Killer on Death Row may have clues in Michaela Garecht case

A convicted killer on San Quentin's Death Row recently made a claim that he holds the answers to one of the Bay Area's long unsolved missing child cases.

A killer named Wesley Shermantine has stated he believes his former partner in crime, Loren Herzog, may have been responsible for the kidnapping of Michaela Garecht 23 years ago.

Nine-year-old Michaela was kidnapped on November 19th, 1988, snatched from a grocery store parking lot in Hayward. 

At the Hayward police department Wednesday, officers said they were eager to talk to the death row inmate to find out what he knows that might connect Herzog to what happened to Michela over two decades ago.

"He had family in Castro Valley, which would put him in close proximity to Hayward," said Hayward Police Lt. Roger Keener.

A resemblance can be seen between the police sketch of the kidnapper from 1988 and a booking photo of Herzog.

"There is similarity there, without a doubt," said Keener. "But we have other leads too that there was similarity. If you recall, Phillip Garrido, back in the day, looked a lot like that sketch."

Hayward police hope to have a chance to talk with Shermantine soon.  However, they will have to wait until after San Joaquin County investigators are through talking to him about more than a dozen other murders.

Herzog apparently committed suicide on January 16^th, just as investigators renewed discussions to search for missing bodies that some believe he had a hand in killing.

Bounty hunter Leonard Padilla said he agreed to pay Herzog's co-conspirator to disclose the bodies' locations. Padilla said he called Herzog to warn him to get a lawyer.

Authorities found Herzog dead inside his Lassen County trailer hours later.

Investigators believe Herzog and Shermantine killed as many as 19 people.

KTVU spoke by phone to two bounty hunters in Sacramento with knowledge of the case. One said he talked with Herzog the day he died. The other said he thinks Herzog was responsible for the Garecht.

"Back in the times of these crimes, both parties came under our radar," said Keener. "But they didn't rise to the level of we need to investigate it right now because we did have more valid leads."

In the parking lot of the Hayward grocery store is a tree covered in yellow ribbons for Michaela.

A note on one ribbon reads: "you could never imagine how much a person can miss a sister they don't remember."

The ribbon is signed by Michaela's sister Libby.

Michela's mother, Sharon Murch, spoke to KTVU early Wednesday evening to give her reaction to the latest news involving her daughter's unsolved case.

"Because we've been through it before, I try not to invest myself too heavily in it emotionally," said Murch. "When somebody comes up with an answer, when somebody says 'This is it. We actually found something,' then I will."