The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone,
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
host, Ali. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Welcome
back, everyone. Again, apologies at the top.
Sorry we had to take last week off a little bit
unexpectedly, but summer is winding down here.
Labor Day is over. We're back to school. So,
well, not that we're in school, but it's back
to school season. And I'm sure a lot of you have
little ones headed back to school. So we're back
into the groove of things. Yes, that's right.
We are about to usher in fall. And this week
we are on episode 140. Yes, and this is a missing
person case this week. All right, let's get into
it. Let's do it. So just as a quick content warning
at the top, this case does involve a young person.
Today, we are talking about the missing person
case of Michael Masaoay. And this takes place
in San Francisco, California in January of 1989.
But first, a little bit about Michael. Michael
is 16 years old in 1989. He is a junior at Sacred
Heart High School, where he was known as a nice,
decent kid who enjoyed playing in the school
band. He played the clarinet and carried it with
him often. He is Filipino, stood about 5 foot
tall, and weighed around 160 pounds in 1989.
He had thick black hair, brown eyes, and wore
glasses. He also had a distinguishing feature.
White scars in the shape of spots that covered
his body, but it's not very noticeable in photos,
however. Michael lived at home with his parents,
Conchita and Roger Masaoay. By all accounts,
he was a typical teenager who loved music and
had a close bond with his family. There was nothing
going on in his life that would make his family,
friends, loved ones think that he would want
to run away. And now, a timeline of events. Wednesday.
January 25th, 1989. The morning of January 25th
began like any other. Michael woke up, got ready
for school, and packed his dark blue duffel bag,
which he used instead of a backpack. Inside,
he placed his school books and his clarinet.
Around 7 .30 a .m., he left home dressed in a
black Adidas jacket over a purple shirt with
blue corduroy pants and white leather Converse
high tops. But Michael would never make it to
school that day, or he'd at least never make
it into class. Later, his family would learn
that Sacred Heart High School had actually been
closed that day, something that they only discovered
after he disappeared. It's unclear if Michael
knew he didn't have school. His parents seemed
to think that he likely discovered that school
was closed when he arrived there that morning.
That morning, Michael was spotted at 9th and
Harrison Street. Later that afternoon, he was
seen again at 7th and Market Street. It's about
an 18 -minute walk between those two spots. Both
times, it was reported that he was alone. It's
unclear exactly the timeline of Michael being
reported missing. It does seem like his parents
reported him missing that day, especially as
they discovered that school was closed and he
had been missing for hours at that point. but
there are no details about how quickly police
start looking for him and what efforts are made
in the area in those critical first few hours.
It does seem that police were not worried, that
they thought Michael had simply wandered off,
maybe was hanging out with friends, and that
he would return home soon. January 30th, 1989,
just five days after Michael was last seen, another
case captured national attention. In Dublin,
California, 12 -year -old Eileen Mishloff was
kidnapped while walking home from school. Her
case dominated the headlines, and Michael's disappearance
receives little coverage in the news. However,
the parents of Eileen do their best to bring
awareness to Michael's case as well, as they
campaign for their daughter. Eileen is still
missing, and we'll cover her disappearance in
a future episode. Saturday, February 4th, 1989.
Ten days had passed before Michael's story starts
hitting the newspaper for the first time. Police
did not believe Michael had been kidnapped in
the same way that they theorized that Aline had
been. However, police acknowledged that it is
strange for Michael to have been missing this
long and not returned home. Even more strange
that he hadn't been spotted by anyone since January
25th. Michael's parents had been searching tirelessly.
Conchita told reporters, quote, We have talked
to his schoolmates and given leaflets to everyone
we can think of. We're doing everything we can
to bring him home. A community meeting of friends,
family, and schoolmates, nearly 200 people, was
held at a local church to organize the search
and get the word out about Michael. From that
meeting, weekly prayer vigils for Michael began.
That same Saturday, friends and family continued
the search throughout the city for any sign of
Michael and hang missing person posters everywhere.
But the weeks continued to pass. On February
21, 1989, so Michael had been missing for 27
days at this point. At St. Joseph's Church, weekly
prayer vigils continued. His mom, Conchita, told
those gathered, quote, This meeting is to revitalize
interest in Michael. We are really baffled and
frustrated that there's been no news to help
us locate him. He's got to be somewhere or with
somebody. We're still hoping he's okay. Every
night we have a prayer for all missing children.
