CA CA - Michael Negrete, 18, Los Angeles, 10 Dec 1999

[avecesaria]

I found two very recent and interesting comments left by one of the homicide investigators, William Howell, on one of the posts on Michael's facebook page.

Having been involved in the investigation itself I can tell you that for the most past the Detective from UCLA that initially handled the case did a very through job. The LASO was brought into the case for fresh eyes as sometimes a look as a case from others sometimes helps and generates new ideas but for the most part it was a through investigation from the start. The detective however could have had better help from her own people. The UCLA Administration failed to follow through or I should say refused to, with request made by LASO Homicide Detectives that could had helped in the investigation. The FBI did get involved in the beginning but botched the case with Polygraph Interviews of friends and schoolmates and later corrupted the hard drive on Michael's Computer. LASO was unable to reconstruct the data as it was lost. There was also much more that occurred with the FBI but that is a whole new story. I will also say that at the time very little help was received by the students in the dorm and from those that lived on the same floor as Michael. And unless everyone that was talked to LIED, which I'm sure many did, there was no evidence that Michael was addicted too drugs. In fact as far as investigators could tell, Michael only used ecstasy once and that was never confirmed. So bottom line if your readers or backseat investigators only have speculation then they should keep it to themselves. If they have hard evidence then call LASO or Michaels mother.

I don't know what your background was or is but it is always easy to Monday morning quarterback something especially I'd you know nothing about what went on. Not taking this personally but I can tell you that the lead detective for UCLA went far beyond what most would have done. Yes there were screw ups from the beginning, but the biggest failure where Michaels friends who knew things whether relevant or not and said nothing to cover their own narrow Littles asses. Many of the others screw ups were come and in the end showed no connection to Michaels disappearance. Bottomline is that in the early morning hours Michael walked out of the dorm by himself wearing only a SS Shirt, Shorts and Shower Slippers and was never seen again and it was 28 degrees.

So it seems to me like the administration at UCLA weren't cooperating with LE in regards to Michael's case. There were apparently also a lot of parking lot assaults at UCLA around the same time Mike went missing that were covered up in order to make the campus seem safer than what it really was. Seeing as the profiler advised investigators that they had more than likely already interviewed somebody who knew what happened and that investigators have expressed that his friends weren't very forthcoming in the investigation, I think they need to interview these people again. The case should be handed over to a Cold Case Unit that can look over the information in Michael's case and re-interview former students. That's the only way I could ever see this case being fully solved except for his body being found, which is what I think they're hoping to happen. But it's been nearly 18 years and the chances of finding him withers away as more time passes.

 

[dotr]

I found two very recent and interesting comments left by one of the homicide investigators, William Howell, on one of the posts on Michael's facebook page.





So it seems to me like the administration at UCLA weren't cooperating with LE in regards to Michael's case. There were apparently also a lot of parking lot assaults at UCLA around the same time Mike went missing that were covered up in order to make the campus seem safer than what it really was. Seeing as the profiler advised investigators that they had more than likely already interviewed somebody who knew what happened and that investigators have expressed that his friends weren't very forthcoming in the investigation, I think they need to interview these people again. The case should be handed over to a Cold Case Unit that can look over the information in Michael's case and re-interview former students. That's the only way I could ever see this case being fully solved except for his body being found, which is what I think they're hoping to happen. But it's been nearly 18 years and the chances of finding him withers away as more time passes.

Welcome to Ws avecesaria, thanks for the very enlightening post!
:welcome:

 

[Kano]

It's not really uncommon for gamers to stay awake all night playing games these days. I don't remember if it was or not as much in 99. For drugs, not many people are going to go on a drug run without shoes at 4am lol.. Most wont at 4am anyway, less people = less people for the cops to look at and a greater chance that they will look at you. Now I suppose if he owed a debt and got word someone was on their way to see him he could take off quick without anything.

It's been a lot of years since I went over this one but at the time it seems like the theory was that he might have had bad luck and ran into some construction in the area then unknowingly covered with concrete the next day.

 

[avecesaria]

I feel like there's this weird consensus that Michael was buried under concrete or just walked away. I mean, those theories are absolutely valid and possible, but it feels like no one here and on other discussion posts has picked up on the fact that his disappearance is being investigated as a homicide. All cases like Brian Shaffer, Jason Jalkowski, Jennifer Kesse and other people that have disappeared under similar circumstances are still being investigated as disappearances. Why is Michael's being investigated as a homicide? Usually, when LE refiles cases from disappearance to homicide, it means that they have information that they haven't made public yet due to the ongoing investigation. I just wonder what that information could be...

