Rerun of ‘America’s Most Wanted’ Leads to Arrest in Decades-Old Cold Case

Authorities have finally made an arrest in a tragic and fatal crime from nearly three decades ago.

The arrest occurred thanks to a chance viewing of a 1998 episode of the long-running crime-fighting television series, “America’s Most Wanted.”

Tuesday on Facebook, the Des Moines Police Department in Des Moines, Iowa, posted a video announcing a major breakthrough in the hit-and-run death of 64-year-old Leslie Ruby, who was killed on Sept. 29, 1997, while riding his lawnmower outside his Des Moines home.

Sgt. Paul Parizek of the Des Moines Police appeared in the video, along with Ruby’s granddaughter, Shonna.

“I didn’t have my dad in my life, so he was my dad,” Shonna said of her late grandfather.

Parizek then explained that on that day in 1997, Ruby had just finished cutting the grass at his daughter’s house. The Korean War veteran was driving the lawnmower back to his own house when he was struck and killed by a car while crossing the street. The vehicle’s driver never stopped.

The subsequent investigation led police to a suspect named Geraldo Garcia-Michel, then 28. Unfortunately, police learned that the suspect had likely fled to southern California.

Then, in 1998, “America’s Most Wanted” profiled the case.

“Everybody watched that TV show,” Parizek said, recalling the hopefulness that accompanied that episode’s original airing.

Alas, nothing came of it.

In the meantime, Ruby’s widow, Patricia, passed away several years after the accident.

“I always think it was from a broken heart,” Shonna said.

Then, in 2013, Shirley L. Brown, Shonna’s mother and the only child of Leslie and Patricia Ruby, died at the age of 51.

“They both would have wanted to find some kind of justice in this,” Shonna said of her mother and grandmother. An old photograph of Patricia and Shirley holding a “Wanted” poster that featured the suspect’s face appeared in the video as Shonna spoke those words.

Incredibly, on Aug. 4, police received a “Crime Stoppers” tip from a New Jersey resident who, while watching a rerun of the 1998 “America’s Most Wanted” episode on Ruby’s case, recognized Garcia-Michel as his neighbor.

After a weeks-long collaboration with New Jersey authorities, U.S. Marshals then arrested the suspect on Aug. 26.

“He had made some minor adjustments to his name and date of birth, and probably some other things, over the years,” Parizek said, explaining how Garcia-Michel had evaded capture for so long.

Meanwhile, a tearful Shonna reflected on her late mother and grandmother.

“I think they would have been happy now,” she said. “And they would — they can finally rest in peace, knowing that, you know, almost 30 years later that, you know, people don’t give up on you, and things like that.”

Parizek recalled the moment police informed Shonna of the suspect’s arrest.

“One of the things she said is that it was nice to know that justice was going to be served,” Parizek told WCCI-TV in Des Moines. “And it was also nice to know that they weren’t forgotten about.”

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