After the vigil that night, volunteers continue
their weekly ritual of hanging posters of Michael's
face throughout San Francisco. That same day,
unbeknownst to Michael's family, A couple was
walking on Baker Beach. Baker Beach would have
been about five miles from where Michael was
last seen near Market Street. An Army lieutenant
and his wife are walking near the Presidio when
they came across a dark blue duffel bag that
had been wedged under very large rocks. The lieutenant
tried to pull it free, but couldn't. Even though
he couldn't get it out, he managed to open it
and look inside. He found a clarinet case, Two
books, a pair of dark trousers, and a white t
-shirt. When he opened one of the books, he saw
the name Michael Basalwe. The couple put the
belongings back in the bag and left it on the
beach. They don't think to report it because
they hadn't seen Michael's name in the news.
They weren't aware that they found the backpack
of a missing boy who hadn't been seen in 27 days.
Nearly a week passes. On February 27th, It's
been 33 days since Michael was last seen. That
day, the woman from the couple saw a news story
about Michael's disappearance on TV. The couple
called the police to report what they had found
on the beach. The next day, February 28th, police,
U .S. Park Police, and park rangers, accompanied
by the couple, go back to Baker Beach to locate
the bag. They're able to find it. It's still
wedged between the rocks. But in the days since
the couple had found the bag, it had been a week
at this point, some items had gone missing. Only
part of Michael's clarinet was all that was left,
according to reports. Later that day, Michael's
parents confirmed the bag was his. Conchita recalled,
quote, My husband bought him the bag. It was
torn once and I sewed it. I saw the seam I sewed.
The Massauis also told investigators that Baker
Beach was familiar to Michael. He had spent time
there with his family fishing the previous summer.
Police searched the beach for additional evidence
or any sign of Michael, but nothing more connected
to Michael was found. They urged the public to
come forward if anyone had seen Michael on the
beach on January 25th or in the days after that.
In May of 1989, It's been four months since Michael
disappeared. A bill was signed that allocated
$50 ,000 in reward money for kidnapping cases.
Immediately, rewards were issued for missing
children, including Michael. For the first time
in official reports, his case was publicly linked
to the possibility of kidnapping. On Sunday,
June 25th, Michael has been missing for five
months now. Michael's family celebrates his 17th
birthday. There still had been no sign of him.
The months and weeks continue to go on. In January
of 1990, it's been a year since Michael vanished,
San Francisco police published his name in the
paper, officially classifying him as kidnapped.
But then Michael's case really falls out of the
news and goes cold. Over the years, there have
been a few age -progressed photos of him created.
the most recent one being him around 40 years
old, but he would be 53 years old today. So with
that, if you know anything about the disappearance
of Michael Masaoay, you are urged to contact
the San Francisco Police Department at 415 -553
-0123. So that is the case of Michael Masaoay.
Something that drew me into Michael's case...
pretty immediately was hearing about the start
of his day, the familiarity of just going to
high school and how you start your morning. It
was so palpable in the way that you described
it, particularly surrounding his duffel bag.
You know, we all had large bags or large backpacks
in high school. And yeah, he just, I don't know,
felt... similar to me um just young and getting
ready to start the day but it was a a process
that I know really well just like you so so immediately
I I could almost feel like I was next to him
experiencing his morning yeah like the ritual
of getting ready for school um this is like so
familiar like I've been out of school for more
than a decade at this point but there's still
such a familiarity about getting ready for school
and just like what that feels like I agree like
knowing that Michael's morning started out like
every other morning is like comforting in a way
but then also like that brings the mysterious
like of his disappearance up like it was just
any other morning which you know brings me to
my first question about whether or not he knew
he had school. You know, and obviously I have
my opinion, but I'd love to know yours. Yeah,
this is a really important area for me. If he
knew or if he didn't. I'm thinking back to when
like we would have a random Wednesday off in
high school and teachers would kind of mention
it like on Tuesday and they're like, oh, and
we'll cover this again on Thursday. Like it would
be mentioned throughout the school day. But at
the same time, you know, according to his family
and reports, like his family didn't know school
was closed that day. And they don't think that
Michael did either. But it's one of those things
we might not know because there's also a part
of me. And this is purely speculation, of course,
but it's, you know, maybe he. Well, now that
I'm thinking about it, he packed his bag like
he was going to school, you know, like he brought
his books, his clarinet. So maybe he like truly
didn't know. I think what clarified my answer
for myself, which was I don't think he knew,
was remembering the time period that we're in.
You know, when I saw 89 very quick, I was born
in 88 very quickly. I was like, oh, he's my age,
but he's not. He's 16 years older. And thinking
about a person at that time in high school, you
know, they didn't have the Internet or. They
weren't communicating that way in the way that
we do now. So I think if you're a busy, committed
student, it's completely possible that you wouldn't
know or that you would forget or someone didn't
remind you. It seems more possible that even
back in the late 80s, you could have gone about
your day with talking to minimal people. Therefore,
the information just wouldn't be shuttled over
to him. I think I think all of that is true.
