On the night of November 9, 2002, 20-year-old Joshua “Josh” Guimond left a card game night at Metten Court, an on-campus apartment building at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. The walk back to his dorm room should’ve taken only a few minutes. Instead, Josh seemingly disappeared without a trace, leaving behind one of Minnesota’s most enduring unsolved mysteries.
More than two decades later, investigators continue to search for answers. Despite extensive searches and renewed investigations, what happened to Joshua Guimond remains unknown.
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Who Was Joshua Guimond?
Family and friends described Josh as motivated, intelligent, kind, organised, mild-mannered, and responsible. He was a junior at Saint John’s University, majoring in Political Science, and planned on going to law school once he finished college. He was actively involved in campus life. Josh shared a room with Nick, a senior year student in Saint Maur House, a four-story on-campus apartment. Those who knew Josh said it would have been highly unusual for him to leave without telling anyone or abandoning his future plans.
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Timeline of Events and Investigation
- November 9, 2002, around 11 pm: Josh, along with Nick and one of his friends left for Metten Court dorms for a party on the college campus from Josh’s apartment.
- Showed up between 11:15 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. at Metten Court
- Around 11:45 pm to midnight: Josh left the party alone and said he was going to the bathroom, according to his friends.
- Around 2:45 am: Nick returned to St Maur and found their room exactly as it had been; Josh’s schoolwork laid out, wallet and glasses untouched, and his computer still on.
- November 10, 2002, Sunday afternoon: Things became alarming when Josh missed a mock trial practice.
- Around 10:30 pm, parents were informed about the missing.
- Search Response: Authorities searched the campus with K9s. Divers combed Stumpf Lake, the water body stretching through Joshua’s likely walking route.
- Search expanded to nearby lakes and wooded trails.
- Later investigation: 28 images of unidentified men were found on his computer
- Erased items: After Josh vanished, during the following days, someone had installed an internet washer, which allows to delete internet related files from the computer’s hard drive.
- 2022-2023 renewed attention: The case was revisited publicly as an active cold case, including coverage tied to Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries.
Source: Josh Guimond
Theories Surrounding the Case
Early search efforts reportedly focused heavily on nearby water or swampy terrain, indicating towards accidental drowning or misadventure. Another theory is that Joshua left the party to meet someone, possibly connected to online chat; this remains speculative and has not been proven. Abductions of other young men in the area around that time were also connected with the disappearance of Guimond. Investigators later emphasised the importance of identifying the unknown men in the computer images, suggesting there may be witnesses or leads that were overlooked earlier.
Source: An investigation into Joshua Guimond’s disappearance: What most likely happened
