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American Morning
Vanished
Aired November 19, 2002 - 09:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A 20-year-old honor student, Joshua Guimond, left a Minnesota campus on Sunday back on November 9th and vanished. He is the fourth young person to disappear in Minnesota and Wisconsin since October 30th, and there are striking similarities in all the cases. They're all between the ages of 20 and 22. They had all been out drinking before they vanished, and they all disappeared near interstate 94. Police say they is no evidence that the cases are connected, but they have not completely dismissed that either.
Joshua's parents are asking for help here in New York. And joining me now, Joshua's father, Brian Guimond, his mother, Lisa, and his uncle, Paul Cheney.
Good morning to all three of you.
You are in full battle gear, for lack of a better phrase, in the hunt right now for your son. What have you heard from police, Brian, right now?
BRIAN GUIMOND, JOSHUA'S FATHER: Well, the latest is there was a hat with the St. John's University logo found -- a couple deer hunters found it Saturday night. And yesterday, the last I knew, is they were going to get it in their hands tomorrow.
HEMMER: Was that your son's hat, do you know?
GUIMOND: We're not sure. But they've been wanting to come up with leads. Well, I would think that, you know, from my side, I would think that would be considered a lead.
HEMMER: Had you every you ever known him to wear such a hat though?
GUIMOND: I was told it was one kind by one and one by another. Either way, it should be jumped on, I would think.
HEMMER: Lisa, what are you hearing right now, based on the number of cases, four that we talked about, and some families of the other missing that you've gotten together and met with? Similarities between the cases, you see what?
LISA CHENEY, JOSHUA'S MOTHER: Well, We see that the boys are all pretty much the same height, build, you know, the same coloring. All of them were missing close to I-94, all of them by water. All the kids very similar in the way that they were scholastically and they're outside activities, outside of school. HEMMER: When you talked to the other families, do they speak the same way that you do when discussing the similarities, or do you indeed find differences between the cases?
CHENEY: They pretty much think the same similarities that we do.
HEMMER: Paul, you've joined this hunt as well. How are things going right now in terms of information and contact that you're receiving?
PAUL CHENEY, JOSHUA'S UNCLE: Well, from the standpoint of information from law enforcement, unfortunately, you know, we feel like we're a little bit in the dark. We keep in touch with them. We call them twice daily on average. We wish we had more information. We wish that they would share more things with us.
Brian brought up the hat. You know, one of the -- in terms of inconsistencies, we heard it's a baseball cap, it's navy blue, with a white "SJU" logo on it. That was Josh's favorite hat. But we've also heard it was a stocking cap. So we're not sure what it is. But those kinds of inconsistencies, we're a little bit raw and frustrated.
HEMMER: Have there been other clues?
P. CHENEY: Well, the dogs initially, the bloodhounds, followed Josh's scent down to the edge of the water, between the dorm that he left and the dorm that he was going to, his own. They've dived three times. They've dragged that lake. They haven't found Josh. So that tells us he's probably not there and you need to move on.
HEMMER: The county sheriff in Stearns (ph) County, Minnesota has released a statement. I want to just share this with our viewers right now. He said the investigation is continuing. "We have no evidence to indicate the cases are linked or related. This investigation has been very active since it was reported first to us. We're involving anyone who may have any connection with Joshua. While we don't suspect foul play, it has not been ruled out."
Then what is the police position on this investigation as it stands now?
GUIMOND: Well, they're still trying to get a piece of evidence, to my understanding, that there has been a crime. Meanwhile, everybody that knows him and knows how he was, even with these other parents, all three of these boys, it's completely -- you know, it seems funny that three boys with the same set of standards, you know, they set their goals high, would all decide to just be gone within a two-week period, or however many days it was.
HEMMER: Lisa, any reason to think that Joshua would just disappear?
L. CHENEY: No. I have no reason to think that, because it would be so totally out of character for him. You know, I can't even see him, you know, just going away for a day without letting somebody know without letting somebody know where he is. HEMMER: Really? How much contact did you have with him?
L. CHENEY: I talked to Josh the Thursday of Halloween, and then we had e-mailed each other the Thursday before he disappeared. And, you know, this is just like totally out of character for him.
HEMMER: Has there been any warnings gone out to local schools up there to notify students to be on the lookout, to be aware, raise their awareness or not, Paul.
P. CHENEY: Well, it's kind of interesting that you bring that up. My brother's from Fargo, and that's along I-94. So he took fliers of josh all the way up the I-94 corridor to Fargo, and there are four universities there. He went out and talked to those folks , and said, if there is a connection, you should be concerned.
HEMMER: I don't want to be taking this to the point of no return just yet, but throughout the summer, consistently, almost every day we did stories of child abductions. Elizabeth Smart was such a hot, popular case back in the first part of June.
Do you now feel, Lisa, you might be in that same area right now in the search for your son?
L. CHENEY: Yes. I always feel that somebody took him. You know, we feel that somehow, when he was trying to get back to his dorm, somehow, some way, someone got him, and that's why we haven't heard from him, So that, you know, we can tell him, hey, we love you, please try to get ahold of us, but we don't think he can.
