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Bone in Calif. well may belong to kidnapped girl
HAYWARD — Authorities are trying to determine whether a bone fragment found in a Central Valley well linked to the so-called “Speed Freak Killers” is that of a 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped nearly 24 years ago.
The 3-inch piece of bone is undergoing DNA testing at a Virginia lab to see if it belongs to Michaela Garecht, who was kidnapped outside a Hayward store in Nov. 19, 1988, said Hayward police Sgt. Eric Krimm.
“Hopefully, the DNA analysis will give us some closure on whether it is or isn’t. That’s the biggest goal,” Krimm told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The fragment was unearthed in a well in Linden, near Stockton, that’s believed to hold victims of a pair of convicted murderers known as the “Speed Freak Killers,” police said. Remains of a 16-year-old girl were found there this year.
Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog were convicted of killing four people during a 15-year, methamphetamine-fueled killing spree. Investigators believe the two may have killed as many as 19 people.
The girl’s mother, Sharon Murch, said in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday that if the fragment is that of Garecht, she will be glad to at least know the truth.
“I feel an overwhelming desire to bring Michaela home,” Murch said. “It breaks my heart to think of her little body lying in that God forsaken place for all these years, and if that is so, I want to gather her up and bring her home.”
In January, Shermantine began revealing locations of victims from his cell at San Quentin Prison’s Death Row. Herzog, who was on parole in Lassen County, committed suicide on Jan. 16, the same day he learned Shermantine was speaking to investigators.
The remains of Joann Hobson, who disappeared in 1985 at age 16, were mixed in with at least two other victims as a result of the police excavation of the Linden well earlier this year, according to an independent report made public Wednesday by the victim’s mother, Joan Shelley.
“I am in a rage over this,” Shelley told The Stockton Record.
San Joaquin County sheriff’s deputies have drawn criticism for unearthing the remains with large earth-moving equipment in February.
Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, who has advocated for ongoing searches for victims, said the report by a laboratory director at California State University, Chico underscored a need for the FBI to take over the investigation.
“This is not a normal situation,” Galgiani said. “We have not seen anything like this before. It is clear that the FBI must come in and take over.”
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