COLLEGEVILLE, MINNESOTA — Twenty-four years after 20-year-old Josh Guimond disappeared while walking across the campus of Saint John’s University, his father is questioning investigators’ early focus on a possible drowning, the handling of other investigative leads and the lack of a specialized cold-case review. Guimond, a standout student from Maple Lake, disappeared during the night of November 9-10, 2002. A high school valedictorian and class president, he was studying at Saint John’s University and dreamed of becoming a lawyer and entering politics. He had attended a small card party on campus and was expected to make the roughly six-minute walk back to his dorm around midnight. He never arrived. Friends reported him missing the following day after he failed to attend mock trial practice. Father Questions Early Investigative Focus Investigators initially explored the possibility that Guimond had drowned in Stumpf Lake, near a bridge where search dogs tracked his scent. Extensive searches failed to locate him, including an underwater search conducted by the Trident Foundation in May 2003. In an open letter marking the anniversary, Guimond’s father, Brian Guimond, challenges the emphasis placed on the drowning theory. He questions why investigators appeared to promote that explanation when no body or other physical evidence of drowning had been found. “Why did the Sheriff’s Department want everybody to think Josh had drowned?” Brian wrote. His concern is that the focus on Stumpf Lake may have diverted attention and valuable investigative time from other possible explanations and leads. Brian also questions why a specialized cold-case investigative unit has not been brought in to review the disappearance after 24 years. He argues that the length of time the case has remained unresolved warrants a more comprehensive review of the investigation and the leads pursued. Case Remains Active Guimond’s disappearance received renewed national attention in 2022 when the case was featured on Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries. The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office has said the investigation remains active. Authorities now believe Guimond was kidnapped from campus, although no one has been publicly identified as responsible. His father remains deeply dissatisfied with the progress of the investigation. “It seems to me there has been very little effort put into finding out what happened to Josh,” he wrote. Despite the passage of 24 years, Brian Guimond continues to hold onto hope that his son may still be alive. “Remember there is not one shred of evidence Josh is anything but missing to this day,” he wrote. “Keep hope Alive.” Anyone with information about Josh Guimond’s disappearance is encouraged to contact the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office. Source: Stearns County Sheriff’s Office; anniversary letter from Brian Guimond.