MAPLE LAKE, MN — As the seventh year anniversary approaches for the disappearance of missing college student Joshua Guimond Nov. 10, his family is preparing for a “Justice for Josh,” march to keep his memory alive.
In addition to the march, the family has few kinds words to say about the university. According to Joshua’s father, Brian Guimond, “One of several new facts regarding Joshua’s disappearance that we need to explore involves 11 known sex offenders who resided on campus when Joshua disappeared. If that is the case, we may never know the truth. The University and Abbey have a long history of withholding information from the public and law enforcement authorities.” The public needs to be aware of this.
Guimond disappeared after leaving a small card party as a student at St. John’s University in Collegeville in 2002.
On the night of his disappearance, Josh, who was 20 at the time he went missing, left a small card party at a friend’s apartment on the St. John’s University campus around midnight on Nov. 9, 2002. His friends believed he was just making a trip to the bathroom, but when he did not come back after 15 minutes, they assumed he had just walked back to his dorm room. He has not been seen since.
Joshua did not have his glasses or contact lenses, his car, credit cards, or even a coat that was appropriate for the weather. Nothing was missing from his dorm room. His parents remain convinced that he was taken against his will.
· St. John’s recently denied a request by the Guimond family to mark the anniversary with an on-campus walk to raise awareness, claiming such an event “would not be productive”.
· The seven year anniversary of Joshua’s disappearance is November 10th.
· Supporters will meet near St. John’s University at noon, followed by a march at the Stearns County Sheriff’s office at 2pm.
· Several facts and new information regarding Joshua’s disappearance will be made public during the event.
Justice for Josh March set for Nov. 7
Joshua Guimond’s family along with supporters, advocates and other victims of campus crime are flying in from around the country and uniting to remember Joshua. A petition will be presented to the sheriff demanding accountability.
St. John’s University recently denied a request by the family to begin the Justice for Josh march on campus, at the site where Joshua was last seen. According to University representative Shawn Vierzba, such a march, “would not be productive, and that the speculation and conjecture likely generated by such a march could in the end be more harmful to the efforts to find Josh.”
The march will continue at the Stearns County Sheriffs office, where organizers will demand that law enforcement agencies release all information regarding Joshua’s disappearance and that St. John’s immediately release the names of all personnel who have had credible assault allegations made against them. A dinner and prayer service will follow. Copies of the full schedule and applicable documents will be made available online and on the day of the march.
More information: http://www.findjoshua.com
After seven long, painful, heartbreaking years, I pray that this is the year Joshua’s family gets some answers. It seems the authorities and the university keep hoping everyone will just forget about Josh’s disappearance. But this is not going to happen. If this happened to one of their own, answers would have been found years ago. Please visit the family’s website at http://www.findjoshua.com to learn more about Josh’s case. There is also a link on the website to a petition that is demanding that the sheriff and school release info about the case. Many secrets are being kept, many twists on the truth being told. It’s time for all that secretiveness to end, and an honest accounting to be done of the circumstances surrounding Josh’s disappearance. You can make a difference for this family, and for Joshua, by learning more about his disappearance, and getting involved. Please participate in this march if you can. Family, friends and the public will ultimately get to the bottom of this case. Please help. Thank you.
I will be there on Saturday to support any efforts to find out what happened to Josh. The first time I drove onto this campus to attend a sporting event, a scarey feelng overwhelmed me. A scarey feeling of evil watching my every move from the parking area to the building, to the mysterious pond as you leave the campus. After that I forbid my child from attending any sports activites there without me. My experience was before Josh disappeared. I find it extremely disturbing that this campus gave Josh’s father grief over trying to ask questions about his sons disappearance. That alone should send an awakening to the community that this campus resides in. My question has always been, what is being hidden there? Did you know that sanctuary means: asylum, cover, covert, den, haven, hideaway, hideout, refuge, shelter, and shield?
Thats the catholic church at its finest. Look at how they hide all these priest scandals. They never admit they are wrong and most of the time they are. Its an absolute shame the family has to suffer because police and the catholic church dont want to show they made errors!!
hi everyone i am a advocate for the joshua guimond family and i wanted to thank you for your great comments and words of wisdom this is a case that needs the publics help to call write demand that the known sex offenders on that campus be investigated in this case i know this case and i know that in all my years i have never felt so sick as i do over the police mistreatment of this family i seen with my own eyes the mean nasty behavior towards this family as a united force the public can solve this the police say they have looked into all these leads thats a lie it took them several weeks to get around to even asking potential witnesses if they knew anything the family was threatened by the police dept the county attny is married to a st johns staff and the towns victim advocate spoke to me on phone and i quote” well we dont want to hurt the reputation of these wonderful monks ” well those monks are admitted sex offenders your taxes pay these idiots start to fight back write protest get loud our children are not going to be hurt by sex offenders anymore thanks to you all again