 

[dotr]

rbbm
April 3 2003
http://dailybruin.com/2003/04/03/mary-negrete-continues-search/

Another method used to increase public awareness is the Web
site, http://findmikenow.com. The site contains information about
Michael, including his physical characteristics and information
regarding the night he disappeared.

Also featured on the Web site is a police composite released in
June 2000. Mary asks students to take a look at the police sketch
and to be on the lookout.

“I want students to look at that picture and keep their
eyes open,” Mary said. “I still believe that there has
to be somebody close by, maybe somebody on campus, who could know
what happened.”

With time passing, Mary said the investigation has slowed down
quite a bit, and she feels she won’t get the outcome she
originally hoped for.

“We have two other children, and we want their lives to be
as normal as possible,” Mary said.

Los Angeles Sheriff’s Detectives Bill Howell and Joe
Purcell have worked on the investigation since it changed from a
missing persons case to a homicide case.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/31780...67847705:tl_objid.10151414767847705&__tn__=*s

 

[dotr]

This has nothing to do with Michael's disappearance, just noting what may have been an uncomfortable cadaver scandal at the university in 1999.
It may or may not have affected students willingness to talk to LE.
speculation, imo.
http://www.newsweek.com/inside-uclas-cadaver-scandal-95785

 

[88keys]

I feel like there's this weird consensus that Michael was buried under concrete or just walked away. I mean, those theories are absolutely valid and possible, but it feels like no one here and on other discussion posts has picked up on the fact that his disappearance is being investigated as a homicide. All cases like Brian Shaffer, Jason Jalkowski, Jennifer Kesse and other people that have disappeared under similar circumstances are still being investigated as disappearances. Why is Michael's being investigated as a homicide? Usually, when LE refiles cases from disappearance to homicide, it means that they have information that they haven't made public yet due to the ongoing investigation. I just wonder what that information could be...

This thread is the first place I've heard that his case is being investigated as a homicide. I can't find the Facebook page where this was supposedly posted by a cop.

And he's not buried under concrete. That's silly. Construction workers don't just dump out concrete without looking where they're putting it.

 

[dotr]

This thread is the first place I've heard that his case is being investigated as a homicide. I can't find the Facebook page where this was supposedly posted by a cop.

And he's not buried under concrete. That's silly. Construction workers don't just dump out concrete without looking where they're putting it.

On this site it states that the case is being investigated as a possible homicide, perhaps, imo, because a " witness " was seen and apparently still unaccounted for.
speculation.
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/negrete_michael.html

Dec 10 1999
http://dailybruin.com/2003/04/03/mary-negrete-continues-search/
rbbm.

Another method used to increase public awareness is the Web
site, http://findmikenow.com. The site contains information about
Michael, including his physical characteristics and information
regarding the night he disappeared.

Also featured on the Web site is a police composite released in
June 2000. Mary asks students to take a look at the police sketch
and to be on the lookout.

“I want students to look at that picture and keep their
eyes open,” Mary said. “I still believe that there has
to be somebody close by, maybe somebody on campus, who could know
what happened.”

With time passing, Mary said the investigation has slowed down
quite a bit, and she feels she won’t get the outcome she
originally hoped for.

“We have two other children, and we want their lives to be
as normal as possible,” Mary said.

Los Angeles Sheriff’s Detectives Bill Howell and Joe
Purcell have worked on the investigation since it changed from a
missing persons case to a homicide case.

Detectives have received 500 leads since the beginning of the
case, and none have uncovered any significant information.

“We’re baffled,” Howell said. “With 60
years between my partner and I, we’ve never seen anything
like this.”

 

[BettaFranka]

This thread is the first place I've heard that his case is being investigated as a homicide. I can't find the Facebook page where this was supposedly posted by a cop.

And he's not buried under concrete. That's silly. Construction workers don't just dump out concrete without looking where they're putting it.

What if he fell in the rubble and was unknowingly disposed off. It's also possible that he fell in some kind of pit where he couldn't be seen. The body of Steve Cook, for example, was found in the bottom of a well 11 years after he disappeared. They had enclosed the well with a concrete structure and nobody realized during the construction that he was there. Ben Needham comes to mind as well. The official theory is that he got killed by a construction vehicle and accidentally buried among the rubble.

 

[avecesaria]

This thread is the first place I've heard that his case is being investigated as a homicide. I can't find the Facebook page where this was supposedly posted by a cop.

And he's not buried under concrete. That's silly. Construction workers don't just dump out concrete without looking where they're putting it.

