Still Missing: Michaela Joy Garecht

About Me

My name is Sharon Murch, and I am Michaela's mother, and I thank you for your love and support for my daughter.
November 19, 2007, will mark the 19-year anniversary of Michaela's kidnapping. Below is a copy of the front page of the newspaper on the one year anniversary. However many years have passed, we have not given up, and the police department investigation is still active. This is a case that will never grow cold.
This is the composite of Michaela's kidnapper, made right after it happened, with the assistance of the eyewitness. Remember that this is what he looked like over 18 years ago.
If you have any information about Michaela or her kidnapper, please call the Hayward Police Department at 1-800-222-3999, or contact me here or at [email protected]
Countup Timers at WishAFriend.com
My daughter, Michaela Joy Garecht, was kidnapped on November 19, 1988, at the age of 9. She has never been found. I am Michaela's mom. This myspace has been created to keep her alive in everyone's memory, and perhaps to help find her.
Michaela was kidnapped when she and a friend went three blocks to our neighborhood market one sunny Saturday morning. They had ridden scooters to the market, and when they came out one was missing. Michaela spotted it in the parking lot and went to get it. When she bent over to pick it up, a man jumped out of the car next to it, grabbed her from behind, threw her in his car, and took off with her. Michaela's friend witnessed the kidnapping and went immediately for help. In spite of an immediate police response, Michaela has never been found, and neither has her kidnapper. It has now been over eighteen years.
For those of you who never knew her, how can I tell you about Michaela? She was beautiful. She was loving. She was very kind and nurturing. She loved God down deep in her heart. (If you know Robbie, you have a little glimpse of Michaela's character.) But as I've said before, all those words can capture her about as well as a box of crayons can capture a gossamer rainbow. She was my first child, the first person ever to reach out and call me mommy. She was a very large piece of my heart.
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My Interests

This is Michaela at age 2, with her baby brother Alex. I look back at those times, and we were so innocent. I held her in my arms, never knowing that one day she would be so terribly ripped away from me. I took joy in her sweet smiles, never knowing that they would one day be replaced by screams of terror. Oh God, it seems it is my endless destiny not only to find out what happened to my daughter, but to understand WHY and HOW this could have happened.

This is Michaela's tree, which grows next to the parking space Michaela's kidnapper was parked in when he lured her to his car and kidnapped her. Nineteen years later, tree is a generous description for it, but nevertheless we left our remembrance for her on November 19, 2007. This is a placque nestled in the branches, so people will know why the ribbons and balloons are there.

Here are some pictures of the ribbons we hung in the tree, and some balloons hung by children from the neighborhood.

And on another tree across town (thanks, Cabrina and Tiana).

I'd like to meet:

I'd like to meet someone who can tell me what happened to Michaela. But I am also happy to meet others who are struggling with grief, and particularly those who may be stumbling in their faith because of grief. It took me fifteen years to make peace with God after I lost my daughter, but I did, finally, make that peace.

You can reach me here or e-mail me at [email protected]

Music:

Please TURN ON YOUR COMPUTER SPEAKERS and have a listen.

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

...Casting Crowns

Movies:

Many people have asked me how I was able to make my peace with God after Michaela's kidnapping. But one day, I was sitting in church with tears streaming down my face, and I felt God say to me, "Do you think I don't know how you feel?" And I felt the heart of God, as he watched his own Son suffer at the hands of men, as he watched him die. Even one of the worst of my own nightmares, that Michaela had at some point given up .. coming, that she had felt ABANDONED ... God the Father had felt even that as Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Someone once asked God, "Where were you when my son died?" and God replied, "The same place I was when my Son died." There is a video clip on this page. If you watch it, you will see the anguish Jesus' mother suffered as she watched him walk the Via Dolorosa. God suffered no less.
I saw the parents of a VT shooting victim on television a few weeks ago, and they said they had come to terms with the fact that their greatest loss was actually their daughter's greatest gain. I don't know for certain whether Michaela has passed from this life or not, but if she has, it is true that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord who Michaela loved, and there is no more sorrow or pain in that place.

Heroes:

My children, who kept me alive in the worst of times.

God, who so patiently and lovingly drew me back to himself.

My Blog

sorrow without end

For the most part, I get through life. I actually even consider myself to be a ridiculously positive person, all things considered. But sometimes, I cry. Like last Sunday in church....
Posted by Still Missing: Michaela Joy Garecht on Sun, 04 Nov 2007 10:47:00 PST

why I do what I do

I recently did a google search of my daughter's name. I came up with many missing children's sites, unsolved crime sites, some news items, and one website that contained a thread about my daught...
Posted by Still Missing: Michaela Joy Garecht on Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:03:00 PST

The Shack

I've been reading a book I want to recommend to you. "The Shack" is a fiction book about a missing child. She had been camping with her father when she was kidnapped, by a serial kidnapper who leaves ...
Posted by Still Missing: Michaela Joy Garecht on Thu, 25 Oct 2007 08:59:00 PST

Message from a Friend: Michaela’s Legacy

I got this message today, from one of my myspace friends, who knew Michaela when before we she kidnapped. I have removed his name ... I hope he doesn't mind me posting it! Hi Sharon, I was think...
Posted by Still Missing: Michaela Joy Garecht on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:32:00 PST

Status of the Investigation

In case you were wondering how long it's been since Michaela has been kidnapped, I put a counter on her myspace page that tells you just exactly how many days. But let's put it this way ... it's...
Posted by Still Missing: Michaela Joy Garecht on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 05:35:00 PST

God is Good

It has occurred to me that I post an awful lot of blogs on my personal myspace that would be good to post here. There are blogs I have lifted from Ravi Zacharias' e-mails on the value of sufferi...
Posted by Still Missing: Michaela Joy Garecht on Tue, 26 Jun 2007 11:30:00 PST

Obedient Children

I have five kids, and I've got to say, none of them are as obedient as I was when I was a kid! Sometimes this really frustrates me. But ... I was just reading the story of a child who was ...
Posted by Still Missing: Michaela Joy Garecht on Sun, 11 Mar 2007 11:05:00 PST

AGE PROGRESSIONS

This is something that has bothered me for a long time, but apparently nobody has cared and there has been nothing I could do about it. I still may not be able to, but at least here I have a sma...
Posted by Still Missing: Michaela Joy Garecht on Sat, 24 Feb 2007 11:26:00 PST

Where is Michaela TODAY?

For many years now, I have believed that Michaela is most likely no longer alive. There have been a couple of reasons for that. First of all, I find it really hard to believe that in eight...
Posted by Still Missing: Michaela Joy Garecht on Sat, 27 Jan 2007 09:52:00 PST

Michaela's Birthday January 24th

Not long ago I drove by the house I lived in when Michaela was born. I remember taking her home there, being so totally full of joy, so absolutely and completely in love with that precious littl...
Posted by Still Missing: Michaela Joy Garecht on Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:19:00 PST