Murder of Michella Welch

1986 Rape and Murder of 12-Year-Old Girl

Crime: Sexual Assault
Homicide
Date: 26 Mar 1986

On Wednesday 26 March 1986, Michella Welch, a petite 12-year old girl with long blond hair and glasses, went missing. She had taken her two younger sisters to Puget Park in Tacoma, Washington at about 10 a.m. and then rode her bicycle home about 11 a.m. to make lunch for them. When she returned, she chained her bike next to one of her sister's bikes, set the lunches on the table and went looking for her siblings, who had gone to a nearby business to use the restroom.

A 13-year-old classmate later told detectives he saw a man in the park that day under the Proctor Bridge who...