My brother went to the same high school as one of Michael's brothers, Dave. From what I have gathered, his case turned very quickly from a disappearance case to a homicide case. LE has seemed very sure that something bad happened to Michael ever since. Michael's crowd wasn't exactly... ideal, to say the least. My personal belief and gut feeling has always been that something went wrong that night between Michael and his friends. That's just my two cents though. There are just things that can't be said right now.

 

[BettaFranka]

LE has seemed very sure that something bad happened to Michael ever since. Michael's crowd wasn't exactly... ideal, to say the least. My personal belief and gut feeling has always been that something went wrong that night between Michael and his friends.

Is there any particular reason to believe that his friends weren't ideal? Plenty of people end up in bad crowds but these crowds aren't usually full of criminals, just unpleasant people.

One of the detectives mentioned that his friends weren't truthful about some things. I just wonder if these lies were related to the case. As far as I understand, LE can be very inquisitive about certain details and some of these details might be too personal to talk about them, even if they have nothing to do with the investigation. If I saw Michael walking out of the building while I was also outside getting high with some friends, I wouldn't want the police to know the whole truth.

 

[avecesaria]

Is there any particular reason to believe that his friends weren't ideal? Plenty of people end up in bad crowds but these crowds aren't usually full of criminals, just unpleasant people

Yes, there is. I don't wanna start some kind of witch hunt or compromise the case for LE, it's not my intention. I have mutual friends with these people. They're definitely not the type of people a parent would want their child to hang out with and I don't mean that in a light way. I'm not talking about all of his friends, only a small portion. I just think Mike deserved better.

 

[Rayemonde]

2001 article. BBM.

"The hardest thing is telling the parents," said Purcell, a homicide detective for nearly a decade. "Telling them there's still nothing new. Telling them, 'Hey, we think he's not alive. That's why two homicide guys have the case.' " Negrete's parents, Miguel and Mary Negrete, who live near San Diego, go about their lives in quiet despair.

http://articles.latimes.com/2001/apr/16/local/me-51723

 

[BettaFranka]

Thanks! Do you think that Mike may have bullied/harassed? I'd understand if that would be too much information or if you'd feel uncomfortable answering. It's just that there have been other cases of missing people being harassed or bullied before their disappearance.

 

[Rose_Red]

I think it would be far fetched for the police to consider a case a homicide because there was a man walking around the dorm. That man could have been anybody. Nobody has said that he was doing anything threatening, looking for Michael, knows Michael or had any contact with him at all. Only one individual has come out and said they saw this man, so we do not even know if he exists. I think the police has something else that they are going on besides this person of interest.

 

[dotr]

Bumping.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRSqqnELKOM

[h=1]Michael Negrete on BrainScratch Searchlight[/h]

 

[ThePhantom]

Just guessing -- seems his body was extremely well hidden -- probably beneath a building or road under construction. smh...

 

[Ruby Lou]

I agree with a few of the posts that the idea of the construction site being somehow to blame is far fetched. Building construction sites would rarely have holes or pits or piles of debris in which someone could get thrown out in the trash with. Construction workers would have full view of where they're laying cement etc.

The idea that a random person came in off the streets with foul play ensuing would surely also be a less likely scenario? As would suicidal ideation or stress leading to him leaving the dorm of his own accord given he left his belongings behind and had moments before been congratulating his gaming friend.

When I think about this case and what would be the most likely scenario on the basis of probability is that he went out to congratulate his gaming friend, turned around to go back to his room and encountered some friends along the way or even went to seek out friends who were still partying, who were high or in party mode (didn't I hear somewhere that it was the last night of exams or something?) and he went back to their room with them or walked out of the building with them (if they were intoxicated or on drugs perhaps they took the crazy route the sniffer dogs took to the bus stop to evade detection or because they weren't really in a state of mind to think where they were going.... perhaps the end destination of the bus stop was merely where they ended up rather than where they had actually planned on going?). Perhaps he met foul play afterwards, or an overdose or something that his friends thought they would get in trouble for (ie. drugs). Perhaps he had taken drugs and without rhyme or reason just went outside to get fresh air, ended up at the bus stop (or anywhere) and either became confused & disorientated in his intoxicated state and/or met foul play.

I've heard it said in some posts that dorm friends may have been hiding something. It's all speculation but this makes the most logical sense to me. I would hope that one day they would have the courage to speak out as I predict someone who was in that dorm knows something and was either involved in his disappearance or was involved in something that lead to his disappearance. People don't just generally disappear into thin air without planning it or taking their belongings.

