I can't recall if Unsolved Mysteries did a segment on Michael Negrete who went missing from his dorm room at UCLA - very interesting mystery.

Anyone remember if he was featured?

The story you are talking about doesn't sound familiar at all to me, and I have most of the segments on tape. Could you elaborate a little about what exactly happened to Michael Negrete? Maybe it's one of those long-lost segments that never got shown on Lifetime.

His story was never featured on UM. He disappeared from UCLA in December of '99. He was featured on Million Dollar Mysteries on Fox, as well as news programs and the like, but never on UM.

http://findmikenow.com

What could compell a person leave their dorm room in the middle of the night? I try to put myself in the same situation -- what would make me leave?

I remember reading he wasn't wearing shoes. He didn't have a car so he couldn't have just driven off into the night.

I was just thinking of this case recently. It's really quite bizarre and sad too. He was playing a computer game with a friend down the hall and then when he was done went to talk about it after and that was it....vanished! I found it especially creepy when during the search some bloodhounds traced his scent to a nearby bus stop. Maybe they picked up somebody else's though.

I wonder if he was part of that whole cadaver/stealing body parts thing going on at UCLA.

I don't live in LA but it seems to me that enough people die there on a daily basis -- why would they need to recruit? And how could anyone have gotten him out of there? Dorms are chock full of people at all hours of the night.

This is bad memory on my part but I sort of recall reading something early on about Micheal maybe not even having shoes on or maybe it was just flip flops.

Even if the police came to my door in the middle of the night, I would still take ID or tell someone. Could he have engineered his own disappearance or been involved with something unsavory?

Even if the police came to my door in the middle of the night, I would still take ID or tell someone. Could he have engineered his own disappearance or been involved with something unsavory?

Interesting theory, Connie. Even before I read your above words, the scenario reminded me of a local disappearance here in Madison, WI (which made national news at the time) of a college student named Audrey Seiler who engineered her own disappearence. She had walked out of her apartment building (which was basically a dorm...all college students) in the middle of the night for no apparent reason and was found a few days later unharmed. It turned out that she was having problems with her boyfriend and wanted his attention (yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either, but we'll just go with what the investigators found). The city was absolutely frantic when she went missing, and then absolutely livid when it was revealed to be a hoax.

The website from the link said the investigation found no evidence of a hidden lifestyle. Audrey didn't really have one either, but there were definite warning signs. She was "attacked" outside of her appartment building a few weeks before her disappearence. Turns out the attack was probably faked to get attention just like the disappearence. The police and emergency room personnel suspected she was making up the attack story when it happened. My question is, if he did engineer his own disappearence, would their be some kind of warning sign(s) like in the Seiler case? It would be unusual for a person with no major psychological, emotional, or relationship problems to just want to disappear. I wonder if something was overlooked. Or, there's foul play....

no no no he was a good boy....good student, good family. it's not fair to just chalk it up to devious behavior by the missing subject or suicide or whatever....think if your own loved one was misisng and you came on the blogs to see any discussion and there was people talking about that stuff....i don't think michael's family would've created a wesbite, went on tv, and the cops too believe it was foul play.....if he had major problems it wouldn't be as big a deal....this was just a crazy mystery....i wish i could go back and see what happened.....i feel so sad for families that have to deal with this...imagine how crazy it must make them and sad too....every second just wanting to know "what happened!!!???"

i just don't understand what happens to these missing people....is there really that many maniacs out there who want to kill somebody and then dispose of their body?

perhaps he went down to the lobby of the dorm to get something from some vending machines or something and was abducted? or maybe he was abducted on his floor.

no no no he was a good boy....good student, good family. it's not fair to just chalk it up to devious behavior by the missing subject or suicide or whatever....think if your own loved one was misisng and you came on the blogs to see any discussion and there was people talking about that stuff

SiberianKiss, I don't think anyone here is chalking up his disappearance to anything, devious behavior or otherwise. You're insinuating that we're being disrespectful to his family and that's just not the case. I don't get a feeling from what his family said about him that he had a hidden life, but there's just not much to go on here. We're simply discussing different possibilities, and I brought up a case that I thought sounded eerily familiar, but still had major differences (i.e., no warning signs of emotional disturbence). His family probably knows that ALL avenues have to be explored in their son's case. How can you eliminate a theory of what happened if you never consider it or discuss it?

I just find it so sad that many parents/families send their child to college, thinking the kid will come back with an education and life experience. But that child vanishes....So sad!:(

I just find it so sad that many parents/families send their child to college, thinking the kid will come back with an education and life experience. But that child vanishes....So sad!:(

I remember my first semester in college, staying in an off-campus university-owned complex in LA, they sent us a flyer saying something like, "Over the past few weeks at Century Apartments we have had two attempted rapes, several apartments broken into, and many vehicles and bicycles stolen. This is not meant to alarm you, but please be careful..."

I'm serious. That's what it said virtually word for word. I immediately mailed it to my mom so she could have an idea regarding the environs where she had sent her only son. I asked her to keep it so I could reminisce years later, but dang when I went back home during break she had trashed the thing.

I have posted about this case a few times on this message board. I was the same age as he was when he disappeared. His family lived all the way in San Diego. About 2 hours easily for those of you unfamiliar with the geography of Souther California.

