It's possible he got into a car with a drug dealer to make a quick buy, so no need for weather appropriate clothing. They got as far as where the dogs picked up his scent on Sunset/Bellagio and the deal went sour. MN may have jumped from the car and stumbled for several yards before the drug dealer(s) grabbed him/killed him and took him off in his car to dispose of him. Sounds awful but that would explain the "zig-zag" movements from the sidewalk to the street and back to the sidewalk again. The possibility is also good that he had an accident at the construction sight in a place that police dogs couldn't find. Even college age kids love to "explore". If he were on a winning "high" from the computer game, he may have been too restless to sleep and went out looking for just such an amusement in order to wind down/tire himself out. Touching on his lack of warm clothing/shoes again, he might've been one of those guys who never admit, even to themselves, that they get cold. I can't imagine he would've gone to a rave by himself; where is the fun in that? And at nearly 5:00 in the morning? Is there some way that ground penetrating equipment or other methods could be used to see if his remains are buried under DeNeve Hall or the other sites where construction was going on at the time? Whatever company worked on this project may have photographs or drawings of the construction from start to finish.
CA CA - Michael Negrete, 18, Los Angeles, 10 Dec 1999
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leilarose68
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my first thought was that he was a dealer or was buying some weed or other drugs from a sketchy person, didn't pay up and got killed. or maybe the dealer was just a psycho hopped up on something. seems the most likely explanation to me, especially considering how michael was a college kid, gamer etc. perfect demographic for this kind of thing. did michael smoke weed? i wonder how much his friends opened up. i wonder how open he was with friends about his inner world. i could envision him getting excited by his gaming, as someone said, and looking forward to getting stoned and falling asleep
and how common were 'gaming bets' or whatever. like in 2007 did people meet up and exchange money over games? can't say i know much of anything about that world.
i just feel like it's extremely unlikely he fell into the construction area and got buried or whatever, barring some bizarre coverup by the school and construction company. did the construction consist of pouring cement? exactly what was the nature of the construction at the time he was missing? and where exactly in relation to his dorm was his scent picked up, again?
EDIT: sorry. i'm super lazy and didn't really read past posts. i guess his brother seems pretty convinced that he was experimenting with drugs, Ecstasy and other club drugs in particular at the time.... well that certainly makes a lot of sense. i guess he was hanging out with the wrong crowd and/or had a bad drug deal, taken to a sketchy warehouse etc etc.
and the zigzag scent would fit with him being pretty high and out of it. the only question is whether he was picked up by someone from school or some rando raver he knew tangentially? how much do his friends know but aren't telling? are any of them worried about coming forward because of their own possible past drug use? was he killed because he didn't pay up for drugs or killed because he was around some crazy methhead or something?
and how common were 'gaming bets' or whatever. like in 2007 did people meet up and exchange money over games? can't say i know much of anything about that world.
i just feel like it's extremely unlikely he fell into the construction area and got buried or whatever, barring some bizarre coverup by the school and construction company. did the construction consist of pouring cement? exactly what was the nature of the construction at the time he was missing? and where exactly in relation to his dorm was his scent picked up, again?
EDIT: sorry. i'm super lazy and didn't really read past posts. i guess his brother seems pretty convinced that he was experimenting with drugs, Ecstasy and other club drugs in particular at the time.... well that certainly makes a lot of sense. i guess he was hanging out with the wrong crowd and/or had a bad drug deal, taken to a sketchy warehouse etc etc.
and the zigzag scent would fit with him being pretty high and out of it. the only question is whether he was picked up by someone from school or some rando raver he knew tangentially? how much do his friends know but aren't telling? are any of them worried about coming forward because of their own possible past drug use? was he killed because he didn't pay up for drugs or killed because he was around some crazy methhead or something?
leilarose68
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yeah i was wondering exactly what kind of construction was going on at the time of his disappearance. like, were they pouring cement or what? i find it very hard to believe they wouldn't have found his body.
Maybe he wandered up towards the street while high and got hit by a car? And the driver hid the body? It would explain the zig zag trail, and the going back onto the sidewalk. Other posters have said that campus would be very quiet at that time of the night/morning, with very little traffic, so its possible someone could have an accident and no one see it.
leilarose68
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nah. if the driver hit him, he would have just left him there. it would have taken vast amounts of effort + even more risk of being seen to pick up the body and THEN find somewhere to dispose of it.
Bumping this case, there has to be a logical answer for this mysterious disappearance, but what is it?
Re post of some details that are known..
April 16 2001
http://articles.latimes.com/2001/apr/16/local/me-51723
"On Dec. 10, 1999, Negrete was with his dorm mates at UCLA's Dykstra Hall. The first quarter of his freshmen year was winding down. Negrete attended a party on his floor, where he and his friends sipped margaritas and listened to hip-hop.
