Josh Guimond vanished on November 9, 2002, during what should have been a short walk to his dorm at St. John's University — and he was never seen again.
Unsolved Mysteries/NetflixJosh Guimond, the college student who mysteriously disappeared in 2002.
On Nov. 9, 2002, Josh Guimond, a 20-year-old student at St. John’s University in Minnesota, vanished without a trace after leaving a poker party. His walk back to his dorm should have taken just three minutes.
Known for his academic brilliance, Guimond was a star student who had plans to attend Yale Law School and pursue a career in politics. On the night of his disappearance, Guimond left the party around 11:45 p.m. and was later spotted crossing a bridge, apparently on the way to his dorm.
Despite extensive searches of the campus and surrounding waterways, no trace of Guimond has ever been found. His disappearance remains one of Minnesota’s most perplexing mysteries, with theories ranging from online predators to a chilling cover-up by other people on his campus.
The Promising Early Life Of Josh Guimond
Unsolved Mysteries/NetflixGuimond and a friend holding up a mock trial trophy.
Joshua Cheney Guimond was born on June 18, 1982, in Red Wood Falls, Minnesota. He was raised in Maple Lake, Minnesota, and graduated both valedictorian and class president of Maple Lake High School in 2000.
From a young age, Guimond was academically driven and ambitious. He was voted “Most Likely To Succeed” in high school, and he said that he wanted to run for the president of the United States someday.
After high school, Guimond began attending St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota — a small, private Catholic school. He studied politics and law and was a dedicated member of the university’s pre-law society, even serving as the co-captain of the mock trial team. He planned to later attend Yale Law School and run for the Minnesota State House of Representatives, starting what would’ve been a promising political career.
By November 2002, 20-year-old Guimond was living with five roommates at St. John’s University, including his good friend, Nick Hydukovich, at the St. Maur House dormitory on campus. Guimond had also recently broken up with his long-term girlfriend, Katie Benson, but the pair remained friends.
Unsolved Mysteries/NetflixJosh Guimond and Katie Benson, his long-term girlfriend.
On Nov. 9, 2002, Guimond was invited to a dormitory party at the Metten Court dormitory building, about a three-minute walk from his dorm. Records show he used his computerized key card to enter his own apartment at 11:06 p.m. before leaving for the party. There’s no record that he used his key card to enter his apartment again that night — or ever again.
After meeting up with a group of friends, Guimond went to the party. He was wearing a gray St. John’s sweatshirt and jeans and did not have his wallet, keys, glasses, or other important personal items with him.
At the apartment, Guimond was reportedly in a good mood. He had reportedly been drinking earlier that day and at the party. Reports as to how much the alcohol affected him vary, with some partygoers claiming he seemed sober and others saying that he appeared to be intoxicated. Either way, at about 11:45 p.m., Guimond left the party without saying goodbye. Around 15 minutes after midnight, two witnesses reported seeing a man bearing similarities to Guimond walking across a bridge near Stumpf Lake.
This would be the last reported sighting of Josh Guimond.
Josh Guimond Disappears From St. John’s
Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0A map of St. John’s University, showing the whereabouts of Guimond on the night of his disappearance.
When Josh Guimond did not return to the party, his friends purportedly assumed that he went back to his dorm room. Some of them tried calling Guimond after they realized that he had departed, but they did not receive a response. Still, they figured he decided to go home and fell asleep.
However, when Guimond did not attend his mock trial meeting the next day, his friends knew something was wrong. When they learned that his roommate and friend, Nick Hydukovich, did not see him at his dorm on the morning of November 10th, they quickly contacted campus security.
Authorities did a preliminary search and found that Guimond’s car was still on campus, apparently undisturbed, and his personal items were still in his room. His AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) showed that he hadn’t logged on in about 12 hours. Eerily, the television in his room was still on.
On the night of November 10th, authorities called his parents to tell them that their son was missing — nearly 24 hours after he was last seen.
The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office took control of the investigation, starting off with a wide-spread search of the St. John’s University campus. Authorities, volunteers, and even the National Guard combed the area.
St. Cloud TimesGuimond’s missing person flyer.
One early potential explanation for Josh Guimond’s disappearance was that he had fallen off the bridge into Stumpf Lake while on his way back to his dorm from the party. Possibly intoxicated, he could have either succumbed to the elements or drowned in the lake. One bloodhound led investigators to the bridge, but an extensive search of the waterways turned up nothing.
Rumors that Guimond had taken his own life also floated around campus. However, Guimond reportedly showed no signs of emotional distress, despite his recent breakup, nor had he ever discussed killing himself or running away from his life. According to his friends, he appeared to be happy and acting normally on the night of his disappearance.
Another rumor was that Guimond and his roommate, Nick Hydukovich, had fought over Guimond’s ex-girlfriend, Katie Benson — and that somehow led to Guimond’s disappearance. After the split, Hydukovich and Benson began considering a relationship that purportedly went no farther than kissing, but still understandably upset Guimond. Other students said they overhead Guimond and Hydukovich fighting the night before Guimond vanished.
