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

[Alleykins]

@Rose_Red, about security and building access, Lapcas posted this here last year (RBBM for focus):

This case has haunted me for years because I was at UCLA when it happened. In fact, two years prior, I had lived in Dykstra Hall on the same floor he was living on when he disappeared. It just never made any sense.

Security in the dorms was tight. To get into any building, you had to have your student ID scanned and there were security cameras. There would no reason for anyone over, say, 21 to be near the dorms, especially because UCLA only guaranteed housing to freshmen at the time, so I'm not sure who the unidentified stranger they've talked about could have been. The bus stop his scent was tracked to was quite far; I'm going to guess almost a mile and mostly up a steep hill.

I didn't go here, but a local state university back in the 80s.
Even back then, we had security cameras, along with card keys to enter dorms, and university police patrolling the campus 24/7.

 

[avecesaria]

It’s the anniversary day and I can’t believe it’s been over 20 years with really zero advances made. I’m trying to hold out hope for this case, especially with the resolutions we’ve seen in other cases lately. While I didn’t know Mike personally, I was always given the impression that he was a people pleaser. It was his first year at college away from his family, he was young and impressionable, probably got into it with the wrong people. The lead det’s words about Mike’s friends certainly didn’t come to my surprise. I wish they would feature his case on Unsolved Mystery or an ID show and that someone somewhere would say something. The lack of media exposure and signs leading anywhere really leaves a bad feeling in my gut. It seems like not even LE has a clue.

 

[DD Byrd]

Most sources say he left his building voluntarily. I can't recall if pizza delivery was common with Dykstra back then as there was construction on/off there as well. But this could have been a robbery gone bad, someone saw a kid on the curb and figured there was money on him. But on any given night, the traffic there would've likely seen something; calling it in is something else.

If it were drug-related it'd be a quick abduction. Addiction doesn't take that long so if he owed someone money, we'd need to know from the gamer friend what mindframe he thought Mike was in.

As for "construction accident," possible. But UCLA would still prosper after press releases of "student (drunk/high) entered construction site." Students have died on campus, with an age group, and population of that size. And their lawyers and the liabilty clauses wouldn't (unfortunately) affect their reputation or applications.

 

[dotr]

rbbm.
Michael William Negrete – The Charley Project
''Search dogs tracked Negrete's scent to Sunset Boulevard and Bellagio Street in Los Angeles, but no other evidence was located.

Authorities released a sketch of a possible witness in Negrete's case in 2000. The unidentified Caucasian man was seen inside Dykstra Hall at 4:35 a.m. on December 10. Investigators do not know if the individual is connected to Negrete's case or if he did indeed witness anything, but they would like to question him.''

''The sketch of the man is posted with this case summary. He is described as being approximately 35 years old in 1999 and 5'7 to 5'8 tall with a heavy build. He was wearing a shiny gray jacket with a turquoise-colored design. The individual has yet to be identified.''

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Negrete, circa 1999; Sketch of possible witness

 

[MatthewTyler]

Fairly new to this case and haven't done a whole lot of research on it, but just thought I'd mention this. TruePeopleSearch database has an address listed for Michael Negrete on their page. The birth month and year is correct, his past address is correct, and the relatives section list the names of his two brothers and parents. Has anyone ever looked into this?

https://www.truepeoplesearch.com/details?streetaddress=11375 Middle Ridge Ter&citystatezip=San Diego, CA&rid=0x8

ETA: sorry if something like this was posted already, I didn't read the whole thread here yet.

 

[ThePhantom]

I know -- and it's frustrating. They also have a listing for Joshua Guimond, who has been missing from the campus of St. John's University for 20 years. It's painful to see.

 

[avecesaria]

Today is Michael’s 40th birthday. Crazy how he’s been missing far longer than the age he was when he actually disappeared.

 

[cnmccarthy]

rbbm.
Michael William Negrete – The Charley Project
''Search dogs tracked Negrete's scent to Sunset Boulevard and Bellagio Street in Los Angeles, but no other evidence was located.

Authorities released a sketch of a possible witness in Negrete's case in 2000. The unidentified Caucasian man was seen inside Dykstra Hall at 4:35 a.m. on December 10. Investigators do not know if the individual is connected to Negrete's case or if he did indeed witness anything, but they would like to question him.''

''The sketch of the man is posted with this case summary. He is described as being approximately 35 years old in 1999 and 5'7 to 5'8 tall with a heavy build. He was wearing a shiny gray jacket with a turquoise-colored design. The individual has yet to be identified.''

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Negrete, circa 1999; Sketch of possible witness

The sheriff on the case has posted a couple times in the Facebook group dedicated to him and he stated this witness was a red herring. My question is, if this is true then why wouldn’t they come out and say that? I’d think that would be important information to be made aware of.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Michael William Negrete – The Charley Project

 

[Essbee]

It's so crazy to me that he would be 41 years old now. It is very sad. I really hope that we can someday get some answers in this case.

 

[Hap]

Just read this article about Michael's disappearance and came here to look for information....

What Happened to Missing UCLA Student Michael Negrete?

In December 1999, Michael Negrete was nearly finished with his first semester at UCLA when he disappeared from his own dormitory.

coreysobell.medium.com

"At its peak, the case had seven detectives assigned to it. Los Angeles Sheriff’s Detectives Bill Howell and Joe Purcell joined the investigation after it was reclassified and have been open about its difficulty. They do not believe Michael left willingly, considering that his wallet, shoes, and other belongings were left in his room. In Purcell’s words, “anything that meant anything” to Michael was left behind. Both detectives told the Daily Breeze they investigated “every possible scenario,” including Michael being lured into a religious cult or overdosing on drugs (though there’s zero proof he had ever even used them). The veteran detectives’ level of frustration has led them both to losing sleep."