I've often wondered why he would leave his dorm room at that late hour. I'm from LA. I love it there. I wouldn't be outside anywhere in LA alone at that hour for anything! Apparently the camera in the hall shows him leaving willingly. He wasn't being lead out the door. He wasn't taken out by force. He calmly walked out alone. The only thing that was later found missing was a pair of slippers.

Here are two other things I find odd. A student waits until a year after he's been questioned by police to come forward with this story about a strange older man lurking around the dorm that night. Why not come forward with it sooner?

Also, around the time of his disappearance there was a strange fire in one of the classrooms. I do believe that it was never determined who started it, or when. I did email his mother a few years ago with the suggestion to write about her son to UM and another tv show. Shortly after that Robert Stack passed away. I have never seen her son profiled on this other show. A couple of years ago his case was profiled on a segment called L.A.'s Most Wanted which airs once a week on the local news. Who knows whatever became of Michael or how many clues are left... :(

where did you hear of this camera showing him leaving willingly? i haven't seen or read about that anywhere.

i also found it odd that the suspicious person was not brought to the cops attention until about 6 months after michael's disappearance

where did you hear of this camera showing him leaving willingly? i haven't seen or read about that anywhere.

i also found it odd that the suspicious person was not brought to the cops attention until about 6 months after michael's disappearance

A few years ago I went from one link to another about his case. I finally ended up viewing a clip of news footage about where the case had gone. At that time, there was only one detective working on the case. I can't remember who said it, but someone mentioned that the camera shows him walking through the hall and out the door calmly. He wasn't running, or looking over his shoulder or anything like that. That's what I meant about him leaving willingly.

no no no he was a good boy....good student, good family. it's not fair to just chalk it up to devious behavior by the missing subject or suicide or whatever....think if your own loved one was misisng and you came on the blogs to see any discussion and there was people talking about that stuff....i don't think michael's family would've created a wesbite, went on tv, and the cops too believe it was foul play.....if he had major problems it wouldn't be as big a deal....

But it also doesn't help to set aside any possibility that lifestyle, choices or just being in a bad place mentally ISN'T relevant.

Look at the case of Dr. Sneha Philip -- the unsolved profile of her sort of glossed over the fact that she'd had a fight with her husband on the day of her disappearence and was facing the loss of her job. I'm sure her family and friends felt these details didn't need to be part of her 'missing persons' story as they clouded the issue.

I'm not saying I think something devious was going on with Michael but there may have been signs that something was going on with him. Maybe he was being harrassed or targeted in some way.

Michael's case reminds me of a recent local case:
http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0406/0701_med_student_missing.html

Something doesnt make sense in this case. One of two things happened.

Michael may have been playing video games on his computer, but he may have also been chatting with someone online. I just have the feeling that he met an older male that night and something went wrong and he was murdered. Why else would an older male be in a college dorm? Because he was looking to meet some younger college boys. This theory makes sense to me. If Michael had a cell phone, perhaps the records could have been traced. Also it would be interesting to know if he roommate was in the room when he was in there or if he knew there was history of online chat.

If he was on a camera leaving the dorm, then we know he didnt meet foul play in the dorm. The only theory that makes sense is his leaving to meet someone, and the stranger in the dorm makes it even more obvious. Is there a camera involved with this case at all?

He looks like such a nice innocent kid, I feel horrible for his family and wish that this has a happy ending:confused:

I don't think there's a camera and Zero is mistaken, I've done major searching on Negrete's Case and found nothing at all to indicate he was seen on some camera before he disappeared. Zero must be thinking about some other missing person. Negrete's family most certainly would've had this so called video camera sighting of Michael leaving his dorm posted on their website.

There was a sketch of a "person of interest" the police released about 6 months after the disappearance.....some other students reported seeing somebody unsual on MN's floor.

I thought it was especially creepy that some bloodhounds traced his scent to a nearby bus stop.

I wonder if the UCLA cadaver thing had something to do with this. He may have met somebody online but the authorities most defiintely would've searched his computer and found anything like that.

I sure would like to know what happens to these missing people.

hmmm, anyone willing to entertain the notion, that Michael met with foul play in the dorm, and was a cover up by a few guys on the floor who may have removed his body that morning? He could have drank himself into a stupor or choked on vomit, it happens alot in dorms, and perhaps his buddies took his body out and thus the scent at the bus stop? It does sound very far fetched.

The scent at the bus stop could also be from a previous day or could have been an error, or could have been.....?

It seems so odd, someone didnt see anything? He seems like such a likeable and innocent young boy, it would be a shame that someone took advantage of his kind nature.....

I am totally stumped on this one, I dont even have a gut feeling on this :(

Hey Zero, any recall where you heard/read about the camera footage of Michael? The case I'd referenced in Columbus, Ohio had the video stills plastered all over the news stories.

I'm stumped on this one too. There isn't anywhere I can think of (besides a sleep-over) I could image taking a bus to without taking an ID. Maybe I'm missing something as girls are more in the habit of taking a purse everywhere.

I don't put too much into the bus stop scent thing...the bloodhounds weren't used until long after he disappeared and with so many people around the area every day walking that same route, you certainly can't say that he definitely took the bus anywhere or even walked that way. Or perhaps he took that route walking around before he disappeared. I just think it makes the case even more creepy though.

