Why go after the monks? Nothing about their modus operandis suggest abduction and murder is what they've ever been capable of. Where are Josh's friends at the party and his roommate on a monk connection? Besides some public off the wall speculation about it, I've only heard Josh's Dad join in and say he was concerned about what a certain monk said about Josh- Father Jerome Tupa "While I knew of Joshua, I did not know him personally" After 18 years has it gotten any better than that?
I see on many topics a reluctance to accept that the missing person's actions may have caused their demise. It's much more fascinating to think some conspiracy existed that required a disappearance, or a hit and run driver removed a body, than to think he may have gotten drunk and wandered off course and drowned.
The national guard and others came in, but it is more obvious to me now that they should have searched another week or two. Based on the evidence 18 years later, getting lost in the woods or drowning seem that much more apparent. To be honest since I just learned last week that it was up to ten beers he drank, I feel like walking around the woods out there myself. What and where are we missing? This was never going to be easy.
If you'd take the time and read the file on Wollmering, you'd quickly realize this psychopath, was capable of anything if things didn't go his way. This is not a normal school. They don't do normal things. "If size is important, how big is big enough?" Sept. 4th, 2003 - The St. John's & Ben's The Record
There has and always will be a handful of monks to pick on or make fun of. Where is the proof that night that Brucie was involved? Noone at the party or his roommate have pointed towards him. Joshuas father points at Father Jerome Tupa. And that is the problem., there is most likely only one offender if any at all. Bruce is an easy pick but where is the substance as related to this case? Find a connection to Joshua.
10 beers over 5 hours, which is just a good guess by his friends, now Josh is gone without a trace. Today as I look back to when I was 17 years old, I can remember going out to a party with 2 friends of mine. When we got to the party I was given a 40 ounce bottle of Mickeys malt liqour. For the next hour I was socializing with a friend and having a great time. Then I suddenly had to excuse myself to go to the bathroom. But once I made it to the bathroom that is where I laid on my back on the floor and my mind and vision was spinning in circles for the next 3 hours . I had overdone it, I was young and I was inexperienced. I think that is what happened in this case. Josh was drinking, we know that now, and he suddenly left a party alone to go to the bathroom or to go home. But where did he lie down, where did he fall? He's out there somewhere where we least expect it. Or to be fair, somebody knows.
I'm not sure if you guys noticed, but there have been a few podcasts coming out featuring Josh's case recently. No big revelations, but it is good that Josh's name is getting out there. Check them out here: Victimized Podcast And That's Why We Drink Podcast Excuse Me What? Podcast
Thank you, DarkJodo. It's very discouraging. It's good to see Josh's case is still being discussed. But I feel many answers are either so deeply hidden or gone from our reach. The podcasts and other forms of publicity are good, but why does it seem Josh's case seems to stay in the background. Certainly it's not only his case, but -- it just seems people have resigned themselves that his case won't be solved.
I still wonder who it was that called Grandpa Bob and asked him how much money it would take for him to stop looking into things...
Check out this thread, man missing for a number of years has just been located (in his car) in a pond that was previously searched. FWIW.. IA - IA - Ethan Kazmerzak, 22, Hampton, 15 Sept 2013 *vehicle found*
I'm listening to the recent podcasts that came out about Josh's disappearance, and I'm realizing some of the podcasters are using websleuths as a source of information, so I thought I'd clear up a few statements that I made nearly 2 years ago, as I've learned a bit more since then. The fake ID's were never recovered, because they were never deleted. They were created on Josh's computer in 2001, and remained there since. The ID's were of Josh's roommates. There was no fake ID of Josh himself. I stand by the other statements I made in the post above.
Today marks 18 years since Joshua disappeared from the campus of St. John's University. He had such big plans for his future, and I have no doubt he would have achieved them all. His family was so proud of him. It is sad that his grandfather passed away before he was able to find the answers. The Guimond family was left shattered, never to be the same again. St. John's banned Josh's Dad from being on the campus. A thorough investigation of alibis for the monks was never done. And the abbot is not required to divulge any potentially incriminating or helpful information due to the special laws of the Catholic church, which apparently can supercede the laws the rest of us must follow. Just ask Patrick J. Wall. The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is a duty of the living to do so for them. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold
Hello everyone. I'm a current student of CSBSJU. The Joshua Guimond case has always fascinated me and I intend to do some searching in the area sometime soon. The case could have easily been an accidental drowning or case of hypothermia. However, I'm quick to remember the stories about this place that gives me pause. Growing up around about 5 min from Saint Johns, the locals will tell you never to walk in the woods alone. There are countless stories about sexual assault, vicious attacks, and what can only be viewed as attempted assault involving the monks and staff members of the prep school that occur in those woods. You will never hear about any of this in the news as the Abbey has always been quick to cover it up. Currently, there are multiple monks in "hiding" or as the church would say "under supervision" that are accused of these vicious assaults. One of which is a Stearns county suspect of the murder of two girls in the seventies. Check out the website Behind the Pine Curtain if you're new to learning about the violent history of the school. One thing's for certain, they stopped talking about it and are certainly not interested in searching further.
Adding to this as well, the lakes that are immediately close to where he disappeared were searched with sonar technology in 2003 coming up with no relevant evidence of him. If we can trust the service, there are no other lakes close enough for his body to be located in. He would have to have walked quite a while to find another lake which seems out of the way. This makes me a bit skeptical for accidental drowning. As for him getting lost in the woods, recently we had an incident at SJU where an armed fugitive running from the police ran into the woods at sju. It took the national guard hours to find him in a pretty easy spot close to the prep school where he'd hidden for hours. The woods are thick here and hard to get through at times. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't find Joshua during their initial searches.
Welcome to Websleuths! I don't believe that National Guard was called in for this, I was listening to the scanner at the time. Wasn't the fugitive found under some stairs near a building? I drive thru campus often and also think the woods may hold the answer, or at least a clue. It's always nice to have a fresh set of eyes and ears on this case
Wondering if anyone has continued doing searches in those woods? It's like finding a needle in a haystack. I know that dogs can't always pick up scents -- even when a body is nearby. If no one goes into those woods except people who are up to no good, we're never going to get the answers, because they're never going to tell the truth.
It's nice to see some new attention paid to Josh's case. Just curious -- if you could change how this investigation was handled, what would you have done differently? How well was it handled, in your opinion? Anyone know if the local community ever talk about Josh's disappearance or is what happened to him on the campus of St. John's University just a thing that happened long ago?
Growing up in the local community, about 5 min from St. John's, I heard absolutely nothing about this case until I discovered the information through the Behind the Pine Curtain website. When I discuss it with my classmates over the 3.5 years I've attended school here not a single person knew about it and they were all shocked to find out a student went missing from campus. What's the oddest thing to me is that the school doesn't talk about Joshua. No more marches or searches. Not even a statement after the recent 15th anniversary. or support for the family all these years later. The lack of transparency here is astounding. As for what could have been done better, I'm not a police officer nor do I have much life experience but I can say allowing the same people who handled the Jacob Wetterling case to handle this one is asking for screw-ups. As for the college, the monks' alibies should have been taken as well as transparent cooperation by the church to search all areas.
True. A lot of students hike in the woods or go running, most of the time not alone. I've gone back around the trails near where Joshua went missing and the trails back there I would say are the least used. Especially since the entrances to the trails back there are harder to find.
