Isn't it possible that he was lured to a discreet spot on Sunset where his scent was found early in the morning? In that time chat rooms were very popular, isn't it possible that he spoke to someone who lured him to a meeting place, perhaps for the promise of more drugs (ecstasy)? Michael was already high that night and wasn't being rationale, which would explain why he wasn't dressed for the cold weather (ecstasy heats your body). He met that man at a pickup spot and got into his car. The man's motives were sexual and once they drove off there was a struggle, a rape and so forth. The man drove across the county to bury the body and left no evidence. They didn't exchange numbers either but just came up with a meeting place via chat which would leave no trace as well.
I came up with this theory based on my personal experience which was quite creepy. I met a man on yahoo chat circa 2002 and he wanted to have sex with me. However we communicated only by chat and only exchanged emails. As crazy as it sounds I agreed to meet up with him, and told me to meet him at a commercial parking lot at night, and I did. I got into his car and we drove off to a hillside community near Orange County, and had sex behind the hillside homes near the ravine. I was a UCLA student and out of the blue he asked me about the Negrete case which completely creeped me out as it was probably 2002 or 2003 at the time. I said I didn't know much and to this day it creeps me out that someone would ask about that in that circumstance which led me to this plausible theory.
Interesting post. Do you recall what he said regarding the case, more specifically?
Sure, Michael could very well have agreed to meet up with someone at that bus stop that the tracking dogs followed Michael's scent to, earlier mentioned in the thread.
A reason for the choise of this stop could have been that the person Michael would supposedly meet either did not know the area well, but could find the bus stop/or already was familiar with it, or, he deliberately suggested that spot to avoid being seen in the immediate area where Michael resided.
It would be really interesting to know if there is any information regarding how far away from his dorm the bus stop was?
By the way, some have felt that Michael's orientation could be of importance, which I agree with, however it can also be totally unimportant, too, especially if there would be a very adamant person involved who won't take a no for an answer.
I am nevertheless perhaps leaning more towards that the guy you met had nothing to do with Michael's disappearance, for the reason that you survived the meeting;
although the reason you survived it could hypothetically of course also have been that you voluntarily agreed to the act, whereas Michael perhaps did not, but either put up a fight from where things then escalated into the one or the other alternative theoretical scenario one can only guess about.
Whatever happened to him, we can only hope to one day learn his fate.