"He was just part of the group, like he always was, not doing anything that made him stand out," said Ross Wolf, who held the party. "That was Mike. He just blended in with everyone."
Played Late-Night Video Game
After leaving the party, Negrete went to his room and played a computer video game, competing against a friend in another room through an intranet connection. When the game was over, about 4 a.m., he signed off. He went outside his room and high-fived the kid he was playing against. The two then turned and went back to their rooms.
No one can remember seeing Negrete after that. Investigators found his wallet, his keys and his shoes in the dorm room.
In the months following his disappearance, UCLA detectives worked the case. Their best lead came when a bloodhound seemed to follow Negrete's scent across campus to a bus stop a few miles away. UCLA eventually requested help from the Sheriff's Department, which is how the case landed with Howell and Purcell".
Re post of some details that are known..
April 16 2001
http://articles.latimes.com/2001/apr/16/local/me-51723
"On Dec. 10, 1999, Negrete was with his dorm mates at UCLA's Dykstra Hall. The first quarter of his freshmen year was winding down. Negrete attended a party on his floor, where he and his friends sipped margaritas and listened to hip-hop.
"He was just part of the group, like he always was, not doing anything that made him stand out," said Ross Wolf, who held the party. "That was Mike. He just blended in with everyone."
Played Late-Night Video Game
After leaving the party, Negrete went to his room and played a computer video game, competing against a friend in another room through an intranet connection. When the game was over, about 4 a.m., he signed off. He went outside his room and high-fived the kid he was playing against. The two then turned and went back to their rooms.
No one can remember seeing Negrete after that. Investigators found his wallet, his keys and his shoes in the dorm room.
In the months following his disappearance, UCLA detectives worked the case. Their best lead came when a bloodhound seemed to follow Negrete's scent across campus to a bus stop a few miles away. UCLA eventually requested help from the Sheriff's Department, which is how the case landed with Howell and Purcell".
Random speculation..
Did MN recently see a concert or performed in one himself, if so, did he head out to grab a newspaper to check for an early review?
Did he know a girl who was coming home late and he went out to escort her, possibly from the bus stop where the bloodhounds caught his scent?
Was he out for a breath of fresh air, or whatever and was accosted by a gunman, real or imagined, and M zigzagged in an effort to avoid getting shot?
One thing about musicians, is that anyone can watch them, find out where the next performance is, and follow them anonymously.
Wonder if the strange man seen at the dorm the night M went missing, can be spotted in any of the band concert pictures or videos ?
Did MN recently see a concert or performed in one himself, if so, did he head out to grab a newspaper to check for an early review?
Did he know a girl who was coming home late and he went out to escort her, possibly from the bus stop where the bloodhounds caught his scent?
Was he out for a breath of fresh air, or whatever and was accosted by a gunman, real or imagined, and M zigzagged in an effort to avoid getting shot?
One thing about musicians, is that anyone can watch them, find out where the next performance is, and follow them anonymously.
Wonder if the strange man seen at the dorm the night M went missing, can be spotted in any of the band concert pictures or videos ?
leilarose68
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previously on this thread someone posted his brother's websitre, where he talked about his belief that michael had gotten into the clubbing scene and club drugs, and his death was very linked to this
His brother is probably right, but if Michael is in fact deceased, where is his body?
If he was really into the club scene, one would expect his school marks to go down and absences from band gigs, imo.
On the other hand, drugs may have triggered some kind of mental breakdown..
If so, could MN be living on the street somewhere? jmo.
snowleopard
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Hi ZooSleuth, I just heard of this case from the same list (in You Tube video) and the first thing that popped into my head was sleepwalking. This was near finals week, could he have done some recent partying and then began sleep deprivation mode for studying? I know that sleepwalking is often associated with fairly serious sleep deprivation. Its just a theory, but I can see him walking into a bus to who knows where and running into the wrong sort. Also, might explain the zigzagging. My 11 yo is a sleepwalker and often appears to be drunk! JM$.02.
Interesting thought, it is remarkable what some sleepwalkers can actually manage to do ! Where could Michael have ultimately ended up? Wonder if the bus he may have entered was one that he has taken in the past?
Gestalt222
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Isn't it possible that he was lured to a discreet spot on Sunset where his scent was found early in the morning? In that time chat rooms were very popular, isn't it possible that he spoke to someone who lured him to a meeting place, perhaps for the promise of more drugs (ecstasy)? Michael was already high that night and wasn't being rationale, which would explain why he wasn't dressed for the cold weather (ecstasy heats your body). He met that man at a pickup spot and got into his car. The man's motives were sexual and once they drove off there was a struggle, a rape and so forth. The man drove across the county to bury the body and left no evidence. They didn't exchange numbers either but just came up with a meeting place via chat which would leave no trace as well.
