California Police Take New Look at 1980s Missing Girl Cases

ANTIOCH, CA (CNN) -- Authorities in two San Francisco Bay-area cities are investigating whether disappearances dating back to the late 1980s could be connected to Phillip Garrido, the man suspected of keeping Jaycee Dugard captive behind his house for 18 years.

Police in Hayward, California, about 20 miles south of Oakland, say they are investigating whether he is connected to the disappearance of Michaela Garecht, last seen in 1988 at age 9.

Hayward Police Lt. Chris Orrey said there are similarities between Garecht's disappearance and Dugard's. They are similar in age and appearance, both were abducted in daylight and a sketch of a suspect resembles Garrido, she said.

Orrey said there were differences, as well, though she would not elaborate. She said Hayward police have been in contact with Garecht's family and witnesses since Dugard was found alive last week.

And in Dublin, California, about 25 miles east of Oakland, police are looking into whether Garrido is connected to the 1989 disappearance of Ilene Misheloff. Ilene was 13 when she was abducted, investigators said.

Investigators announced Saturday that they were looking into whether Garrido may have been behind other unsolved crimes.

Contra Costa County Sheriff's Lt. Steve Simpkins said police in Antioch and neighboring Pittsburg were searching Garrido's property "for evidence relating to open cases."

Authorities brought cadaver dogs to search the property next door to the Garridos as they tried to determine whether Garrido was connected to a string of unsolved slayings of prostitutes in the 1990s. Several of the women's bodies were dumped near a park where Garrido worked at the time.

"What we also know is that Phillip Garrido had access to that property," said Jimmie Lee, spokesman for the Contra Costa Sheriff's Department. "He used that property, and it looks like he lived on that property in a shed."

A bone fragment was found on the neighbor's property in an area that Garrido had access to, authorities said.

"It was a small bone fragment," said Jimmy Lee, a spokesman for the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department. "We don't know if it's human or animal, and we're going to take it back for further testing and analysis."

Garrido kidnapped Dugard 18 years ago in South Lake Tahoe, California, fathered two daughters with her and held her captive in a well-hidden backyard compound, authorities said.

Dugard's real identity was discovered last week and her alleged kidnappers -- Garrido, a registered sex offender, and his 55-year-old wife, Nancy -- were arrested. They face 29 felony charges, including rape and kidnapping, and both have pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, Dugard and her mother and daughters have moved to an undisclosed location as they try to get reacquainted, said Carl Probyn, Dugard's stepfather. A team of psychologists and several law enforcement officers are with them, he said.

Probyn, who watched helplessly as his stepdaughter was kidnapped near their home in 1991, observes at arm's length as Dugard reunites with her mother. He has not seen or spoken to her, but he said family members told him Dugard looked well.

"She's with a group and they're taking care of her and they're getting adjusted. And my wife and daughter are up there. And it's going real slow. I mean, I don't need to be involved in this and disrupt anything," he told CNN's Larry King on Monday.

Probyn, who is separated from Dugard's mother, said Dugard's personality will help her deal with the years of trauma.

"I know Jaycee very well. She's a mellow person. She was just a sweet kid. She never got mad. She doesn't -- she's not angry, you know. ... That's why she's alive," he said.