'Terrible reality': Reaction pours in after charges filed in Michaela Garecht case

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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Reaction pours in after charges filed in Michaela Garecht case
After news broke of two murder charges against David Misch, we spoke with Midsi Sanchez who was kidnapped in Vallejo as a child, and Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly was kidnapped in Petaluma.

HAYWARD, Calif. (KGO) -- The Michaela Garecht case is one of a number of kidnapping cases that has hit Northern California hard.

After news broke of two murder charges against David Misch, we spoke with Midsi Sanchez who was kidnapped in Vallejo as a child, and Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly was kidnapped in Petaluma. Her body was later found in a shallow grave near Cloverdale, California.

RELATED: Michaela Garecht's mother reads heartbreaking letter after man charged in daughter's 1988 murder

"It has given me the chills because we were just with Michaela's family a couple of years ago for the 30th year anniversary, and that day no one had any answers," says Sanchez who was kidnapped and sexually assaulted at the age of eight. She escaped, and says in this case, she prays for answers.

"I hope that this man speaks up and finds it in his heart to say what it is that he did with her," says Sanchez.

RELATED: Suspect arrested in 1988 Michaela Garecht kidnapping case, Hayward police announce

But those like Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly was kidnapped and murdered at the age of 12, and whose killer is currently on Death Row, says he puts no trust in what this newly named suspect has to say.

"Everything that guys like him say when they find themselves in these tight situations is going to be totally and completely self-serving. It will be virtually impossible to find out what is true and what is not true," says Klaas.

For 30 plus years we've seen pictures of Michaela. Klaas says when Polly went missing years ago he couldn't help but think about Michaela. He and Sanchez agree that this will be a tough time for her family.

"I hope that everybody will keep Michaela's family in their thoughts and prayers right now because it is going to be a very tough time for them because finally that door has been closed, that thread has been broken, they now know with certainty that Michaela is dead and that's a terrible reality to live with whether your child has been gone ten minutes or thirty years."

VIDEO: Search for Michaela Garecht continues 30 years after Hayward kidnapping

For the past thirty years, Sharon Murch has been searching for answers, about what happened to her little girl, who was last seen in their Hayward neighborhood on Nov. 19, 1988.