Nearly three decades after a fatal hit-and-run, a man accused of killing a 64-year-old grandfather has been arrested—thanks to a viewer who recognized him while watching a rerun of America’s Most Wanted.
Leslie Ruby died outside his Des Moines, Iowa, home on September 29, 1997. A married Korean War veteran, Ruby never saw his attacker brought to justice. His wife and daughter both died before the long-running investigation reached an arrest.
Ruby had been mowing his daughter’s lawn and was riding his mower home when he attempted to cross the street in front of his house. A vehicle struck him as he made his way across.
The impact occurred near the driveway of a neighboring home and carried Ruby roughly 150 feet, according to Dan Anderson, who still lives beside Ruby’s former property. Anderson recalled the scene to WBAL.
“The car continued on and didn’t even stop to help,” Des Moines Police Sergeant Paul Parizek said in a video shared on Facebook.
Investigators later identified Gerardo Garcia-Michel, who was 28 when the crash occurred, as a suspect. Police believed he had left Iowa, and a lead suggested he might have relocated to Southern California. That search, however, produced no results.
America’s Most Wanted featured Ruby’s unsolved death the following year, with police hoping the national exposure would prompt someone with information to come forward.
Nearly 29 years after the episode aired, the broadcast finally generated a breakthrough. A man in New Jersey contacted Crime Stoppers after recognizing Garcia-Michel as his neighbor.
Leslie Ruby, 64, died in a Des Moines, Iowa, hit-and-run on September 29, 1997, while riding his lawn mower home
Ruby’s wife, Patricia Ruby, died before her husband’s alleged killer was brought to justice. The couple, pictured together, had one daughter and one granddaughter
America’s Most Wanted featured Ruby’s case a year after his death. The Korean War veteran is pictured in uniform as a young man
Gerardo Garcia-Michel was identified as a suspect in the America’s Most Wanted episode. He was arrested last month after a viewer recognized him
The Des Moines Police Department named Garcia-Michel as a suspect shortly after the crash, and a warrant for his arrest remained active for almost 30 years.
Detectives interviewed witnesses in 1997, but none could provide a detailed description of the driver, Sergeant Parizek said.
Investigators knew only that Ruby had been struck by a large, dark-colored vehicle that did not have license plates.
Several days after the incident, a patrol officer discovered a parked vehicle matching that description. The car had severe damage to its bumper and windshield, and police traced its purchase records to Garcia-Michel.
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Because Garcia-Michel had relatives in Southern California, detectives suspected he had gone there. The lead ultimately failed to locate him.
The original America’s Most Wanted broadcast produced several tips, and investigators pursued each one. None, however, led to Garcia-Michel.
The case changed on August 4 of this year, when the New Jersey tip was submitted. It included a photograph of the suspected fugitive. Although Garcia-Michel had clearly aged, Parizek said detectives compared the images and became “pretty confident” they had found the right man.
Des Moines police contacted authorities in New Jersey, who continued the investigation. Ocean County Jail records show that Garcia-Michel was arrested on August 26.
Garcia-Michel was 28 at the time of the hit-and-run, and he is pictured at that age. Police said he evaded arrest by slightly changing his name and date of birth
Police identified Garcia-Michel as a suspect after discovering he had purchased this damaged car that matched the description of the car that hit Ruby
He was charged as a fugitive from justice, the records show. Parizek said that his department is working on extraditing Garcia-Michel to Iowa.
The sergeant also said that over the years, Garcia-Michel slightly changed his name and date of birth, which is how he was able to evade arrest for so long.
Ruby was killed just a few months before he would have celebrated his 40th wedding anniversary with his wife, Patricia Ruby. She died three years after he was killed.
‘I always think it was from a broken heart,’ Ruby’s granddaughter, Shonna, said in the video released by the Des Moines Police Department.
Shonna’s mom, Shirley, who was also Patricia and Leslie’s only daughter, died in 2013.
‘They both would have wanted to find some kind of justice in this,’ Shonna said.
Ruby’s wife, Patricia, and his daughter, Shirley, both died before Garcia-Michel was arrested. They are pictured holding his wanted posted
Ruby’s granddaughter, Shonna, said her mom and grandma ‘can finally rest in peace knowing that almost 30 years later people don’t give up on you’
‘I think they would’ve been happy now, and they can finally rest in peace knowing that almost 30 years later people don’t give up on you,’ she added through tears.
‘It doesn’t matter if its 29 minutes, 29 days or 29 years after a crime. Getting answers for the family is one of the most important things we can do as an organization, and our detectives work hard every day to do that,’ Parizek said.