On the night Guimond disappeared, Benson claimed to have been with Hydukovich, including the time when Guimond went missing. Time stamps from Hydukovich’s key card showed that he returned to his dorm around 2:42 a.m., a couple of hours after Guimond was last seen.
Hydukovich was relatively open with authorities and denied having anything to do with Guimond’s disappearance. That said, Hydukovich claimed to have said goodbye to Benson at 2:30 a.m., and Benson said the two parted ways around 1 or 1:30 a.m. — potentially leaving some time unaccounted for. Hydukovich also declined the opportunity to take a polygraph.
Meanwhile, the investigation carried on without any solid leads. That is, until the authorities took a closer look at Guimond’s computer.
Theories Of Online Predators And Suspicious Men On Campus
Unsolved Mysteries/NetflixJosh Guimond with Katie Benson and Nick Hydukovich.
Following Josh Guimond’s disappearance, his room was not immediately closed off by the authorities. Investigators later found that someone had deleted items from his computer’s hard drive shortly after he vanished. While some people suspected that Hydukovich was behind this, it could have been anyone who had access to the apartment — or their guests.
In 2008, authorities were finally able to recover data from Guimond’s browser, and they discovered some new, troubling information. Not only was Guimond apparently interested in making fake identification cards, but he had also created multiple profiles on Yahoo! Personals.
Guimond had apparently been using these accounts to communicate with men and women in various chat rooms. In at least two of these accounts, he presented himself as a woman. This led to theories that he was secretly exploring his sexuality — and maybe also his gender identity — at the time of his disappearance. It also raised the possibility that he had set up a meeting with someone from Yahoo! Personals in real life.
In 2022, the authorities released images from some of the profiles Guimond had contacted to the public — 28 men total — in hopes of finding out whether they met with Guimond. Ever since then, many have speculated that an online predator might be connected to Guimond’s disappearance.
Stearns County Sheriff’s OfficeA handout provided by Stearns County, with images from profiles Guimond communicated with.
Most of Guimond’s family members and friends have said they were never under the impression that he was gay or transgender. However, one male friend of his reportedly claimed that Guimond once tried to kiss him.
Authorities have also pointed out that there were reports of a potentially suspicious man in an orange Pontiac Sunfire on campus around the same time of Guimond’s disappearance. This man was spotted in various places on campus known for hookups, and witnesses reported that he was dropping off other men. The mysterious driver was eventually located, but he denied any involvement in the Guimond case. Chillingly, he also had the Pontiac Sunfire destroyed before investigators could properly search it.
Other eerie disappearances occurred in Minnesota around the same time. One University of Minnesota student, Chris Jenkins, vanished after partying on Halloween in 2002. His body was later found in the Mississippi River.
It’s little wonder why many authorities think Josh Guimond may have been a victim of foul play, especially considering the online dating profiles and the man spotted on Guimond’s campus. However, there are other theories.
A Major Sex Abuse Scandal On Campus
Early on in the investigation, search parties used bloodhounds to track down Josh Guimond’s scent. One private bloodhound brought in by Guimond’s family led them to St. John’s Abbey, the Benedictine monastery on campus.
However, staff at the abbey initially refused them entrance, pointing out that not all areas of the abbey were accessible to the general public. Later, the dog was allowed to search, but only picked up Guimond’s scent near the back of the building, and nothing else nefarious was found.
Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 3.0St. John’s Abbey, where Guimond’s scent was tracked.
Authorities learned that Guimond was purportedly researching abuse allegations made against monks, priests, and other staff members at St. John’s University. Since the 1960s, students have reported disturbing behavior from campus staff. In 1971, a student named Jerry McCarthy claimed that he suffered abuse at the hands of Father Bruce Wollmering, who was supposed to be counseling him at St. John’s Abbey.
“It was probably during the third visit I had with Father Wollmering for this counseling and testing when he actually attacked me in his office,” Jerry McCarthy stated in 2011, according to MPR News.
In 2016, St. John’s Abbey publicized the files of 18 monks they agreed were credibly accused of sexually abusing minors. However, as many as 100 people were accused of abuse in the Collegeville region, meaning that the true extent of these crimes may have been even more horrific. Disturbingly, some of the monks who faced allegations were still on campus when Guimond vanished — and even helped supervise Guimond’s dorm.
Learning about the sex abuse allegations reportedly disgusted Guimond and may have even inspired him to write a research paper about the alleged crimes. On Oct. 3, 2002, he or someone else using his computer searched “Saint John’s Abbey statute of limitations conspiracy.”
YouTubeAn age progression showing what Guimond might look like years after his disappearance.
No hard evidence linking Guimond’s disappearance to university staff has been found, and the case has seen little progress in recent years. Guimond’s father sued Stearns County for access to the case file in 2021, but lost, after it was argued that releasing the files could jeopardize the investigation.
In 2022, Guimond’s story was featured on Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries, reigniting public interest in the case. But years later, the circumstances surrounding his disappearance remain as unclear as the day he vanished.
After reading about Joshua Guimond, dive into the disappearance of Bryce Laspisa, the 19-year-old who vanished while driving to his parents’ home. Then, read about 11 mysterious disappearances that are still unsolved today.