And the fact that he packed his duffel bag for
the day with with the books, because I think
if I was really trying to pull a fast one on
my parents and be like, oh, they think I have
school, I'm just going to spend the day doing
whatever I want, which at 16 would probably be
very tempting for me as a person. I think I would
have left the books because they're just so heavy.
But I don't know. I don't know. It's a mystery
that. We don't have answers for him taking his
clarinet as well. Something that made me think
that maybe he really did. He really was planning
to go to school. My follow up question specifically
about the timeline is where the specific markers
were that he was spotted. What is the distance
from those like street markers to the school?
Was he walking away from the school? That's where
I was trying to seek clarification. So assuming
that Sacred Heart in 1989 is still in the general
area where it is today, Sacred Heart High School
is still a high school in San Francisco, I tried
to figure out if they had moved or renovated.
I couldn't quite find it, so I think that the
campus is still similar to where it was in 1989.
So the first spot he's seen that morning at 7th
and Harris, that's kind of southwest of the school.
And it would have been about a half hour walk
from the school to the place where he was spotted
first that morning. And then the second spot,
so that's going to be the Market Street area.
That's an 18 minute walk from where he was seen.
So that's kind of heading a little bit north,
but still in the same general area of where he
was spotted that morning. However, Baker Beach
is about five miles away and he's like really
headed northwest at that point. And it looks
like a pretty far walk. You know, just typing
it into Google Maps, it looks like it would take
almost two hours to walk that distance. So that's
a big question for me is what happened there?
Because I don't know and I'm not very familiar
with San Francisco. I don't know if there's public
transit that would really help. I don't get any
options when I'm in Google Maps to like transit
this out and take it that way. So I don't know
if he got a car, if he got a ride. How did he
end up at Baker Beach? Did he in fact walk there?
There's a lot of questions. I'm just going to
vouch to say that I think that there was public
transit, obviously. I don't know if he was using
it. So it does look like actually there is public
transportation, but it would take an hour still.
So doable, but... That's a question. Did he ride
public transit? Did anybody see him on public
transit? It doesn't seem like we got any witnesses
after he was seen near Market Street. Okay, so
we know that there's public transit in the area.
We don't necessarily know if he was using it
either way. It's a pretty time -consuming ride,
at least one way, about an hour. But walking,
even... You know, mapping that out, I think the
walking distance of how long it would take someone
changes on person to person because the terrain
of San Francisco is so hilly. Just kind of a
wild terrain, especially if you've never been
there before or navigated it. And with all of
those kind of dips and valleys in the roads and
neighborhoods, it seems like to me. It's a place
where someone could go missing quite easily.
And then at Baker Beach, one thing that I was
like really interested in or like what's curious
to me about Baker Beach, obviously, that's where
his duffel bag was found. But when it was initially
found by the army lieutenant and his wife, it
was wedged under like big, heavy rocks. How did
it get that way? That's a question I have because
the army lieutenant, who I assume is kind of
physically fit in some aspect, couldn't get it
out from underneath the rocks or couldn't get
it unstuck. He was able to open it. You know,
we do know that. But how did his bag get like
that? Because it doesn't seem like to me if the
army lieutenant could get it unstuck that a 16
-year -old boy would have had the strength to
lift it. I'm glad that you mentioned his age
again. I know Michael is 16 at the time. But
regarding him being five feet tall, I think it's
worth mentioning that that's a height of an average
10 to 12 -year -old. Maybe a 10 to 12 -year -old
is even just a little bit shorter. Even 4 '10
versus 5 foot, it's not a huge difference. I
think it's possible that Michael could have been
mistaken for a child if this case is a kidnapping
because of his height. Yeah, and there were a
lot of missing girls at this time, but like all
around the same age. I know I mentioned one of
them, Eileen, but there were a few other cases
of kids going missing around San Francisco. I
think that's why it's kind of frustrating that
Michael was initially written off as a runaway
or, you know, that he was playing some hooky,
hanging out with friends. Like, it really doesn't
seem like there was any urgency, even after other
kids started showing up missing. We've said this
in other cases before, and I'm sure our listeners
agree with us here. But to me, it's treat. treat
a case like this every single time like the child
is missing. Because at the end of the day, it's
a child. No child's case should be gaining more
and or less attention. They all deserve the same.