HEMMER: Good luck to you. All three of you, OK. Lisa, Brian, Paul Cheney, appreciate your time today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 19, 2002 - 09:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A 20-year-old honor student, Joshua Guimond, left a Minnesota campus on Sunday back on November 9th and vanished. He is the fourth young person to disappear in Minnesota and Wisconsin since October 30th, and there are striking similarities in all the cases. They're all between the ages of 20 and 22. They had all been out drinking before they vanished, and they all disappeared near interstate 94. Police say they is no evidence that the cases are connected, but they have not completely dismissed that either.
Joshua's parents are asking for help here in New York. And joining me now, Joshua's father, Brian Guimond, his mother, Lisa, and his uncle, Paul Cheney.
Good morning to all three of you.
You are in full battle gear, for lack of a better phrase, in the hunt right now for your son. What have you heard from police, Brian, right now?
BRIAN GUIMOND, JOSHUA'S FATHER: Well, the latest is there was a hat with the St. John's University logo found -- a couple deer hunters found it Saturday night. And yesterday, the last I knew, is they were going to get it in their hands tomorrow.
HEMMER: Was that your son's hat, do you know?
GUIMOND: We're not sure. But they've been wanting to come up with leads. Well, I would think that, you know, from my side, I would think that would be considered a lead.
HEMMER: Had you every you ever known him to wear such a hat though?
GUIMOND: I was told it was one kind by one and one by another. Either way, it should be jumped on, I would think.
HEMMER: Lisa, what are you hearing right now, based on the number of cases, four that we talked about, and some families of the other missing that you've gotten together and met with? Similarities between the cases, you see what?
LISA CHENEY, JOSHUA'S MOTHER: Well, We see that the boys are all pretty much the same height, build, you know, the same coloring. All of them were missing close to I-94, all of them by water. All the kids very similar in the way that they were scholastically and they're outside activities, outside of school. HEMMER: When you talked to the other families, do they speak the same way that you do when discussing the similarities, or do you indeed find differences between the cases?
CHENEY: They pretty much think the same similarities that we do.
HEMMER: Paul, you've joined this hunt as well. How are things going right now in terms of information and contact that you're receiving?
PAUL CHENEY, JOSHUA'S UNCLE: Well, from the standpoint of information from law enforcement, unfortunately, you know, we feel like we're a little bit in the dark. We keep in touch with them. We call them twice daily on average. We wish we had more information. We wish that they would share more things with us.
Brian brought up the hat. You know, one of the -- in terms of inconsistencies, we heard it's a baseball cap, it's navy blue, with a white "SJU" logo on it. That was Josh's favorite hat. But we've also heard it was a stocking cap. So we're not sure what it is. But those kinds of inconsistencies, we're a little bit raw and frustrated.
HEMMER: Have there been other clues?
P. CHENEY: Well, the dogs initially, the bloodhounds, followed Josh's scent down to the edge of the water, between the dorm that he left and the dorm that he was going to, his own. They've dived three times. They've dragged that lake. They haven't found Josh. So that tells us he's probably not there and you need to move on.
HEMMER: The county sheriff in Stearns (ph) County, Minnesota has released a statement. I want to just share this with our viewers right now. He said the investigation is continuing. "We have no evidence to indicate the cases are linked or related. This investigation has been very active since it was reported first to us. We're involving anyone who may have any connection with Joshua. While we don't suspect foul play, it has not been ruled out."
Then what is the police position on this investigation as it stands now?
GUIMOND: Well, they're still trying to get a piece of evidence, to my understanding, that there has been a crime. Meanwhile, everybody that knows him and knows how he was, even with these other parents, all three of these boys, it's completely -- you know, it seems funny that three boys with the same set of standards, you know, they set their goals high, would all decide to just be gone within a two-week period, or however many days it was.
HEMMER: Lisa, any reason to think that Joshua would just disappear?
L. CHENEY: No. I have no reason to think that, because it would be so totally out of character for him. You know, I can't even see him, you know, just going away for a day without letting somebody know without letting somebody know where he is. HEMMER: Really? How much contact did you have with him?
L. CHENEY: I talked to Josh the Thursday of Halloween, and then we had e-mailed each other the Thursday before he disappeared. And, you know, this is just like totally out of character for him.
HEMMER: Has there been any warnings gone out to local schools up there to notify students to be on the lookout, to be aware, raise their awareness or not, Paul.
P. CHENEY: Well, it's kind of interesting that you bring that up. My brother's from Fargo, and that's along I-94. So he took fliers of josh all the way up the I-94 corridor to Fargo, and there are four universities there. He went out and talked to those folks , and said, if there is a connection, you should be concerned.
HEMMER: I don't want to be taking this to the point of no return just yet, but throughout the summer, consistently, almost every day we did stories of child abductions. Elizabeth Smart was such a hot, popular case back in the first part of June.
Do you now feel, Lisa, you might be in that same area right now in the search for your son?
L. CHENEY: Yes. I always feel that somebody took him. You know, we feel that somehow, when he was trying to get back to his dorm, somehow, some way, someone got him, and that's why we haven't heard from him, So that, you know, we can tell him, hey, we love you, please try to get ahold of us, but we don't think he can.
HEMMER: Good luck to you. All three of you, OK. Lisa, Brian, Paul Cheney, appreciate your time today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
