Ilene Misheloff Annual Candlelight Vigil Canceled; Goes Virtual

DUBLIN, CA — Thirty-two years after the disappearance of Ilene Misheloff, 13, of Dublin, an annual candlelight vigil in her honor will not be held this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Her father, Mike Misheloff, and Dublin Police Chief Garrett Holmes will instead post messages Saturday in her honor on the police department's Twitter account (@DublinCAPolice).

While we cannot hold a traditional candlelight vigil marking the 32nd Anniversary of Ilene Misheloff’s tragic disappearance, the City continues to honor her memory and seek answers behind her kidnapping. Read more: https://t.co/CAQLGTbxHs pic.twitter.com/Q8aKMHwI6q
— Dublin Police (@DublinCAPolice) January 29, 2021

Ilene vanished Jan. 30, 1989 while walking home from Wells Middle School. Police offered a $95,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for her disappearance.

Ilene's parents, Mike and Madelyne "Maddi" Misheloff, never gave up hope that their daughter would be found and held annual candlelight walks along the route she took home from school. Mrs. Misheloff died in April after a nearly two-year-long battle with bladder cancer.

The Dublin Police Department is in the process of taking another look at Ilene's case after David Misch, 59, was charged with murder with special circumstances last month in the disappearance of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht in 1988, who disappeared outside of a Hayward market. He has been in prison since 1989 for a Hayward murder and is currently in Santa Rita Jail awaiting trial for a 1986 cold-case double homicide in Fremont.

Dublin police review Ilene's case any time officers hear of someone else being investigated for a similar crime.

Police are still following up with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and police departments in Fremont and Hayward to further the investigation, said Dublin Police Capt. Nate Schmidt in an email Thursday.

Anyone with tips about Ilene's disappearance will remain anonymous and can contact Dublin Police Sgt. Alan Corpuz at 925-833-6670.