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Dateline episode Evil Was Watching explores the story of Michella Welch and Jennifer Bastian, two kids from Tacoma, Washington, who disappeared in 1986. Michella was a 12-year-old girl who was kidnapped the day she was riding her bike near Pudget Park, in Tacoma, Washington.
Five months later, another 13-year-old girl, Jennifer, was riding her bike around Point Defiance Park in Tacoma and was kidnapped. Upon investigation, authorities found both of their bodies, assaulted and murdered. Dateline's new episode explores the complete investigation behind the double murders.
The episode titled Evil Was Watching released on June 14, 2025, and is available for streaming on NBC. The official synopsis reads:
"When a young girl is murdered while riding her bike in Tacoma, Washington in March 1986, her family mourns as the police search for her killer. But then another girl disappears while riding her bike, everyone fears the worst."
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What happened to Michella Welch and Jennifer Bastian
The murder of Michella Welch
As reported by Paravon Nanolabs, Michella Welch was a 12-year-old girl with blonde hair who wore glasses. On March 26, 1986, she drove her two sisters to Puget Park in Tacoma, Washington.
Reportedly, she drove back home around 11:00 a.m. to make lunch for her younger sisters. After she returned, she reportedly chained her bike to her sibling's, set up the lunch table, and went to look for them.
When Michella's sisters returned to the park around 1:15 p.m., they found their lunches on the table. However, Michella was gone. As reported by Paravon Nanolabs, authorities reached the park around 3:10 p.m.
They soon opted for a search operation, and it was around 11:30 pm when search dogs found Michella's body in a makeshift fire pit area. Reportedly, Michella was se*ually assaulted and her throat was slit.
The murder of Jennifer Bastian
As reported by A&E TV, it was on August 4, 1986, when Jennifer Bastian went for a bicycle ride across Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Washington. However, her parents soon called the police when Jennifer did not return.
Around three weeks later, Jennifer's body was found by a man who was jogging around the area. A 911 call was made, which reported that a foul smell was spreading from the wooded region in the park. As reported by NBC News, when the authorities arrived, they found the decomposing body and her bike nearby.
As reported by A&E TV, similar to Michella, Jennifer Bastian was also se*ually molested, and her neck was cut, resulting in her death.
Investigation on the murder of the Dateline subjects, Michella Welch and Jennifer Bastian
As reported by NBC News, during the initial investigation, detectives managed to retrieve a DNA sample from Michella's body. However, investigators failed to find a DNA sample from Jennifer's body since it had undergone advanced stages of decomposition.
Reportedly, the DNA sample found in Michella's body was searched through FBI databases, but it yielded no results. As reported by NBC News, it was in 2013 when Detectives Gene Miller and Lindsey Wade, along with an expert panel from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, managed to retrieve a DNA sample from Jennifer's swimsuit.
The DNA was sent for testing, and it came out as a male sample. Detectives confirmed that the culprit had se*ually molested Jennifer before killing her. However, when investigators compared the DNA samples retrieved from Michella and Jennifer, they didn't match.
This indicated that both of the Dateline subjects were killed by different culprits. As reported by NBC News, Detective Lindsey Wade used an advanced forensic approach and compared DNA samples from 160 men.
It was in May 2018 when a man named Robert Washburn was arrested for the murder of Dateline subject Jennifer Bastian. It was in January 2019 when Washburn pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 27 years behind bars.
As reported by NBC News, in the same year, Gary Hartman was arrested. As reported by Paravon Nanolabs, Hartman was charged with r*pe and murder of Michella Welch. He was convicted in 2022.
Check out our other articles to learn more details about other cases on Dateline.
