Police say a viewer recognized a longtime suspect as his New Jersey neighbor nearly three decades after Leslie Ruby was killed.
DES MOINES, IA — A rerun of an “America’s Most Wanted” episode helped authorities find and arrest a man suspected in a fatal 1997 Des Moines hit-and-run, nearly 29 years after police said he left Iowa before officers could take him into custody.
Gerardo Garcia-Michel, now 57, was arrested Aug. 26 by U.S. marshals in Ocean County, New Jersey, according to Des Moines police. Authorities had identified Garcia-Michel, who was 28 at the time of the crash, as the suspected driver in the death of 64-year-old Leslie Ruby. A vehicular homicide arrest warrant was issued in January 1998, but efforts to locate Garcia-Michel had been unsuccessful for decades. He is awaiting extradition to Iowa, police said.
Ruby died Sept. 29, 1997, after being struck outside his home on Easton Boulevard on Des Moines’ east side. Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said Ruby had been mowing the lawn at his daughter and granddaughter’s home and was riding his lawn mower back to his own house when a vehicle struck him as he crossed the street. Police recovered the vehicle involved and, through their investigation, identified Garcia-Michel as the suspected driver.
Investigators said Garcia-Michel left Iowa before he could be arrested. Information gathered at the time indicated that he had gone to Southern California, Parizek said. Police continued trying to locate him, but investigators eventually exhausted their available leads. The arrest warrant remained active as the years passed.
The case gained national attention when “America’s Most Wanted” profiled it in 1998. The original broadcast generated tips but did not lead authorities to Garcia-Michel. That changed when the episode was shown again in August 2026. On Aug. 4, Des Moines police received a Crime Stoppers tip from a viewer in New Jersey who believed the man featured in the decades-old program was living in his building.
“It was from a person who said, ‘I’m watching a rerun of ‘America’s Most Wanted,’ and I recognized the guy as being a person who lives in my building,’” Parizek told KCCI. Des Moines detectives investigated the tip and worked with law enforcement in New Jersey. U.S. marshals arrested Garcia-Michel on Aug. 26 in Ocean County.
Parizek said Garcia-Michel had made minor changes to his name and date of birth over the years, which authorities believe helped him avoid detection. The new tip gave investigators information they had not had during earlier attempts to locate him and directed them to New Jersey, more than 1,000 miles from Des Moines.
The original investigation relied heavily on witness interviews. Parizek noted that investigators in 1997 did not have many of the tools now routinely available in traffic and criminal investigations, including widespread residential security cameras and traffic-camera footage. Witness accounts eventually helped police locate an abandoned vehicle matching the description of the car involved in the crash, and investigators identified Garcia-Michel as their suspect.
Ruby was a retiree, a grandfather and a Korean War veteran. Police described him as a loving and caring family man. His wife and daughter have since died, according to police, but investigators were able to notify his granddaughter about the arrest. Parizek said she expressed relief that the case had not been forgotten and that authorities were again pursuing it.
The Des Moines Police Department announced the arrest on Sept. 29, 2026, exactly 29 years after Ruby’s death. Parizek said the development demonstrated why police continue publicizing unresolved cases even decades later. A television episode produced when the investigation was still relatively new ultimately reached a viewer who provided the information investigators needed years afterward.
Garcia-Michel remained in custody in New Jersey as authorities worked through the process of returning him to Iowa. Des Moines police said the investigation remains active and additional information will be released as it becomes available. Publicly available reports did not establish whether Garcia-Michel had entered a plea or retained an attorney in connection with the Iowa case.
Author note: Last updated Oct. 1, 2026.