He may have run into foul play by some other students living in the dorm, there's no doubt about that. But I don't think it had anything to do with alcohol. The guy he was playing video games with, the last one known to see him would've mentioned if he was drunk or had been drinking, he'd probably know. Hey maybe he did visit some other friends in the dorm and had some drinks although if he had passed out, they would've just made sure he got in bed, if he had choked himself to death, it's likely nobody would notice until his roommate came in the next day. It would also be difficult for drunk college guys to cover up a murder like that. The detectives did question many people, not only on that floor but the entire dorm.

here is the UCLA cadaver and trade in human organs thing I'm talking about. There is some speculation Mike Negrete may have fallen victim to this. Read here...

http://www.aztlan.net/ucla_cadavers.htm



Connie the Ohio St medical student disappearance is also so baffling. He definitely exited through the side door or whatever which makes no sense because it was all contruction if I remember correctly, it would've been difficult or something to get back to the streets going that way but like you said the cameras showed he entered the bar but never left. I think he may be another victim of the serial killer that's targeting college men in the midwest and killing them and dumping their bodies in rivers.

I agree with you about Brian Shaffer and the possible link to a midwestern serial killer. There was another case in Cincinnati that wasn't investigated as a homicide involving a young man who'd been drinking and ended up in the river. I'll have to dig around to come up with the name.

I was reading about the case of Jason Michael Negrete, a younger boy who had also gone missing from California. Strange coincidance. I guess I don't know enough about organ trade to see why someone would target Michael.

Did Michael have a unique blood type? Why would it be worth the risk of entering a dorm to take him when there are so many easier targets (no lack of homeless people, drunk kids walking home from bars, hustlers).

It just seems like he must have left his room to talk to or meet someone he knew. The only other thing I can think of is if someone from campus security was involved.

i know it's quite a mystery, i wish i knew what happens to all these missing people. i think about them all the time, there's so many. Are there really that many maniacs out there who want to kill somebody and bury them somewhere?

i suppose you're right that he probably met up with somebody outside or something but i don't think he had shoes on, he left everything in his dorm room, i wonder if he even had his student ID card to get back inside. Doubtful, most students leave theirs in their wallet. it was real late too about 4 AM. One interesting note is that about 6 months after the disappearance police released a photo of a "person of interest" in the Mike Negrete case. Some students came forward with some information about a suspicious looking man on the floor Mike lived. I wonder what made him look so suspicious and what time did the students see him, what was he doing, just walking through the halls? nobody called in to say they know who he was.

man...what could've happened to Michael? It's so sad for his family, I can't imagine losing somebody like it and if it were my one of my loved ones it would drive me crazy on top of the sadness, it would make me insane wondering what happened....it's all I'd ever think about.

i suppose you're right that he probably met up with somebody outside or something but i don't think he had shoes on, he left everything in his dorm room, i wonder if he even had his student ID card to get back inside. Doubtful, most students leave theirs in their wallet. it was real late too about 4 AM.

What a good point! Without his school ID, how did he plan to get back inside? At my dorm, we could come and go during the day without ID but starting at 10 and ending at 8, we needed an ID. Wherever he was going, he must NOT have planned to return that night. OR he was with someone who he considered to be an authority figure of some sort.

No I'm pretty sure there was no video camera of him leaving the dorm, he must've been thinking of some other case. That would definitely would be listed on any report or file or any discussion of this case and we would probably at least have still shots of Mike leaving the building. My dorm didn't have security cameras at the doors. Think about it, if there were security cameras the police would immediately look at them and whoever abducted Michael would've been seen, you'd see them both walking out. It would've been mentioned in the reports and info about the case that the security cameras didn't show anything unusual or showed Mike leaving by himself. But there were no cameras.

okay here is what I think may have happened. Mike wasn't gonna go out any more for the night but perhaps he wanted something from the vending machines (if there were any) so he went downstairs and then was accosted by some creep hanging out in the lobby. Since Mike only planned on going downstairs he didn't bring anything with him other than a dollar or two, maybe didn't even have shoes on, no need to bring your wallet, keys, etc, not going anywhere. So maybe that's what happened. Or in the same kind of scenario perhaps he was going down the hall to the bathroom/shower and was abducted there. Both of those scenarios would make sense with the "person of interest" photo. I believe the authorities checked out Mike's room and nothing seemed outta the ordinary, I don't think he was taken from his room, but somewhere he was in the dorm and ran into somebody bad.

amazing isn't it? how some people just vanish forever, I don't understand.

I looked up the location of Michael's dorm on the UCLA website - such an out of the way location for abduction. I know it's still LA but there are other dorms closer to high traffic streets.

If this is linked to the other UCLA body parts/organs scandal, it might be interesting to see if Michael had visited the campus health clinic.

Perhaps there was something unique/interesting about his physical person like a rare blood type?

Could be very interesting to research that blood type issue, but I doubt it.

I also wonder how well the case was researched by authorities. Very little research was released to the press. Lets see what options we have:

1. There are security people posted at the entrance to the dorm, I would think, the key is to determine if Michael left the dorm or not.

