No new information has been released about the four missing Midwestern college students, but their families insist the cases are related.
Brian Guimond, father of missing St. John’s University student Josh Guimond, said recently that he has been in contact with the three other families and believes the disappearances must be connected.
Josh Guimond, 20, is a St. John’s junior from Maple Lake, Minn., whom witnesses said was last seen about midnight Nov. 9 after he left a party.
Divers Monday searched a lake near where the party was held but did not find Guimond. The search then utilized a State Patrol helicopter, and authorities on horseback were also dispatched.
Josh’s mother, Lisa Guimond, said that Josh always told her if he was going anywhere, and it would not be like him to go anywhere without telling anyone.
“That’s not the way he was,” she said. “He always let you know where he was and what he was up to.”
Police have called off the search for UW-Eau Claire student Michael Noll. Noll was last seen leaving a bar late at night Nov. 6, his 22nd birthday.
Friends and family of Noll were encouraged last Monday when an elderly resident told police he saw a man matching Noll’s description wandering into a home intoxicated and confused.
Deputy Chief Gary Foster of the Eau Claire Police Department said investigators have no reason to believe foul play was the cause of Noll’s disappearance.
Police are still encouraging community members to be on the lookout.
“We’re still asking residents to check their outbuildings and garages,” Foster told the Associated Press.
The families are firm in their belief that the cases are connected.
“We absolutely believe they are connected. With Interstate 94 there — they are the same in height, weight, all active on campus. There is something there,” Brian Guimond said.
The father of Christopher Jenkins, 21, of Eden Prairie, agreed.
Jenkins was last seen leaving a Halloween party at the Lone Tree Bar & Grill in Minneapolis. Earlier this week, authorities searched for Jenkins on the banks of the Mississippi but were unsuccessful in locating him.
“We spoke with the parents of the other ones, and that’s how we found out about all the similarities — they are high achievers, heights and weights — they are all very similar. It can’t be just a coincidence. Something is going on,” Steve Jenkins said.
The families all said they will continue to hope.
“We will do whatever it takes. We will fight until we find Chris and we bring Chris home. We need to be reunited with Chris, and he needs to be reunited with us,” Steve Jenkins said.
The fourth student missing, Erika Marie Dalquist of Brainerd, Minn., disappeared Oct. 30. Police plan an air and ground search for Dalquist, 21, who was last spotted leaving a bar in downtown Brainerd.
— compiled from staff reports