Where is Michael?

 

[hannah246]

Found some interesting information about Michael case but I don't know if I am allowed to share it here, considering I did the same in another case and was warned not to do that. Is on Facebook one of the homicide investigators working on the case speaking

 

[BethAnn777]

Found some interesting information about Michael case but I don't know if I am allowed to share it here, considering I did the same in another case and was warned not to do that. Is on Facebook one of the homicide investigators working on the case speaking

You can link the FB page. And then you can say things like, look at the post from Sept. 10th, or look at comments from - give the initials of the person, from the list of such and such date.

 

[hannah246]

You can link the FB page. And then you can say things like, look at the post from Sept. 10th, or look at comments from - give the initials of the person, from the list of such and such date.

Is on the Mike negrete tribute page on Facebook. https://m.facebook.com/groups/31780627704/
Scroll through and click on a comment made by someone with the initials w.l Posted on 23 april 2013 than you will see the homicide investigator talk about the case and what went wrong his initials are w.g.h

 

[BethAnn777]

Is on the Mike negrete tribute page on Facebook. https://m.facebook.com/groups/31780627704/
Scroll through and click on a comment made by someone with the initials w.l Posted on 23 april 2013 than you will see the homicide investigator talk about the case and what went wrong his initials are w.g.h

I see the post you are talking about. It shows as April 24, 2014 for me. I’m guessing because we are in different time zones. Anyways, sounds like WGH is saying Michael’s computer wasn’t throughly analyzed and not all the students on his floor said perhaps everything they knew. Am I missing anything?

 

[hannah246]

I see the post you are talking about. It shows as April 24, 2014 for me. I’m guessing because we are in different time zones. Anyways, sounds like WGH is saying Michael’s computer wasn’t throughly analyzed and not all the students on his floor said perhaps everything they knew. Am I missing anything?

He also went onto to say the fbi tampered with Michael computer and as a result damaged the hard drive, there could have Been major clues if the fbi was careful and Considerate with the case, in another post he made he stated the strange male around the hallway was futile if I can remember

 

[Armchair63]

The Mysterious Disappearance Of Michael Negrete - Grunge

Here's a series of terrifying thoughts. First, the human mind can only visualize numbers up to a certain point. After that, they're just abstract concepts. Thus, for all of one's perceived individuality, it is entirely true that sometimes people just ... disappear.

www.grunge.com

Mary Negrete continues search for her missing son - Daily Bruin

On Dec. 10, 1999, the disappearance of a student living on campus shocked the UCLA community. Three years later, detectives say there is still no sign of Michael Negrete’s whereabouts.

dailybruin.com

The UnAnswered Podcast - Michael Negrete | RSS.com

In December 1999, college freshman Michael Negrete vanished from his dorm room on the UCLA campus. There was no evidence and no witnesses to his mysterious disappearance.If you have any information on the disappearance of Michael Negrete, please call the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department at...

rss.com

The only thing that sticks out in this case to me is that it was said that Michael had been experimenting with “club drugs” and that a man who appeared to be in his mid thirties was seen hanging around in the dormitory in the early morning hours on December 10. This particular man was never questioned .
Today Michael would be 41 years old .

 

[Ciriii57]

Could there be any reason why the FBI would accidentally on purpose damage his hard drive, rendering any useful information irretrievable? The lead detective on the case seems to suggest there were numerous issues with the FBI while working on this case, it sounded like they were either unhelpful or openly obstructive of the investigation.
I'm not from the US but what reason could the FBI have to do this? Could Micheal have gotten involved in something that was way over his head? Possibly to do with his membership of the super intelligent club at UCLA?

 

[dotr]

Coincidentally, Josh Guimond went missing under similar circumstances as MN, noting that both played in bands......fwiw. rbbm

Stearns County seeks help in Josh Guimond case

The sheriff’s office is asking for the public’s help in identifying people in photos found on Guimond’s computer after the St. John’s University student disappeared in November 2002.

www.mprnews.org

''On Nov. 9, 2002, Joshua Guimond, a 20-year-old college student, left a small party at an apartment on the campus of St. John’s University, and was never seen again.
Friends assumed he’d walked back to his dormitory.''

Joshua is remembered at Christmastime in Maple Lake

Christmas is a time for families to gather and this holiday season makes the absence of one young Maple Lake man even more difficult to accept.Joshua Guimond, a junior at St. John’s, disappeared without a

maplelakemessenger.com

''And Joshua had a multitude of interests, talents and abilities. He was a part of the Gifted and Talented program at Maple Lake Elementary. In band, he played the baritone, trombone, tuba and uphonium and was also a member of the community Jazz band.''

Oct 2023

Michael Negrete Has Been Missing for Over Two Decades

Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash

medium.com

''Michael Negrete was the only person who knew his intended destination when he left his UCLA dorm room around 4 AM on Friday, December 10, 1999. If anyone encountered him early that morning then nothing he did stood out enough for them to remember him. Negrete was no different than any of his other high-achieving UCLA classmates. He was an accomplished trumpet player attending the prestigious UCLA on a music scholarship and had many friends. ''

'' A few months after Negrete’s disappearance an unnamed student told police that a 30-something White male was loitering in Dykstra Hall at the exact time Michael went missing.''

'' Negrete played his trumpet in a band concert the night before he went missing and then attended a party with 15–20 other UCLA students for a short time before retiring to his dorm room to play a computer game against his hallmate. Negrete’s roommate was also in the room at the time Negrete was playing the computer game against the hallmate.''