. >>> a convicted killer charged with murder in the 1988 kidnapping of 9-year-old, michaela garecht, made his first court appearance today. our crime reporter, henry lee, has tonight update. >> reporter: from the jail dublin, david misch arrived on a video feed. he did not enter a plea in 1988 kidnapping of 9-year-old, michaela garecht , which shocked the nation. the defense attorney said his client had nothing to do with it. >> it would not hurt or kill a child. >> reporter: two witnesses told police they saw him in a car in the parking lot before the kidnapping. this is a photo of him from 1988, and a police sketch of the kidnapper. they say that they matched a partial palm print to him. those types of prints had to be compared manually. >> that is just ridiculous. >> reporter: he calls the sudden match junk science. >> we will be attacking a concept or idea that a person, can with their human eye, distinguish ridges, or whatever types of patterns we have on our hands. >> reporter: he noted that michaela garecht's whereabouts are unknown. >> they don't have a body. they don't know

charges a man with murder following the 1988 disappearance of michaela garecht. tonight, what michaela's father has to say as well as the detective who never forgot the day she was taken. >>> also ahead, the coronavirus caseload that continues to soar. now there's talk the governor may extend stay-at-home orders. >>> plus, the dozens of san francisco firefighters testing positive for co-ed and tvid and to get them vaccinated. >> building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc7 news. >>> it was a kidnapping on a seemingly average saturday in hayward. 9-year-old michaela garecht seemed to vanish from a supermarket parking lot. now her family finally has some answers after waiting years to find out the fate of their little girl. good evening, i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm liz kreutz. thank you for joining us. david misch has been charged with the kidnapping and murder of michaela garecht. misch is already in santa rita jail serving a prior murder conviction and is awaiting trial for a double murder from 1986. we have team coverage on this story tonig

number one, the man charged in the 1988 michaela garecht kidnapping is expected to be in court today. michaela was just nine years old when she was abducted in hayward. a partial palm print on her scooter led to the arrest of david misch. >>> number two governor newm is says stay-at-home orders will be extended. statewide the icu capacity is just 2.5%. >>> number three, the ceo of the company that helped to develop pfizer's covid-19 vaccine says he is confident it will work against a new mutation of the coronavirus and he adds further studies are needed to be sure. >>> a $900 billion coronavirus relief package is heading to president trump's desk for his signature. congress passed that last night and includes relief checks and extended unemployment benefits. >>> and number five for consecutive days we wake up under a spare the air alert and also wake up under good to moderate air quality. the most likely area to have unhealthy air will be the south bay. >>> and number six, we are going to check out a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza right now. i'm following just some road work,

. >>> now to a breakthrough in the michaela -- michaela garecht case. of man is facing kidnapping and murder charges. andria borba is live outside the santa rita jail where that suspect is already behind bars for another case. >> reporter: this was a case that gripped the bay area for decades. tonight, hayward police say they have their suspect, they know who kidnapped michaela garecht. >> it was so brazen, so ruthless, but clearly, plant. >> reporter: 32 years later, detectives essay this man, 59- year-old david misch, is the person responsible for the abduction of michaela garecht in 1988. the break in the case came earlier this year from fremont pd. that agency was investigating him for a double murder during the same period. >> we also have the partial palm print and through painstaking direct examination, we were able to identify the suspect as the perpetrator. >> reporter: he was already in state prison for a separate 1989 murder but matching his partial palm print did not come quickly. >> it was not something we could run to the system, as i said

number one, the man charged in the 1988 michaela garecht case is expected to be in court today. chaela was just 9 when she was abducted in hayward. investigators say a partial palm print on her scooter led them to the arrest of david misch. >>> number two. governor newsom says stay-at-home orders throughout much of the state will be extended because of the record covid-19 surges. statewide the icu capacity is just 2.9%. >>> the ceo of biontech says he is confident that the vaccine works against a new mutation of coronavirus. and he adds further studies are needed, though, to be sure. >>> number four. a $900 billion coronavirus relief package is heading to president trump's desk for his signature. congress passed it last night and includes $600 relief checks and extended unemployment benefits. >>> are you dreaming of a wet christmas? does anybody around here? well, it's going to happen as rain moves into the north bay in the morning and slides south through the afternoon. it's a one on the storm impact scale. >>> and number six. taking a live look from our south beach camera here

authorities say the mystery over the 1988 kidnapping of 9- year-old michaela garecht has been solved. >> 59-year-old david misch has been charged with the murder of michaela garecht. >> reporter: he has long been in prison after being convicted of murder in 1989 in alameda county. it's a stumping development in a case that was cold for 32 years. >> this is a tragic stories that has gripped the bay area for decades. >> it's been sinking in. she shock has kind of worn off, and i'm just trying to find my way in a new reality. >> reporter: michaela's mother told me she is glad that misch has been behind bars for decades. >> nothing that happens to him is going to bring michaela back, and that's the only real justice there for me. >> reporter: chicago and her friend katrina parked their scooters and tonight get candy soda at the rainbow market on mission boulevard. >> they were just kids. care free, certainly unsuspecting of the danger that lay ahead. >> reporter: after buying some items, they noticed one scooter was missing and split up to try to find it. katrina saw michaela being put in