And they all deserve the same amount of effort
to be put towards them. And for this case specifically,
I don't know why. I don't know if it was because
he's a boy or if... Honestly, I don't know. I
don't know why the story was kind of curved this
way that that he was a runaway because so much
time was lost because of that decision. And that
that's very heartbreaking. Yeah. You know, there
was nothing going on in Michael's life that would
really lead anyone to think that he would go
missing. You know, he wasn't fighting with his
parents. He hadn't done this before. He was not
really a candidate for a runaway. But it was
said by the Army lieutenant that there was like
another pair of pants and a white T -shirt in
his duffel bag. I wonder, did he keep a change
of clothes with him? Did he expect to have gym
that day and maybe just wanted to change into
some fresh clothes? The clothes are curious to
me if that was something he always carried or
if that was like kind of a strange item to be
in his bag. Of course, when they recovered the
bag, those items were gone. I will say for me
as a kid and teen who was active in school and
sports and I did in my duffel that I carried
for sports, I did have extra pairs of clothes
in my bag just because I was changing environments
a lot and getting sweaty and having to shower.
I think maybe it's possible that those clothes
were in there for marching band rehearsal or
just another. set of clothes to change into afterwards.
Again, it's all speculation, but I think there
being a second set is still worth noting. Yeah,
well, I don't think Michael ran away just because
there was a second set of clothes, but I do just
wonder if he anticipated something that day or
if that could, like, lead to plans. Like, if
he knew he was going to be at the beach and in
case he got wet, you know, I don't know. There's
just so much we don't know about Michael's case.
So that just like leaves all this room for speculation
and wondering and trying to put yourself in his
shoes. But we just truly don't know. It's very
threadbare case. Something that we do know for
certain, though, is his mother knows immediately
that it's his bag. And I think that was for me
in listening, the most gut wrenching part is
not wanting it to be. And also probably wanting
it to be and knowing that it is once you see
a very specific marker on a bag that you fix
for your son. I don't know. I really felt for
her and the parents in that moment. I'm sure
recognizing and realizing whose bag that was,
to say the least, a massive moment for them.
It's so sad that this case really... loses traction.
I'm so proud of the community and that the way
they showed up for this young man and that other
parents of missing children advocated for him
too. We see it time and time again, especially
in the cold and missing world, especially when
cases are involving missing children, the way
communities rally around family of a missing
loved one and that's you know that's exactly
what's happening here yeah you know his mother
I believe she is still alive and with us I saw
a video of her that she did with the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children I think
it was like six years ago but you can just tell
how heartbroken she still is for her missing
son and I really would love to get answers in
this case and for Michael to be talked about
be mentioned and for Michael to be looked for
by others today like I I want energy in Michael's
case I want his name talked about I want people
to be thinking of him and you know looking into
a stranger's face thinking oh could that be Michael
Massawi like I just, I want that for him because
I want it for his family. Like, I don't want
them to feel alone in this search for him because
I feel like they've just been alone. They didn't
get the media. They didn't get the police. Like,
there was so little resources for them. And that's
just wildly unfair. And for a missing child,
for me, anybody under the age of 18, we should
know their whereabouts at all times. Not crazy,
but like there's no reason a child should go
missing in America and not be found. With the
resources, with the wealth that we have, this
is where energy should go is towards missing
children. So again, if you know anything about
the disappearance of Michael Masaoay in January
of 1989 or his whereabouts today, please call
the San Francisco Police Department at 415 -553
-0123. If you are not already, please, please
check us out on Instagram, our page at Cold and
Missing. We post current missing person cases.
And if there's any information we need to update
you on about the podcast, you can find it there
at Cold and Missing. This week, I will also have
graphics of Michael with the age progression.
Yeah, and please share those photos, the age
progression. Like I said, let's get some energy
in this case. Let's get his name out there. Let's
let Michael Massawi be a known name and a known
face. Let's get it out there. So if you could
share it in your communities. On your socials,
please do. It helps so much in these cases. And
we also have on our website, www .coldandmissing
.com, transcripts, the official transcripts.
So I go through, I make sure everything is spelled
correctly. So if you or someone you love is hard
of hearing and needs to follow along that way,
you can find them there along with all our past
episodes. And if you could take a moment to leave
us a review in your podcast player. Five stars,
please. Five stars goes a long way. And if you've
been listening for a long time, we would love
those five stars from you. Absolutely. And, you
know, one thing we hear again and again in the
reviews is that there's so many cases, even like
true crime fans, people who listen to a lot of
podcasts have never heard of. So I take great
pride in bringing these lesser known cases to
you. So five stars will get these cases to more
folks. Thank you so much for joining us and listening
at Cold and Missing. I'm your host Allie. And
I'm your co -host Eli. Have a good week and stay
safe y 'all. Stay safe y 'all.