 

[dotr]

I agree with a few of the posts that the idea of the construction site being somehow to blame is far fetched. Building construction sites would rarely have holes or pits or piles of debris in which someone could get thrown out in the trash with. Construction workers would have full view of where they're laying cement etc.

The idea that a random person came in off the streets with foul play ensuing would surely also be a less likely scenario? As would suicidal ideation or stress leading to him leaving the dorm of his own accord given he left his belongings behind and had moments before been congratulating his gaming friend.

When I think about this case and what would be the most likely scenario on the basis of probability is that he went out to congratulate his gaming friend, turned around to go back to his room and encountered some friends along the way or even went to seek out friends who were still partying, who were high or in party mode (didn't I hear somewhere that it was the last night of exams or something?) and he went back to their room with them or walked out of the building with them (if they were intoxicated or on drugs perhaps they took the crazy route the sniffer dogs took to the bus stop to evade detection or because they weren't really in a state of mind to think where they were going.... perhaps the end destination of the bus stop was merely where they ended up rather than where they had actually planned on going?). Perhaps he met foul play afterwards, or an overdose or something that his friends thought they would get in trouble for (ie. drugs). Perhaps he had taken drugs and without rhyme or reason just went outside to get fresh air, ended up at the bus stop (or anywhere) and either became confused & disorientated in his intoxicated state and/or met foul play.

I've heard it said in some posts that dorm friends may have been hiding something. It's all speculation but this makes the most logical sense to me. I would hope that one day they would have the courage to speak out as I predict someone who was in that dorm knows something and was either involved in his disappearance or was involved in something that lead to his disappearance. People don't just generally disappear into thin air without planning it or taking their belongings.

Welcome to Ws Ruby Lou, your post made a lot of sense!

 

[UCLAEigenguy]

I agree with a few of the posts that the idea of the construction site being somehow to blame is far fetched. Building construction sites would rarely have holes or pits or piles of debris in which someone could get thrown out in the trash with. Construction workers would have full view of where they're laying cement etc.

A construction worker would have to be "in" on concealing the body, probably from panic. These construction sites are surrounded with "blacked-out" fencing. The only people that would see a body would be construction workers.

The idea that a random person came in off the streets with foul play ensuing would surely also be a less likely scenario? As would suicidal ideation or stress leading to him leaving the dorm of his own accord given he left his belongings behind and had moments before been congratulating his gaming friend.

MOO, but I definitely don't think a random person came in off the streets. If someone entered the dorm and hurt Michael, he knew who it was.

When I think about this case and what would be the most likely scenario on the basis of probability is that he went out to congratulate his gaming friend, turned around to go back to his room and encountered some friends along the way or even went to seek out friends who were still partying, who were high or in party mode (didn't I hear somewhere that it was the last night of exams or something?) and he went back to their room with them or walked out of the building with them (if they were intoxicated or on drugs perhaps they took the crazy route the sniffer dogs took to the bus stop to evade detection or because they weren't really in a state of mind to think where they were going.... perhaps the end destination of the bus stop was merely where they ended up rather than where they had actually planned on going?). Perhaps he met foul play afterwards, or an overdose or something that his friends thought they would get in trouble for (ie. drugs). Perhaps he had taken drugs and without rhyme or reason just went outside to get fresh air, ended up at the bus stop (or anywhere) and either became confused & disorientated in his intoxicated state and/or met foul play.

IIRC, this was the Thursday of the last week of classes, right before finals week began. During Fall quarter, finals (especially for Freshmen) tend to being on Saturday. That made some suspect suicide. Some finals are held during tenth week, and I suspect Michael already had at least one final. Instead, I suspect that is why so few people could have seen Michael at the time he went missing. During finals week, several students would be up studying at that hour. Considering how much of the campus was searched, it would seem he either took a ride, or the bus (the scent ended at a bus stop), but I remember reading that the bus driver did not see anything and that he/she would have remembered because of the odd hour. The other explanation of the bizarre scent trail was someone carrying his body trying to evade detection, but at 4:15am, there would not have been enough time in the dark to carry his body from Dykstra Hall to the bus stop since it's uphill the entire way, and he wasn't light. Someone would have seen something. And if multiple people were involved, somebody would have also heard something.

I've heard it said in some posts that dorm friends may have been hiding something. It's all speculation but this makes the most logical sense to me. I would hope that one day they would have the courage to speak out as I predict someone who was in that dorm knows something and was either involved in his disappearance or was involved in something that lead to his disappearance. People don't just generally disappear into thin air without planning it or taking their belongings.

I think this is the case.