CA CA - Michelle Xavier, 19, & Jennifer Duey, 20, Fremont, 1 February 1986

Still looking in MS

New Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2012
Messages
14
Reaction score
4
I have been (trying) to look into the murders of Michelle Xavier (19) and Jennifer Duey (20) in 1986 in Fremont, CA, whose bodies were discovered "off Mill Creek Road." Specifically, I am trying to look into whether it was possible that Tommy Lynn Sells could have been responsible for their deaths. I have not been able to find any information about these cases, however, and Diane Fanning's book on Tommy Lynn Sells relates that Sells "may have" killed them. Apparently one of them was killed by being shot in the head, while the other one had her throat sliced. (I unfortunately do not know which is which or any other details; these victims are mentioned only in passing on p. 39 of Diane Fanning's book). The only information I have been able to find at all is a find-a-grave picture of Jennifer Duey's tombstone. IF this is the correct Jennifer Duey, it reports her date of death as Feb. 1st, 1986. However, Sells was in prison in Missouri at that particular time on an auto theft charge, and was not paroled until May of 1986. Does anyone know anything about these two unfortunate young women's demise? Thank you in advance for reading.
 
Thanks for the link. I had seen a similar article, and it seems like there was a reader saying something like "I wish they'd solve the Duey-Xavier murders back in 1986..." I'm assuming they are still open and (very cold) cases. The find-a-grave photo of Jennifer Duey's tombstone DOES show a small picture of Ms. Duey on her tombstone. I've never seen a photo of Ms. Javier. Please, if anyone has photos or other information, share!
Thank you again.
 
From a February 4, 1986 San Jose Mercury article:

On Saturday, Duey's mother said, the women had been at the home of Xavier 's grandmother in Hayward until about 8 p.m. and then had returned to Fremont to a friend's house.

At 10 p.m. the two women were seen at a 7-Eleven on Mowry Avenue in Fremont. Police have not been able to find anyone who saw them alive after that.

Detectives are looking for witnesses who may have seen Xavier 's car that night -- a 1984 white Pontiac Sunbird convertible.

The car was found five miles from the bodies, in a shopping center parking lot on Mission Boulevard at Las Palmas Court, with the doors locked and the keys missing.

People who worked near the shopping center said they saw the car in the parking lot Saturday night. But whether it was left there before or after the murders -- whether it was driven up Mill Creek Road -- was not clear.

Uhler said, however, that "so far we have found no signs of struggle in the car."

He added that police have not yet recovered the women's purses.

''They were not with the bodies," he said. "We have not found them in the car."

Mill Creek Road is a quiet, winding road through the hills that is so narrow in places that only one car can pass at a time. The bodies were found on a curve, in a gravel area off the side of the road wide enough for a car to park on or turn around. On one side of the road a hill rises sharply; on the other the ground drops off into a heavily wooded ravine through which a creek runs. Much of the property along the road is ranch land; although there are some houses, none are near the turnout where the bodies were found.
 
From a February 5, 1986 San Jose Mercury article:

Diane Duey said that her daughter and Xavier were in the habit of grabbing a pizza at the Runway 32 Pizzeria at the Mission Valley shopping center, where police found the car.

''About once a week Jennifer would bring home a pizza from there," said Diane Duey. "They've been known to get a pizza there on the way home."

Duey's mother said she believes it's highly unlikely that the women stopped at a bar before they might have driven to the pizza parlor. They were both under 21, and not "the type to hang out somewhere like that," she said.

''Besides, friends have confirmed that they just didn't drink alcohol. And I can tell you that it would be more like them to get a movie to go home and watch on the VCR and pick up a pizza," said Diane Duey. "Stopping off somewhere like that just isn't the type of thing they would do."

But Diane Duey said she can't figure out where they could have gone after leaving the 7-Eleven, if they didn't go to the pizzeria.

Ray Barsanti, owner of the Mission Valley Inn, said he saw Xavier 's car in the shopping center about 11:15 p.m. Saturday.

But Steve Zensius, 16, who works at Runway 32 Pizzeria, said the white convertible was not parked behind the Chevron station when he left work at 11:20 Saturday night. He said he would have noticed because he was familiar with the car and both victims.

Zensius said police on Sunday showed him three photographs of clothing allegedly belonging to the women. One photo was of a long, pink coat; another was of a long, perhaps knee-length black coat and white scarf; and another was of a red, black and gray checked shirt.
 
People/Crime, by Steve Helling, “32 Years after Best Friends were Murdered, Police use DNA Evidence to make an Arrest”, 03/07/2018@9:53am

http://people.com/crime/32-years-later-dna-arrest-murder-michelle-xavier-jennifer-duey/

⬆️Has a “People Now Update”, video (does not offer any new info., except the arrest of Misch)...
But, it does have a nice[emoji919]⤴️picture of the girls together.

[emoji777]NOTE: In the video, the date that they show is 02/02/1986, NOT 02/01/1986[emoji845] Not sure why, as this is my 1st viewing of this case; however, I did note the discrepancy between the WS’s 1st posting & date mentioned, and then the above video’s referenced date of occurrence/crime, just fyi [emoji777]

***Note:The above is only my own opinions, thoughts, theories; unless otherwise indicated by a website URL and/or reference to an origin source..Thanks!

Please note: My “Thank” clicking is glitchy & often does not register or subtracts mine after I’ve clicked someone’s, ‘Thank’

The TRUTH WILL OUT!, and There will be a Reckoning, in this Life or the Next!
 
Bumping for Michelle and Jennifer, as we approach the 34th anniversary
 
Misch has been charged in another cold case:

More than three decades after nine-year-old Michaela Joy Garecht vanished without a trace after riding her scooter to a California market, a convicted killer has been charged with kidnapping and murder in the cold case.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley on Monday announced that the felony charges have been filed against David Misch, 59, in connection to Garecht's disappearance in November 1988 at the Rainbow Market parking lot in Hayward, California.

The blond, blue-eyed girl's body was never recovered.

Man who 'kidnapped and killed' missing nine-year-old Michaela Garecht is charged with murder | Daily Mail Online

WS thread for Michaela:
Deceased/Not Found - CA - Michaela Garecht, 9, Hayward, 19 Nov 1988
 

Delucchi sided with the defense, meaning that on March 4, Misch will go to trial in the Feb. 2, 1986, killings of best friends Michelle Xavier, 18, and Jennifer Duey, 20, in Fremont. Only after that will he stand trial on charges of kidnapping and murdering Michaela, at a yet-to-be-determined date.

This details his history - he was a monster at all times. :(
 
Last edited:
From 3/06/23


But while ordering Misch to stand trial, Judge Paul Delucchi dropped a bombshell and said he believed that when it came to the killings of Xavier and Duey, he doubted that Misch acted alone. Delucchi honed in on a particular suspect — a former police officer — and said he got “chills up and down my spine” when a retired Fremont investigator recounted his interview with the suspect.

The former officer worked in Fremont and Union City as a reserve in the late 1970s, before brief stints as a lawman in Seaside and Modesto, state records show. His brother was dating a relative of Duey’s.

“I think he was up to his eyeballs in this thing, I really do,” Delucchi said, referring to the second suspect. He added, “(Xavier and Duey) wouldn’t have gone up there with David Misch. They didn’t know David Misch from Adam. … They would go up there with somebody they recognized and trust.”


Much more on the case from the link.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
174
Guests online
2,258
Total visitors
2,432

Forum statistics

Threads
589,972
Messages
17,928,539
Members
228,027
Latest member
Sarahlm8627
Back
Top