2. We need to determine if Michael consumed alcohol before and if he was drinking with any of his dorm mates.

3. Michael may have been murdered by organ traffiker.

4. Michael may have had a gay or a gay curious side. Perhaps he chatted online with an older man and agreed to meet him and things went wrong. ( this would have occured while he was playing on line with his friend....be cuirous to know if there were a lot of pauses in the game where he could chat while playing) This would explain why no one would know where he was going; he wouldnt be able to TELL anyone. This would also explain the older man in the dorm. Who comes to a dorm at 4am unless they are delivering pizza at that age?? I dont think instant messages are traceable on computers and I truly feel that this is the scenario. I also think the Van Damm connection may be worth checking.


5. Are there :mad: No cell phone records??????
.

4. Michael may have had a gay or a gay curious side. Perhaps he chatted online with an older man and agreed to meet him and things went wrong. ( this would have occured while he was playing on line with his friend....be cuirous to know if there were a lot of pauses in the game where he could chat while playing) This would explain why no one would know where he was going; he wouldnt be able to TELL anyone. This would also explain the older man in the dorm. Who comes to a dorm at 4am unless they are delivering pizza at that age?? I dont think instant messages are traceable on computers and I truly feel that this is the scenario.

This was my take on the situation as well. Back in college, I would have my boyfriend pick me up at my dorm at odd hours. I didn't take my ID with me since I knew I wouldn't return until the dorm's open hours.

I'm curious if Mike took his keys. If he was just running down the the vending machine or bathrooms, he might not take his keys (simply leaving his door unlocked). This would support the notion that he was grabbed by force not lured away.

If he was meeting up with someone for the night, he would take his keys (probably not much else). If someone came to his room (like someone mascarading as a cop or campus security), he would also take keys.

http://www.unposted.com/michael_negrete.shtml - This has some interesting facts about the case.

Cases like this one scare me. I was a freshman in college the same year as Mike. It's hard to believe it's now 7 years later and not a trace of him has been found.

http://www.unposted.com/michael_negrete.shtml - This has some interesting facts about the case.

Cases like this one scare me. I was a freshman in college the same year as Mike. It's hard to believe it's now 7 years later and not a trace of him has been found.

if this site is right (who knows, as this site is so freakishly disorganized), Michael didn't have his keys with him.

i have a hard time believing he'd leave the dorm without his keys. wallet? sure. but even the world's greenest freshman takes their keys - everywhere.

according to this site's theory, Mike could have left the dorm with Damon Van Dam for a late night video game party.

eh, I'm pretty skeptical. he'd still take his wallet or at least his ID and his keys.

why would security people be stationed outside the dorm? That was never the case when I was in college and I never once saw that at dozens of other universities I visited over the years. There was no security guards hanging outside the entrance to the dorm nor should there be. You do have to have your student ID card during the evening time to get inside the dorm or you would have to wait until some other students showed up and let you in. The real question is whether or not there were any security cameras which I will find out very soon. I tend to doubt it otherwise it would've been big news in this case.

AIM conversations can be retrieved. the police searched the computer thoroughly and didn't find anything.

Mike left all his belongings in his room including keys, shoes, wallet, etc the basic things one would take if they were to leave home (willingly) so that makes it all the more confusing. That's also why I think he was walking around the dorm somewhere either to the vending machines, bathroom, common area if there was one, another student's room, and ran into trouble.

There may be something to that Van Dam connection if he worked with Mike's father but the reason the author gave is a dumb one. A video game party? huh? I'm a big fan of video games and I've never been a party centered around video games or even heard of that. If Mike wanted to play video games he could sit down at his desk and play on his computer. In fact he was doing just that prior to disappearing! Plus he would've brought the usual stuff when leaving as we already discussed.

I'm pretty sure Michael Negrete did not voluntarily leave his dorm that night. Which makes it all the more creepy. If he had, he most definitely would've taken his keys at least! I think he left his room to use the bathroom perhaps, wash his face before bedtime, and all that and was abducted walking down the hall or in the bathroom. Perhaps the bathroom was at the end of the hall right near the staircase. then it would be quite easy to get him outta the dorm through the side door through the emergency exit. The "person of interest" who was seen on his floor may have had a reason to abduct Michael.

do you guys think that picture looks like Damon Van Dam? I think it kinda does, I see some resemblance. I just thought of something else. Mike would trust this Van Dam guy if he knew him and his father knew him. Maybe it was Van Dam and he got Mike to go downstairs and outside? It is suspicious that this guy was nearby when that woman from Florida went missing. I don't know enough about him to know why he would wanna kidnap Michael.

check the link I gave for the cadaver thing. there is a picture of one of the guys involved. do you think the "person of interest" composite sketch looks like the bald guy at all?

hey you can see plenty of pictures of damon van dam on yahoo image search. that composite sketch DOES look like him!

Yeah, I guess Damon Van Dam does look like the composite sketch. More so than the cadavar guy.

I can't really make any sense out of that anti-Van Dam website - can someone provide a brief overview of this guy and why he would be involved in Michael's case?

The only reason I can think of that fits is:
he and Michael were involved in a sexual relationship and he came to the dorms (perhaps not for the first time) to see him or have some kind of confrontation. Michael could have let him in a side door or someone else could have let him in (if he looked young enough at this time) and something happened resulting in Michael being forced to leave without his keys, wallet or ID.