. >> michaela garecht vanished from a supermarket parking lot in hayward in 1988.rosecutors charged a convicted killer with her death. henry lee was the first to break the story. he is here now with more from authorities, and also henry talked to the little girl's mother. >> reporter: the mystery over the kidnapping has been solved. >> 59-year-old david misch has been charged with the murder of michaela garecht. >> reporter: david misch has long been in prison after being convicted in alameda county of murder in 1989. it's a stunning development in a case that was cold for 32 years. >> the disappearance of michaela gary a tragic story that has gripped the bay area for decades. >> it's been sinking in. she shock has kind of worn off, and i'm just trying to find my way in a new reality. >> reporter: michaela's mother sharon said

america's most wanted and unsolved mysteries." >> november 19th, 1988, a 9-year-old girl named michaela garecht and her best friend were given $5 by the friend's father to spend at a local market in hayward, california. >> reporter: garecht was 9 when she was last seen in 1988 at this store parking lot where she and her friend katrina hogue went to buy candy and soda. >> michaela, she might be just as much a 39-year-old as i am. >> reporter: hogue, the only witness to the kidnapping, says when she left the store, a man threw garecht in his car and drove off. >> she might be somewhere, and we might be able to find her. >> reporter: the suspect, 59-year-old david misch, was already in custody convicted in a previous murder. investigators received new leads in the garecht case earlier this year. >> we had the opportunity to follow those leads patiently as misch has been in state prison since 1989 convicted of murder. >> reporter: authorities say misch left a partial palm print on garecht's scooter, which investigators then compared with their own eyes. garecht's body has never been found. her moth

investigators say misch abducted 9-year-old michaela garecht in november of 1988.a suffering from terminal cancer. >> i'm not really afraid of dying. it seems kind of like a great adventure. and to know that i have michaela there on the other side when i get there. >> in hayward, melissa colorado -- >> hayward police are not revealing the evidence leading to misch's charges and still have not located michaela's remains. >>> more than 5 dozen people were arrested in los angeles for going to underground parties. los angeles county's deputies says the parties are classified as superspreader events. police arrested more than 67 people over the weekend. one party in downtown l.a. there was another one in compton. >>> 2020 hindsight, in this case worth about $2 billion for the state of california which experts say really dropped the ball when it came to those unemployment benefits and the fraud that happened right after that. the "l.a. times" is out with a scathing new report on the simple things states have done which california did not do that lawmakers are now looking

. >>> coming up at 5:30, a closer look at the man police say kidnapped and killed michaela garecht more than 30 years ago. also ahead tonight, dr. grouchy gets vaccinated. the message he wants to send about receiving his shot. ♪ >>> i'm still tracking some holiday rain. get the umbrellas ready, you will need it. i will have the details after the break. ♪ ♪ digital transformation has failed to take off. because it hasn't removed the endless mundane work we all hate. ♪ ♪ automation can solve that by taking on repetitive tasks for us. unleash your potential. uipath. reboot work. >>> the nation's top infectious disease expert received the first dose of the vaccine today. it happened on the stage at the national institutes of health. it is another effort to shore up public confidence that this new weapon against the coronavirus is safe and effective. mark meredith has the story. >> i feel extreme confidence in the safety and the efficacy of this vaccine and i want to encourage everyone who has the opportunity to get vaccinated so that we can have a veil of protection over this country. >> re

a convicted killer now charged with killing michaela garecht in 1988 made his first court appearance today. henry lee has more including why the sussex attorney calls the charges ridiculous. >> reporter: david misch appeared on the video in courthouse today. his defense attorney said his client had nothing to do with it. >> he wouldn't hurt or kill a child as they are accusing him of. this is a photo of misch from 1988 and a police sketch of the kidnapper, hayward police also say litigators matched a partial paw print on the scooter to misch. those types of prints had to be compared manually. his attorney calls it after 32 years junk science. >> we will definitely be attacking any concept or idea that a person can come with their human eye, be able to distinguish ridges or whatever type of patterns we have on our hands. they don't have a body, we don't know if this kid is dead or not or if she is alive. they are still representing them back in 1986, he's already a convicted murderer from killing a woman in 1989 so he's been behind bars for decades. >> it is an easy way to close the c

