thanksgiving in late November of 1988.

"[It happened in] broad daylight in front of so many people with Michaela kicking and screaming the whole time," said Agent Parker.

Just two weeks later, a television crew recreated the kidnapping for the show 'Unsolved Mysteries.' Michaela and her friend had taken their scooters to the Rainbow Market to buy candy.

Witnesses say a man moved one of the scooters while the girls were inside. Police assume he was luring his victim.

He moved the scooter close to him so that Michaela would walk over to recover the scooter, which of course is when he grabbed her and threw her in the car, said Murch.

The cashier at the Rainbow Market called 911, a tape the FBI is releasing for the first time.

"My daughter's friend was very upset, she was crying and, rather than talk to her, the police talked to a checker from the grocery store," remembered Murch. "And the checker says that she thinks she saw him drive by earlier and she gave a description. And I think that was probably the biggest mistake."

The clerk described the vehicle as "an old … kinda dirty, burgundy 4-door." When police eventually talked to Michaela's eight-year-old friend, she said the car was a different color altogether.

"It was actually a butterscotch-colored car. So in those initial few minutes, they were looking for the wrong colored car," said Murch.

Police did recover evidence from the scooter according to Agent Parker: "There was a partial palm print on the scooter that was moved."

That palm print could be matched if police routinely took palm prints along with fingerprints from suspects. Unfortunately, they do not.

"In the past, even the FBI and most local agencies would only do what's called a ten-print; just the fingers," said Agent Parker. "So we're going back and even old suspects that we have ten-prints on we'll be asking for palm prints."

Witnesses described the kidnapper as a white man, age 18 to early twenties, thin with pimples or a pock-marked face and dirty blonde hair.

Hayward Police got 5,000 tips in the first year of the investigation. The department is now revisiting those leads armed -- says the FBI -- with some new information.

"I think this case is solvable. We have good witnesses," said Agent Parker

The reward in the case has also recently been increased to $60,000.

For Michaela's mother, the recent developments hold the possible promise of an end to over twenty years of wondering and waiting.

"It's like God is shining a light on Michaela," said Murch. "All of these things have come up. The interest by the investigators, the police, the FBI, this is new."