CA CA - Ilene Misheloff, 13, Dublin, 30 Jan 1989

[LinasK]

To abduct a 13 year old girl from a developed area with a lot of people around, you need a vehicle very close to the abduction point and that vehicle has to be where there are likely to be few people... I think there is a parking area at John Mape Memorial Park which is very close to the dry creek bed where the kidnapping almost certainly occurred. The children knew they could get from the commercial part of Dublin to the communities west of San Ramon by crossing San Ramon near The Sawmill and then taking the path across the dry creek bed to John Mape Park... This is a route that only a local would have known. No one could have followed Ilene there in a vehicle; only on foot. A local might have imagined that she would end up on the dry creek trail and then drive to the John Mape Park parking area or, quite possibly, she was waiting for someone to walk that road. Either way, only a local would know that way...

I don't think any out-of-town predator has stumbled across that path and found Ilene. I'm sure she was dealing with someone who lived in Dublin or knew the city very well. My own wild guess would be that he was an older teenager who pulled this off and was one of those "one and done" criminals who go on to live a more or less normal life. Because he had the means to bury her body in undeveloped land around Dublin and leave no DNA behind, we may never know who she is....she was just a 13 year old girl with a talent for skating and a . It ended just like that...
rest in peace.

It's street parking in front of John Mape park. There is no designated parking area. It's off Calle Verde Rd. (residential) or you can walk across the foot bridge and park in the parking lot of the former restaurant that recently closed there- McNamara's and public storage facility. And yes, the dry creek bed runs next to the park.

 

[LinasK]

I was just watching a recent 20/20 program from about a month ago on the Polly Klaas case, and at Polly's memorial site in Cloverdale- where she was found, someone had left a rock for Ilene. That was touching.

 

[girlhasnoname]

It's been awhile since I posted here but I was thinking about Ilene recently when I saw another very old case solved after 30 years.

Here's hope to finding answers in this case too.

 

[girlhasnoname]

It's been awhile since I posted here but I was thinking about Ilene recently when I saw another very old case solved after 30 years.

Here's hope to finding answers in this case too.

Genetic Genealogy is solving old cases more frequently now, but of course there needs to be a remains or DNA. I'm still holding out hope for Ilene and her loved ones. May 2024 be the year.

 

[jewelsmac]

You are not forgotten, I am still hoping that something will shake loose and you will be found. I’m hoping that there’s DNA that hasn’t been tested on the keys or backpack. I am hoping that someone,feeling the safety of years that have passed, will come forward and provide information. You are not forgotten.

 

[jewelsmac]

It's street parking in front of John Mape park. There is no designated parking area. It's off Calle Verde Rd. (residential) or you can walk across the foot bridge and park in the parking lot of the former restaurant that recently closed there- McNamara's and public storage facility. And yes, the dry creek bed runs next to the park.

The craziest part is that parking lot wasn’t there at the time. There was a farmhouse , the Rasmussen house, there that you could park behind and not be seen I suppose. Also, that park can’t be seen from the main road that she would’ve walked across. So it is a mystery how the person would have gotten to her so quickly, unless they know that area. Or were laying and wait for any child that made have walked down that creek bed.

 

[jewelsmac]

Ilene Misheloff, Dublin teen who vanished walking home from school, remembered 35 later

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 30, 2024

Ilene Misheloff Case Continues 35 Years After Disappearance

Dublin police are offering $95,000 for info on Ilene Misheloff, who disappeared exactly 35 years ago Tuesday while walking home.

patch.com

[...]

Ilene’s parents never gave up hope that their daughter would return. They hosted fundraisers, gave TV interviews, and lent their support to organizations for missing children.
Police are offering a $95,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible. Anyone with information is asked to contact Dublin Police Services at 925-833-6670.

 

[LinasK]

JAN 30, 2024

Ilene Misheloff Case Continues 35 Years After Disappearance

Dublin police are offering $95,000 for info on Ilene Misheloff, who disappeared exactly 35 years ago Tuesday while walking home.

patch.com

[...]

Ilene’s parents never gave up hope that their daughter would return. They hosted fundraisers, gave TV interviews, and lent their support to organizations for missing children.
Police are offering a $95,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible. Anyone with information is asked to contact Dublin Police Services at 925-833-6670.

Interestingly, it appears that the FBI has added a photo supposedly of Mape Park on the poster, however it doesn't actually look like the park to me. It's a children's park with a playground and a bathroom, and this photo doesn't show the creekbed or the footbridge either. Maybe one of these days I'll walk over and take some photos.

 

[LinasK]

Okay, there's a bunch of photos of Mape Park on Google Maps: Mape Memorial Park · 11711 Mape Way, Dublin, CA 94568

 

[mjm076]

Okay, there's a bunch of photos of Mape Park on Google Maps: Mape Memorial Park · 11711 Mape Way, Dublin, CA 94568

With the 40th anniversary of NCMEC and the return of America’s Most Wanted to TV with John Walsh and his son Callaghan coinciding with the 35th anniversary of this girls disappearance, maybe America’s Most Wanted can profile her case again?

Someone has to know something about what happened to this girl!

 

[jewelsmac]

To abduct a 13 year old girl from a developed area with a lot of people around, you need a vehicle very close to the abduction point and that vehicle has to be where there are likely to be few people... I think there is a parking area at John Mape Memorial Park which is very close to the dry creek bed where the kidnapping almost certainly occurred. The children knew they could get from the commercial part of Dublin to the communities west of San Ramon by crossing San Ramon near The Sawmill and then taking the path across the dry creek bed to John Mape Park... This is a route that only a local would have known. No one could have followed Ilene there in a vehicle; only on foot. A local might have imagined that she would end up on the dry creek trail and then drive to the John Mape Park parking area or, quite possibly, she was waiting for someone to walk that road. Either way, only a local would know that way...

I don't think any out-of-town predator has stumbled across that path and found Ilene. I'm sure she was dealing with someone who lived in Dublin or knew the city very well. My own wild guess would be that he was an older teenager who pulled this off and was one of those "one and done" criminals who go on to live a more or less normal life. Because he had the means to bury her body in undeveloped land around Dublin and leave no DNA behind, we may never know who she is....she was just a 13 year old girl with a talent for skating and a . It ended just like that...
rest in peace.

I strongly agree. I believe whomever did this was local. The position of the park, and access to it , is a bit odd. To just randomly see her cross the road , then turn around and get to the park to intercept her would have been difficult at best. Where i believe she crossed the street would have lead her to a line of trees that are along the creek bed. No park is was visible from the street really back then. However, based on what was written in the book STALEMATE about dogs tracing her to behind the shopping center, but not beyond,,,Im not sure she made it across the street at all.

 

[jewelsmac]

Interestingly, it appears that the FBI has added a photo supposedly of Mape Park on the poster, however it doesn't actually look like the park to me. It's a children's park with a playground and a bathroom, and this photo doesn't show the creekbed or the footbridge either. Maybe one of these days I'll walk over and take some photos.

You’re right it definitely looks different now than it did back then.

 

[mjm076]

So I was listening to a podcast episode that covered Ilene’s disappearance and the hosts and I both had the same idea: have the police tried checking the backpack or even Ilene’s keychain for any DNA other than hers? If Ilene was wearing her backpack on her back when she was kidnapped then the kidnapper would have had to have taken it off of her before taking her wouldn’t he have? Or if he didn’t have her take it off before taking her then he definitely would have gotten possession it while he had (has?) Ilene and then dumped it in the creek.

Perhaps the key to solving this case is same as it was to solve Michaela’s case!

Thoughts?