I don't see any reason for that silly website, I went over his daughter's case and it seemed pretty obvious the guy living next door did it. And so what if DVD was at the Univ of Florida when that girl disappeared. It's a huge school, there are probably other people that disappeared in that time frame as well, is that gonna be his fault too?

But it DOES kinda look like him, that composite, haha. weird. I wonder what happened to poor Michael :(

I also think that DVD is involved. I also think there was a sexual relationship between the two of them. That would explain the lack of IMs on the computer. However, I also think that if he and Van Damm had a sexual relationship, there would have to be phone records of some sort, and people might have seen them together at some time, so now I wonder if that was the case....unless he and Michael only saw each other when he was at home or over the summer. Perhaps an investigation of phone records holds the key. It would be nice if we could all sit down at a table and figure this out and put all of our theories together. Im sure there are missing pieces of information we arent privy to. Also, males are usually abducted for two reasons: sexual, or to get even for money owed/drugs, or in the case of Michael...even organs. Could he have been murdered to get his organs at 4am in the morning? I wouldnt think so with all the dead homeless in LA at the time. Someone on the floor knows something....I dont believe Michael left intentionally. The phone records may hold the key.

I also want to make it clear that in no way are we trying to upset Michael's family in case they are reading this. We are amateur crime sleuths who would give anything for Michael's safe return and are assigning theories to a case with no active leads. If there were a ransom, many of us would gladly empty our bank accounts to solve this case. So, please understand we are in no way trying to sully Michael's reputation, and want it to stay in the spotlight so the family can get closure, hopefully, with a happy ending:)

Hey mistagee, besides the physical resemblance to Damon Von Damn, is there ANY reason at all to connect him to the case?

I know Michael is mentioned on the unposted website but that site is clearly nonsense (most likely created by someone on Westerfield's side to rustle up some reasonable doubt).

Honestly, that sketch is pretty generic. It looks like eleven people I know. I'm not saying that it couldn't be Von Dam but I'm not seeing the connection.

It would be interesting to look at some event in the LA area at that time. Were there any other similar crimes? Anything odd going on at UCLA (besides the obvious organ/cadavar thieves)? Any attempted attacks on campus? What about elsewhere on the West Coast?

Anyone who watches Unsolved Mysteries will notice the number of young women abducted while jogging or riding their bikes. Or if you read about missing people in general, there is a pattern of people who go missing after minor car crashes. Michael's disappearance MAY be part of a much larger pattern.

If Michael was grabbed by a stranger, this person (or persons) knew what they were doing. It is likely that he wasn't their first victim.

Connie:

I connected him more because he knew Michael and Michael wouldnt willingly go with someone he didnt know at that hour. I dont think this was a stranger abduction: simply put, young guys dont get abducted nearly as much when we compare them to female abductees. And, as I repeated before, what would that man be doing on Michael's floor at that hour???
I would think Michael would have been tired at 4am and wouldnt want to go "another round" with someone "off site" to play MORE video games. That makes no sense to me.

Could Michael's disappearance be a cover up? Did he drink alcohol or use drugs that night and die accidentally and have his body removed? Possibly.
If you think back to 1988, Robert Mayotte disappeared after playing with some friends...he was missing 15yrs when a friend admitted that they were playing with a gun and he shot himself accidentally and they buried his body and swore never to tell....They kept silent for 15 years. The school could have also covered something up, could you imagine a law suit for an accidental death??

In all probability, Michael was lured off campus. Either by Van Damm, or someone else. Was he a loner who took a walk at 4 am? Hmm, doubtful, and dangerous. I wish we had some of the police information so we could find out if he left the dorm. Otherwise, we cant know what happened. I hope they searched that dorm top to bottom and he wasnt stuffed in some heating vent or basement.

The flip flops, ID and no key makes me think that he was killed INSIDE the dorm......A student recently disappeared in NJ a year ago from his dorm under the same cirucmstances. They found him in a landfill a few weeks later. Could Michael have been 'thrown out?" or was he really "harvested" for organs??? It seems any one of these options could have happened. Someone on that dorm floor needs to speak up.

i don't think it was somebody he knew.

based on the facts it's probably not a cover-up. he was playing video games with a friend in the dorm and when they were done, he went over to talk to him, and that was it, about 4:00 am. the suspicious guy was seen about 4:30.

i think it's fairly obvious he was walking around the dorm for whatever reason and something happened, he wasn't taken from his room, maybe it was on the way back from his friend's room. or to the bathroom or to anotehr friends room or to some vending machines. because he didn't bring anything with him, he wasn't leaving the dorm.

i wonder if the bloodhounds tracing his scent to that bus stop is real or not. it may be somebody else they smelled or possibly it was his scent from the day before he went missing or something. but that bus stop and his dorm aren't close to each other so it's very odd.

How far is the bus stop? I never thought to look that up on the map. I just assumed it was very close to the dorm.

SiberianKiss - I think you're right. I think he was up, walking around the dorm when he was taken. I tend to think he was grabbed in the bathroom (they don't have bathrooms in their rooms, do they?). If there was a community bathroom on the floor, that would be the best place for someone to hide out, the best place to disable someone or dope them up.

If the suspect got into the dorm through a lapse in security (an open door, another student letting the suspect in, faulty alarm system), I imagine UCLA kept it hush hush.

