On Sept. 29, 1997, 64-year-old Leslie Ruby, a Korean War veteran and grandfather, was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver outside his Des Moines, Iowa home. Investigators identified Gerardo Garcia-Michel as the suspect, but he left Iowa before he could be arrested, and the case went cold for nearly three decades.
What reopened it wasn’t new forensic technology or a sudden confession. It was a rerun of America’s Most Wanted. The show first aired Ruby’s case in 1998, and when it re-aired recently, a viewer in New Jersey recognized the suspect as his own neighbor and called Crime Stoppers. U.S. Marshals arrested Garcia-Michel, and Des Moines police are now working to extradite him back to Iowa.
Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said the timing doesn’t matter: “It doesn’t matter if it’s 29 minutes or 29 days or 29 years after a crime. Getting answers for the family is one of the most important things that we can do.” For families still waiting on answers in unsolved cases here on the Suncoast, this one is a reminder that a single phone call can change everything. Have you ever spotted someone from a wanted poster or a crime show? Tell us your story.