authorities say the mystery over the 1988 kidnapping of nine-year-old michaela garecht near a hayward market has been solved. 59-year-old david misch has been charged with her murder. michaela's body has never been found, but this year authorities see a palm print found on a scooter that the girl and a friend had been riding was that of misch. >>> state health officials are gearing up to receive the first delivery of moderna's coronavirus vaccine. more than 672,000 doses are set to arrive in california this week. boxes of the vaccine were loaded on to fedex and ups planes and trucks yesterday, and shipped to all 50 states. >>> and breaking news now from the nation's capitol. the house has just passed a $900 billion covid-19 relief bill that includes a direct payment of $600 that will be sent to americans as early as next week, as part of the coronavirus relief deal reached in congress. the legislation also includes an extra $300 in unemployment benefits per week, and more than $284 billion in forgivable paycheck protection loans. the senate is expected to pass it as well. >>> a new st

this is the suspect. 59-year-old michaela garecht. >>> he worked with michaelis disappearance for four years. he says he still thinks about the case in family a lot. i guess this is something that unfortunately through investigations and stuff like that, there able to track them down. he will be arranged tomorrow here in emmet county. >>> look at the sunset in san francisco, just an hour ago. we have some outdoor stuff to do between now and then to the weather will be drives for christmas eve and thursday, and the kitchen is -- good chance of showers. that will taper off pretty quickly so that is the dryer have for the weekend because of the chance of rain is going to start ramping up already before the sun goes down on sunday with the best chance of rain in the second wave, happening sunday night into monday. let's take a look at how much we expect. the first wave is probably going to be the lesser amount, or just, the ability to produce widespread rain fell across the area, anywhere from a 10th of an inch to maybe half inch of total. but some heavy rain is on the way. it looks like m

investigators say misch abducted michaela garecht in november of 1988. mother now living in iowa and suffering from terminal cancer. >> i'm not really afraid of dying. it seems like a great adventure and to know that i have michaela there on the other side when i get there. >> hayward police not revealing the evidence that led to misch's charges and still have not located michaela's remains. >>> conservative media is backing off its unproven claims that voting machines were rigged in order to help elect joe biden. >> scott mcgrew, fox news and newsmax are in full reverse on this one. >>> fox news has been running the same segment on its shows where it interviews experts about the elections who disprove many of the allegations made over the course of the past few weeks by other guests on fox news about voting systems. and fox news is not the only one to go into full reverse here. newsmax, a news channel the president often quotes, posted statements to its website doing much the same titled facts about dominion smartmatic you should know. no evidence has b

the kidnapping of the 9-year-old michaela garecht. this made national headlines. is back on november 19 of 1988. just about 10:00 in the morning when she went to a market to get some food. right there at mission and lafayette. soon after, as in the parking lot, a man grabbed her and threw her into a car as she screamed, then drove off. 32 years later, we can now report as ktvu's has done at the top of the hour hour the man has been charged with murder and has already been held held in a different case out of fremont the killing of two women back in 1986. the news conference is going to be a joint news conference for to the fbi, the hayward police department, the alameda county district attorney will also be there. again, this is underway in about 7 or eight minutes that we will bring it to you live. >>> it is time to check in with rosemary. how is looking outside? >>> it is a nice one out there after a lot of fog this morning. or look at most a clear skies out of the bay area across the coast around the bay and most of the inland cities. will check in the visibili

the original detective on the michaela garecht case on what took so long. >> that is gone on the back of my head and wondered if we missed something. %-ú>>> our to and concerns surrounding a new strain of coronavirus. we have team coverage tonight, let's get right to devin fehely with the system already in place to identify these kind of mutations. >> reporter: they want to be unmistakably clear that there is no evidence right now that is worrisome strain of the virus in the uk has reached california, that it is circulating here. we do know that there are different strains of this virus out in the community, and out in the wider world. on the genetic level, scientists are able to do by the so-called genetic print of these different strains, and importantly, that tells them on the virus has mutated. think of it as an early warning system, an effort to monitor how the viruses are changing or mutating overtime. >> we just anywhere from 5 to 10,000 samples every single day. for mutations. >> reporter: they can tell us if strains of the virus like the highly infectious variant has popped u