This is an inane thought - there isn't any chance Michael was a sleep walker, is there? My brothers both sleepwalk and would go on odd quests in the middle of the night (my younger brother would go looking for logs or try to our cat).

Hmm...Anyone think that maybe Michael simply vanished on his own accord?
I personally think he met with foul play on his dorm floor, but find it curious how theyd get a disabled guy out of the dorm with no one seeing him. I cant believe they dont have security cameras on this dorms or at least outside.

Has anyone ever been arrested for crimes nearby? Perhaps someone in Jail may hold the clue we need.....

Michael's family hasnt posted any updates and the police have been quiet, it would be nice to launch this case into the spotlight again...anyone have an idea of how we could?

it's hard to know the true facts in this case, there's not a lot of information and in some of the articles there is conflicting reports.

-at first there were seven detectives working this case. the obvious stuff was looked at, i'm sure they did a thorough job.

-the bus stop is not close, not at all, would've been a good walk over there. that just makes it even more mysterious though, if he ended up at that bus stop corner for whatever reason. and it's far away. WEIRD!

-i found this comment in an article from the Daily Bruin (student UCLA newspaper) He was last seen at 4 a.m. on the sixth floor of Dykstra Hall. Howell said there may be witnesses who saw a man matching his description walking out the front door around 4:35 a.m. Howell is one of the detectives working on the case.

-i found this comment in another Daily Bruin article. this is regarding the composite sketch of the person of interest seen on Mike's floor that night In June, detectives issued a questionnaire to all Dykstra Hall residents about the day Michael disappeared.

After months without a solid lead, detectives released a sketch in July of a man allegedly seen on Negrete's floor the night he disappeared.

The man, who was reportedly wearing a gray jacket with a turquoise design, is described as white, 35 years old, 5 feet 7 inches, with a heavy build and no facial hair. Police are still looking for him.

According to Sgt. Joe Purcell of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department homicide bureau, detectives came across the lead while reviewing the questionnaires, but the student who provided the information also came forward of his own accord. The student had also contacted university police shortly after Michael disappeared, Purcell said.

"He had tried to get the information to the appropriate sources within a week of Mike's disappearance, but there was no action taken," he said.

But UCPD detectives said they investigated the student's lead.

"The information was reported differently and that information was followed up on," said Terry Brown, a detective with UCPD.



-it probably would've been widely known if Michael was a sleepwalker.

-it would be great to get this out in the open again but nobody in that dorm room will have been in school since Michael Negrete disappeared, not even close. that's very unfortunate, you'd have to track down the students in that dorm. But you know those detectives questioned everybody a lot, especially those on his floor.

Good research SiberianKiss. It's hard to hear that a student had tried to get the information to police about the man (from the sketch) early in the investigation when people's memories were fresh.

I looked Dykstra Hall up online. It is co-ed with separate men and women's community bathrooms on every floor. If Michael was grabbed, it makes sense that he would have been nabbed while in (or in transit) to the restroom or the vending machines. There are also laundry facilities but I think the reports would have made mention of it if he was running a load of clothes.

I don't know about Dystra Hall but in my college dorm, you could wander around after 3 and not see another person OR run into a gaggle of girls making a snack run (girls tend to run in packs more than boys). My point is that it would have been a total crapshoot for someone to walk into the dorms at that time trolling for a victim. I have to believe that the person who is responsible for Michael's disappearance (if he didn't leave on his own) would have to have some working knowledge of the dorm.

I know the police withold one or details in every case to help them distinguish real leads from fake ones. I wish we knew more info about this case.

Long shot: if he did leave on his own, why do you think he would do this? If you can put yourself into his shoes for a minute, what would make you want to leave? Is there anything you can think of that would compell you to walk away from your life?

I suspect the campus police screwed that up. I tend to believe the student alerted them about somebody who may have looked suspicious and they didn't take it seriously until the real cops did.

if he was abducted inside the dorm on his floor, you're probably right, Connieallbright, in that the kidnapper/murderer was known to Mike. If it's accurate that some students saw someone who looked like Mike leaving the front door at 4:30 AM, it probably was him.

it's real important to know what was left in his room. were his keys, wallet, and shoes missing? just his keys? just his wallet, keys left inside? shoes on or off? it shouldn't have been too difficult to know if he was barefootb or not, guys don't have a lot of shoes like girls do. i read conflicting reports on what was left inside. Also if he didn't bring his wallet, did he take his school ID outta his wallet and with him? If he left his keys and wallet (including school ID) in the dorm room, I can't think of any way he would leave on his own, how would he get back in the dorm? he would need to leave with a friend and come back with him at the same time. Another conflicting report is the friend he was playing computer games with. I've read that he was on the same floor as Mike but down the hall, on a different floor in the same dorm, and in a diferent dorm. Since Mike went to go talk to him afterwards, it changes everything if he left his dorm and went to another one if the friend lived elsewhere. I think the guy lived in his dorm though but it would be nice to know for sure.

you're right in that you have to consider everything, including him leaving on his own and wanting to disappear. i can't think of any reason on why he would wanna do that. i would never think of doing that, i love my family too much, not to mention i would have nothing. people who do choose to disappear, i wonder why they do, somebody who researches those types of missing person's cases would have a good answer. based on what we know about Michael Negrete, it sure seems unlikely. He was a good boy, good student, just the previous night he was making plans with his parents to come home for christmas, he had tuition paid for, he didn't take things one would expect if they were going away, no clothes, no nothing, no evidence of this, nothing on the computer showed he was making any travelling plans (police searched the computer thoroughly) it's an interesting question for those who do choose to start a new life somewhere, why they do it. I just don't see that here.

