Joshua Cheney Guimond: 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. Guimond 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.
At around the time Guimond, disappeared, three other college-aged people disappeared from the Minnesota and Wisconsin areas. They were all Minnesota residents. All of them vanished on weekend nights after having visited bars or parties. Christopher Jenkins, 21, was last seen on October 31 leaving a Halloween party at a bar in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A photograph of Jenkins is posted below this case summary. His body was found in the Mississippi River on February 27, 2003. On November 6, Michael Noll, a student at the University of Wisconsin, was last seen leaving his own 22nd birthday party at a bar in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. A photograph of Noll is posted below this case summary. He was drunk and disoriented at the time he vanished. His body was found in an area lake on March 25, 2003. Erika Marie Dalquist, 21, disappeared from Brainerd, Minnesota on October 30, 2002. 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; he is charged with second-degree murder in connection with her death.
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 that disappeared are college students of similar heights and builds, and described as high achievers. Police investigated and, citing “glaring differences” in the four cases, said there was no connection. The idea was also brought up that the disappearances may be related to Hyun Jong “Cindy” Song’s case. Song was a college student at Pennsylvania State University when she disappeared from State College, Pennsylvania on November 1, 2001. This was the same time of year the four Minnesota residents vanished, and Song was also last seen after leaving a party. However, Song vanished one year before Dalquist, Guimond, Noll, and Jenkins, and in a different part of the country. The cases are not thought to be connected.
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. Another theory is that he committed suicide 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. Guimond’s family lives in Maple Lake, Minnesota. He remains missing and his case is unsolved.
The Charley Project
December 2, 2005