He Vanished After Attending A Party On His College Campus, And Photos Of 28 Men Were Later Found On His Computer The Police Are Trying To Find
In 2002, Josh Guimond was a 20-year-old attending St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. He’d previously graduated as the valedictorian and class president of Maple Lake High School and was voted “Most Likely To Succeed.”
Josh was known as an excellent student, studying politics and law at St. John’s University. He was also a part of the university’s pre-law society and co-caption of the mock trial team. Following graduation, he planned to attend Yale Law School and possibly pursue a career in politics.
Yet, after Josh attended a poker party on campus, he vanished on November 9, 2002, and his case has never been solved.
At the time, he’d been living at St. Maur House dormitory with five roommates. He was previously in a relationship with his long-term girlfriend, Katie Benson, but they broke up weeks prior and reportedly stayed friends.
That Saturday evening, Josh attended a poker party at another dormitory building known as Metten Court. His key card was used to enter his own dorm at 11:06 p.m. for the last time before he headed out to the gathering.
Josh reportedly met up with some friends before traveling to the party together. While there, he was supposedly in good spirits and drinking alcohol. Some witnesses claimed he appeared sober, while others stated he seemed intoxicated.
He wound up leaving without saying goodbye to anyone at 11:45 p.m. Later, at about 12:15 p.m., two witnesses spotted a man matching Josh’s description walking over a bridge near Stumpf Lake. He was never seen or heard from again.
At first, Josh’s friends figured he’d gone back to his dorm and fallen asleep. However, he didn’t show up for a mock trial debate the following day, which set off alarm bells.
Josh’s roommate and good friend, Nick Hydukovick, never saw him at the dorm that night, either. This prompted his friends to report him missing to campus security on November 10.
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An initial search revealed that Josh’s belongings had been left behind in his room, and the TV was still on. Plus, his car was parked on campus.
Josh’s parents were informed of their son’s disappearance on the night of November 10, and the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office took over. Groups of officers and volunteers began to scour the university’s campus; meanwhile, plenty of rumors ran rampant.
Some theorized that if Josh was intoxicated, he might’ve fallen into Stumpf Lake while walking over the bridge to his dorm. A bloodhound also tracked his scent to the bridge, but no evidence was found in the water.
A second rumor involved Nick Hydukovich, who’d allegedly fought with Josh about his ex-girlfriend, Katie Benson. Nick and Katie supposedly considered seeing each other after Josh’s relationship with her ended, and some students claimed to have overheard Josh arguing with Nick on the night he disappeared.
However, Katie told the police that she was with Nick when Josh went missing. The pair returned to Nick’s dorm at 2:42 a.m., according to key card records. Nick also denied playing any role in Josh’s disappearance, but he would not take a polygraph examination.
Another theory is that something went wrong at the poker party, and other students attempted to cover up Josh’s death. His mother, Lisa Cheney, appeared on “Unsolved Mysteries” and shared this possibility with producers, saying she suspected her son died at the party, potentially by accident.
Still, perhaps the largest development in Josh’s case came when investigators combed through his computer. It’s important to note that after he vanished, his dorm room wasn’t closed off right away.
So, the police discovered that someone had deleted things from his computer’s hard drive. It wasn’t until 2008 that the data from Josh’s browser was recovered, exposing his online activity.
“The examination of Joshua’s computer leads me to believe he might have had some secrets he didn’t want to share with people,” said Lt. Vic Weiss with the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office.
He had created numerous fake Yahoo! Personals profiles to talk to people in chat rooms. Yahoo! Personals was an online dating service.
Furthermore, he presented himself as a woman on two of the accounts, sparking theories that he was exploring his gender identity or orientation and might’ve planned a date with someone.
Most recently, in 2022, images of 28 men that Josh had contacted were released to the public. Authorities are hoping to determine whether any of the men ever met up with Josh and want the public’s help in ascertaining their identities.
“The investigation into Joshua’s disappearance continues to be an active investigation for the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office,” the department said in a 2023 Facebook post.
According to investigators, the latest developments resulted in new tips, which officers followed up on. Nonetheless, they need anyone else with information to speak up.
Josh was six feet tall, weighed 176 pounds, and had blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a gray St. John’s sweatshirt and blue jeans.
Anyone with information regarding his case is urged to contact the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office at (320) 251-4240.
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