I wish I knew what happened. So sad for his family, if it were my brother the grieving combined with not knowing what happened would be unbearable, i really would be thinking of what happened every second of the day until I knew. The cops really were stumped on this one too, I don't think there were any real leads other than the supposed "person of interest." I suppose there is more about this mysterious person that the police haven't released yet. Maybe the student saw him doing something or the way this guy was acting. If nobody identifies this guy and nobody comes forward claiming to be him, there's really no reason to give everything away.

I can't come up with any good reasons as to why he would leave his room and dorm at 4:00 AM without any way of getting back in. I wonder if he was a smoker? Then again if he went outside to smoke, he would bring his ID card to get in right? Also if he was gonna leave for a longer period of time and planned on coming back in the day time when the doors would be open, okay fine but he would've locked his dorm room right? and he would've brought his wallet with him for a longer time out right?

this one's been on my mind the most lately. i'm dying to know what happens to missing people.

Another possibility, albeit a LONG shot (and the worst option of all) would be if Michael left the dorm that night with the intention of ending his life. I know this is a horrible thing to bring up but it is a possibility.

A friend of our family killed himself near the end of a semester. He wasn't failing but he wasn't flourishing. No one had any idea what was going on with him - he didn't act any differently.

I hate to think something like this could have happened to Michael.

I guess I was thinking of this option because of the Bryan Nisenfeld case.

Suicide doesn't seem likely to me - what do others think?

Any of the above are possible, some freak online said that Michael's desk was near a light source and the elements lined up in such a way that it would cause a nervous breakdown and that he had a massive memory loss and took off...something of that effect, but it was so bizarre i disregarded it.

I believe the suicide theory is very possible also, if he were going to kill himself he would still make plans to come home for Christmas.

I wonder how his grades were...maybe the first semester was too much for him and he simply lost it.

This theory could be true, 18 yr old guys are kinda hard to abduct...

Any of the above are possible, some freak online said that Michael's desk was near a light source and the elements lined up in such a way that it would cause a nervous breakdown and that he had a massive memory loss and took off...something of that effect, but it was so bizarre i disregarded it.


Where did you read the freaky memory loss theory? There are a few fugue state cases on Unsolved but they are few and far between.

I was wondering about his grades too. Everything I've read about Michael indicates that he was an excellent student - sometimes the first year of college is especially disheartening for students used to being #1 in high school. Was Michael in his class top ten? For a student used to all A's, getting a B could be devastating (something that might not set off red flags to investigators since it doesn't look bad to an outsider).

Siberiankiss, I think you're right about the importance of what was left in the room. If we knew if he DID leave his ID behind, it would mean that he was surely grabbed or left the building without any intention of coming back that night. IF he wasn't wearing shoes, then we can assume he was taken against his will and the scent trail to the bustop isn't important since you can't get on a bus without shoes (right? maybe you could that time of night).

Do buses run all night in LA?

buses run all night in LA, I dunno if they care about whether or not you wear shoes, I've never taken the bus before. i also don't know if they run at all hours in all areas. the bus stop where his scent was supposedly last picked up is a very nice area. People who live in that area don't take the bus, that's for damn sure. And I'm sure if he wanted to get on the bus voluntarily, he would find a bus stop closer to where his dorm was.

well even if he wasn't planning on coming back soon, I would think it strange if he didn't bring his wallet and keys. if you're going somewhere for a while, don't you usually bring your purse/wallet, keys, etc? Yes. I'm pretty sure his belongings were left behind though, not sure about shoes. his roommate would probably be a good person to question, no doubt the police did that quite a bit. it's so weird because we don't even know if he was abducted either in the dorm or outside. i'd find out if he took the bus often or not, shouldn't have been too hard, his roommate and friends woulda known.

and yes it's possible he may have commited suicide, i never knew him so i can't say if that's something he would do and i can't discount it, only his family could say so or those closest to him. i do know, though, that if, for example, my brother went missing, it would not be of his own accord and it would not be because of him taking his own life. I know him inside and out and that those are not possible because there's no way in hell he'd even consider doing any of that. Negrete's immediate family probably knows this stuff do about their child.

buses run all night in LA, I dunno if they care about whether or not you wear shoes, I've never taken the bus before. i also don't know if they run at all hours in all areas. the bus stop where his scent was supposedly last picked up is a very nice area. People who live in that area don't take the bus, that's for damn sure. And I'm sure if he wanted to get on the bus voluntarily, he would find a bus stop closer to where his dorm was.


How far is the bus stop from his dorm? I didn't know it wasn't close by.

The roommates seem like the people most able to untangle what happened to Michael. I know, back in college, it would have been nearly impossible to hide anything from my roommate.

Just watched the documentary Unknown White Male. It reminded me a great deal of Michael's case as well as several of the amnesia stories featured on Unsolved.

