Joshua Cheney Guimond

• Missing Since 11/09/2002
• Missing From Collegeville, Minnesota
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 06/18/1982 (41)
• Age 20 years old
• Height and Weight 5'10 - 6'0, 170 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A gray Gap or St. John University's hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and a wristwatch.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Blond hair, blue eyes. Guimond He has a vertical scar on his shoulder about four inches long and half an inch wide. He is supposed to wear eyeglasses or contact lenses, but did not have either with him at the time of his disappearance. His nickname is Josh.

Details of Disappearance

Guimond was last seen between approximately 11:00 p.m. and midnight on November 9, 2002, leaving Metten Court, a dormitory on the north end of the St. John's University campus in Collegeville, Minnesota. He was a junior at the university at the time he disappeared, majoring in political science.

Guimond left a party at Matten Court to go to the bathroom and when he did not return within fifteen minutes, his friends assumed he had walked back to his on-campus apartment at St. Maur House in the middle of campus. He apparently never arrived there, however. His friends called his apartment shortly after they last saw him, and assumed he was asleep when they got no answer.

Guimond's car was later found undisturbed on the campus. His friends reported him missing the next evening when they could not find him and he failed to appear a school function. His eyeglasses, contact lenses and credit cards were left behind and no personal belongings were missing from his apartment. At the time he vanished, he was not wearing clothing appropriate for the weather.

In the hours after Guimond disappeared, and on subsequent days, someone erased items from his computer hard drive. It isn't clear who did this or whether the erasure is connected to his disappearance. Some of the information that was erased, and later recovered, was about making fake identification cards.

One theory is that Guimond was struck by a vehicle on the night of his disappearance and killed. Some of the monks who at St. John's Abbey, attached to the university, had a history of alcohol abuse, and idea is that one of them hit him, and decided to cover up the crime to avoid a scandal. There isn't any evidence to support this, however; it remains a matter of speculation.

At around the time Guimond, disappeared, three other college-aged people disappeared from the Minnesota and Wisconsin areas. They were all Minnesota residents, and all of them vanished on weekend nights after having visited bars or parties.

The bodies of two of them were subsequently found in local bodies of water. The third, Erika Dalquist, was the victim of a homicide. Her remains were found on May 15, 2004 on property owned by the grandparents of William Gene Myears, a long-time suspect in her case, and he was charged with second-degree murder.

None of the missing young adults knew each other. However, it was suggested that the four cases might linked, as it is statistically improbable that four people of similar age would randomly vanish from the same area at around the same time. In addition, all three of the men who disappeared were college students with similar heights and builds, and were described as high achievers.

Police investigated and, citing "glaring differences" in the four cases, stated there was no connection.

Guimond's loved ones say it is uncharacteristic of him to leave without warning. They believe foul play may have been involved in his disappearance.

Authorities, however, think it more likely that Guimond was slightly intoxicated when he left the party, and that he stumbled into a body of water and drowned. They have searched several nearby lakes, but failed to come up with any evidence to support their theory.

Other theories are that Guimond took his own life or left of his own accord, but there is no evidence to support these hypotheses either. He and his girlfriend of nearly five years had broken up a month prior to his disappearance, but remained friends.

Guimond's ex-girlfriend said he is very intelligent and driven and hoped to go to law school after college. He was a member of his college's Republican organization and hoped to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives someday. His family lives in Maple Lake, Minnesota. He remains missing and his case is unsolved.