I came up with this theory based on my personal experience which was quite creepy. I met a man on yahoo chat circa 2002 and he wanted to have sex with me. However we communicated only by chat and only exchanged emails. As crazy as it sounds I agreed to meet up with him, and told me to meet him at a commercial parking lot at night, and I did. I got into his car and we drove off to a hillside community near Orange County, and had sex behind the hillside homes near the ravine. I was a UCLA student and out of the blue he asked me about the Negrete case which completely creeped me out as it was probably 2002 or 2003 at the time. I said I didn't know much and to this day it creeps me out that someone would ask about that in that circumstance which led me to this plausible theory.
I came up with this theory based on my personal experience which was quite creepy. I met a man on yahoo chat circa 2002 and he wanted to have sex with me. However we communicated only by chat and only exchanged emails. As crazy as it sounds I agreed to meet up with him, and told me to meet him at a commercial parking lot at night, and I did. I got into his car and we drove off to a hillside community near Orange County, and had sex behind the hillside homes near the ravine. I was a UCLA student and out of the blue he asked me about the Negrete case which completely creeped me out as it was probably 2002 or 2003 at the time. I said I didn't know much and to this day it creeps me out that someone would ask about that in that circumstance which led me to this plausible theory.
Welcome to Ws Gestalt222!
Thanks for that inside info, i think the scenario you suggested, happens more frequently in missing male student cases, than some might think...
I tend to think this is probably the MOST probably theory regarding what happened to Michael. More plausible than sleepwalking, in which I am pretty sure his body would have been found by now.
And your story is pretty creepy and definitely happens more regularly (even today) than people think.
UCLAEigenguy
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Did you ever contact UCPD? Did you tell him that you were a UCLA student when you met? I would contact them no?... that is a very out of place comment given the circumstances...
The chatroom theory is possible... not much is impossible here sadly. I would have been suspicious that someone wanted to meet that far away though, and he didn't have shoes, keys anything. But people at that age do strange things.
Just curious, where did you read that he was already high and being irrational? I am very curious because everything I've read was that his behavior was normal before the disappearance and that he only had a few drinks (margaritas was stated, which may be true, but a bit of an odd choice).
The only mention I've seen about drugs whatsoever (aside from our speculation) was the cousin that wrote it in his blog post, never anywhere else.
He was playing video games with a friend. I can't see playing video games on ecstasy. Maybe it depends on what kind of street e you consume, but my experience being on cloud nine with the drug sort of precludes playing video games all night. I originally thought he met someone from a chat. Chats were really big back then, as noted.
I assume in Mike's case its either 1) he got in a car with someone - maybe a stranger or maybe not or 2) fell in a construction hole or down a pipe or something.
We need info on Mike's sexual preference. Women don't kidnap and murder. Straight guys don't meet gay guys on dark streets at 4:30am ( I don't think he left for a drug purchase in the middle of the night ). Do we have any evidence that he's homosexual? If we had that - then that might tip the scale a lot in favor of the late night assignation, in which case we can just say he'll never be found because the possibilities are endless.
As far as the chat hookup person who mentioned him. Well - we'd have to go back to 2002 and 2003 and find out how much publicity there was about Mike at the time. There are several possibilities.
If the stranger was a former UCLA student, then he clearly would have known about the case, and it could easily come up in a conversation
If there were a lot of TV shows on about it, then he might know, too. I found out about this case in 2009 when Annie Le went missing (before being found murdered) which led me to CharleyProject - and from there spent a lot of time browsing. This Negrete deal became one of the more inexplicable cases and captured my attention, along with the cases of Michael Jefferson Adams ( Texas, late 80s), Roger John Ellison (particularly strange case similar to this one), David Vernon Lovely (Wyoming) to mention a few.
For someone to bring it up all those years ago - I would assume the other person was a student at UCLA to even know about it.
UCLAEigenguy
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The family insisted that he wasn't into drugs, but apparently he was(?). I suspect any information about his sexual orientation would also be unreliable, especially because at that age people experiment or may not truly know yet.
ThePhantom
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I think Mike *may* have been gay but closeted, and tend to agree with the poster who said he met someone and that person murdered him. Finding Mike's body is like looking for a needle in a haystack. It will take the grace of God or serendipity for his body to be found. It amazes me how people walking through the woods, hunting, looking for mushrooms, hiking, etc. stumble upon remains. I'm not expecting for Mike to be found though...alas.