haywood detectives essay this man, 59-year-old david misch, is the man who abducted and killed michaela garecht in 1988. the break in the cold case came earlier this year when fremont pd investigating him for a double murder their hand over evidence to hayward. >> we also have the partial thumbprint and through painstaking direct examination, we are able to identify the suspect as the perpetrator. >> reporter: he was already in state prison for a separate 1989 murder but matching his partial pop print did not come quickly. >> it was not a print we could run to the system. it had to be manually compared. and so once it was made to this as a possible potential suspect, then a direct comparison through literally eyesight had to be made to compare the two prints. >> reporter: the da has charged him with murder and two special circumstances. specifically, kidnapping. >> her kidnapper moved one of the scooters away from the store, to the back area of the parking lot. he did so to isolate and be able to grab her. when she came to pick up that scooter. she has never been heard from or seen again. >> re

it was a case that sent a chill down the spine of every bay area parent for years. 9-year-old michaela garecht kidnapped. the case goes cold for 30 years until today. police announcing they believe a man currently serving time for other killings kidnapped and murdered her back in 1998. nbc bay area's mulacea coronado spoke to michaela's mother who says she's happy her daughter's killer cannot hurt anyone else. >> she's not suffering now. she's not been suffering for a long time. >> reporter: this is a tree in hayward where sharon would hold a vigil for her daughter on the anniversary of her disappearance. on november 19, 1998, 9-year-old michaela was abducted from this spot. her best friend at the time was the sole witness who told police a man grabbed michaela and drove off in a car. no dna left at the scene, just the partial palm print found on michaela's scooter. >> i honestly never thought it would be solved. >> reporter: hayward police never forgot michaela like this retired lieutenant. >> i just felt bad i couldn't get it closed before i moved on. >> reporter: on monday hayward police an

charges a man with murder following the 1988 disappearance of michaela garecht. has to say as well as the detective who never forgot the day she was taken. >>> also ahead, the coronavirus caseload that continues to soar. now there's talk the governor may extend stay-at-home orders. >>> plus, the dozens of san francisco firefighters testing positive for co-ed and tvid and to get them vaccinated. >> building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc7 news. >>> it was a kidnapping on a seemingly average saturday in

they say he abducted michaela garecht. r mother, now living in iowa, is suffering from terminal cancer. >> i'm not really afraid of dying. it seems like a great adventure and to know that i have michaela there on the other side when i get there. >>> hayward police is not revealing the evidence and still have not released michaela's remains. jackie? >> reporter: up next, what one local politician is doing about it. >> you may see people online complaining about the new coronavirus relief bill and what's in it. let's take you out to the big board where the dow is mildly lower. >>> and you want to rock out like a former commander in chief? we have the sweet selections making barack obama's 2020 play list. you are watching "today in the bay." >>> right now at 6:41 a look at the current temperatures, and this is what you'll feel as you head out the door, 30s in the north bay and east bay with some 40s for the inner bay as well as the peninsula. we are going to have some clearing and rain in the forecast. we'll talk about that in

in well, david misch showed up remotely in court today 32 years after he kidnapped and killed michaela garecht but his attorney told me that police are picking on his notorious client because he's low hanging fruit. from santa rita jail in dublin, he appeared on a video just across this the street. tessier says his client had nothing to do with it. >> you been hurt or kill a child as they are accusing him of. two witnesses told police they saw them in the party not before the kidnapping. of police's sketch of the kidnapping. authorities say those types of prints had to be compared manually. >> it sounds to me to be ridiculous. >> reporter: after 32 years, they call it junk science. >> will definitely be attacking any concept or idea that a person can the human eye, be able to distinguish ridges or whatever type of patterns we have on our hands. noted that michaela is whereabouts are unknown. spoke with this kid is dead or not or if she was alive. >> reporter: misch is already a convicted murderer for killing a woman in 1989 so he's been behind bars for decades. questions remain over whether he

. >> reporter: garecht was 9 years old when she was last seen in 1988 at this store parking lot where she and her friend went to buy candy and soda. >> michaela, she might be just as much a 39-year-old as i am. >> reporter: hoge, the only witness to the kidnapping says when she left the store, a man threw garecht in his car and drove off. >> she might be somewhere and we might be able to find her. >> the suspect, 59-year-old david niche was already in custody convicted in a previous murder. investigators received new leads in the garrett case earlier this year. >> we had the opportunity to follow those leads patiently as niche has been in state prison since 1989 convicted of murder. >> reporter: authorities say niche left a partial palm print on garecht's scooter. which investigators then saw with heir own eyes. garecht's body has never been found. her mother is holding onto hope that the questions surrounding her disappearance will now come to light. >> every possible terrible thing that could have happened to a child is in my head as a possibility. so if i could find out what did happen to her, at least it would eliminate everything else. >