Michaela Garecht was abducted 25 years ago in Hayward, California, and never found. But her mother says she could still be alive.
“At this time Michaela is actually the same age as I was when she was kidnapped and thinking of her growing up like that of course I have to wonder where she is,” Sharon Murch told KTVU.
The FBI followed thousands of leads following the November 19, 1988 abduction but never found Garecht, who was 9 when she went missing.
“It’s really hard to describe the really devastating impact that had on us. To spend several months contemplating whether or not we were actually going to find out Michaela was no longer alive and what that would feel like,” said Murch.
But until she sees evidence that her daughter is dead, Murch said she'll keep looking for her.
Dozens of police officers, friends, and supporters of the family went on November 19 to the scene where she was last seen. That was on Mission Boulevard. At the time, Michaela and her friend Katrina Rodriguez stopped their scooters outside Rainbow Market and bought snacks.
They returned outside to find one the scooters missing, so they split up to find it. Rodriguez looked up after she heard a scream and saw a man putting Michaela into a car, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