Is there any chance Michael could have gone into a fugue state? Perhaps brought on by end of the term stress?

i couldn't say exactly how far the bus stop is but it's not close, not really far away but not close. you can see for yourself if you look on a UCLA campus map. look for dykstra hall and then look for sunsent blvd and bellagio. i guess the corner where there is a bus stop is where his scent was tracked and then ended. there are a lot of things we don't know for sure here such as what his room was like when the roommate came back, did he wear shoes or not, what exactly he left behind, if it's true some students reported seeing him or someone who looks like him leaving the dorm at 4:30 AM, where the friend he was playing video games lives (either on his floor, in the same dorm but different floor, or another dorm...I've seen all three reported in different stories), and where exactly his scent ended, not just the vicinity. So it's very frustrating that we don't know those details. Not that we would be able to solve this mystery but it would help figure out if he was abducted or not or suffered some other crazy fate such as amnesia or if he took his own life or whatever.

yes they're all possibilities, there is really no clue at all except a sketch of somebody who MIGHT have had something to do with MN's disappearance and some bloodhounds tracing MN's scent to a bus stop which MIGHT be his at that time. And some students who MIGHT have seen someone who looks like MN leaving the dorm at about 4:30 in the morning. I wonder how confident they were that it was Mike. That would be huge news if it was him.

this is one of the most baffling missing person cases i can think of. i don't think it will ever be solved. a lot of detectives worked this case early on and no real leads came in other than the sketch of someone who looks like 1000 other guys on the street. Not very promising. If I could solve just one missing persons case, I might have to choose this one. I feel for his family a great deal. Aside from the grief, I wouldn't be able to stop thinking what happened even for a minute. It would eat away at me forever.

SiberianKiss, Mike's case really gets to me too. He seems like such a sweet, good natured kid. I cannot imagine his parent's heartache.

There just doesn't seem like there is any way that a grown man could be abducted from his dorm without someone seeing him. There has to be more to this case but it doesn't seem like there is one report out there that stands as the definitive/creditable account of Mike's disappearance.

I think this is what happened to Michael:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/26/amnesia.victim.ap/index.html

A fugue state. Sounds far fetched but it does happen.

Very interesting story about that Dallas guy. Warranted more national attention.

But in terms of this case, I'm wondering if that fugue state doesn't inflict older people, more frequently than someone Michael's age? I'm not saying that I know, just a hunch based on other medical conditions, especially involving the mind, and which age groups are most vulnerable. Michael had just finished a challenging online game so obviously he was very alert at the time.

Also, the aspect of 4 AM leads me to believe it was likely foul play. A fugue state wouldn't prioritize in terms of time of day or night, but an abduction would, as we've seen in other cases.

Very interesting story about that Dallas guy. Warranted more national attention.

But in terms of this case, I'm wondering if that fugue state doesn't inflict older people, more frequently than someone Michael's age? I'm not saying that I know, just a hunch based on other medical conditions, especially involving the mind, and which age groups are most vulnerable. Michael had just finished a challenging online game so obviously he was very alert at the time.

Also, the aspect of 4 AM leads me to believe it was likely foul play. A fugue state wouldn't prioritize in terms of time of day or night, but an abduction would, as we've seen in other cases.

There are a couple of other fugue state cases from Unsolved Mysteries involving guys near Michael's age - Tyler and the Canadian fellow. There is also a movie called Unknown White Male out on DVD -- probably what made me start thinking about the fugue state and Michael before the Dallas case.

The weirdest detail of the Dallas case was that this wasn't his first bout with amnesia.

so where's his body if the fugue state thing turned out to be it? he would still suffer from a cruel fate if nobody ever saw him again. i suppose he could still be out there not knowing who he is. It's more likely he was abducted for whatever reason though.

the UCLA cadaver thing sounds more likely.

You're right, a connection to the UCLA cadaver theft is more likely -- more horrific too.

So strange to choose such a risky target though. Not only would he be a tough 'grab' due to his location but he wasn't a small kid either. I don't know his specific height or weight but snatching a small, female victim would be much easier.

Maybe Michael saw something that night that he shouldn't have. Maybe something bad enough to send him racing out of his dorm without keys or wallet.

When I think back to my own college days, there were time when I would be awake at 3 or 4 (insomnia not studying). I remember staring out the windows at campus for long periods of time. I also remember feeling incredibly safe in my dorm - so safe, I would sometimes take trash downstairs or just go for a late night soda without mentioning it to anyone.

I always felt safe in college too, dorms, or even when i lived in an apartment off-campus. just lots of students around but there were many times when i walked home and to other places late at night when nobody was around.....sooooo stupid. And this was in South Central LA. Back then I never paid any attention to missing people though.

now that I think about it, how ballsy would it be for somebody to abduct a student in a dorm filled with hundreds of young adults? Even around 4 AM when a lot of them are sleeping, there's still gonna be a few that are awake (especially on a weekend) and all it takes is one scream to wake up a bunch of people and find out what this struggle is all about. He must've gone out somewhere. Can you imagine somebody knocking him out some way and carrying him outta the dorm? Nah. I wonder where he went.

I felt completely safe at USC also, despite the locale. I guess at that age you don't worry. My first week out there I walked around the entire area, circling campus just to get a feel for the surroundings. The bad areas don't even stand out from that day. I just remember recognizing the museum in Exposition Park from a previous family vacation, and being blown away by the excess on 28th Street, the Row. Hell, a few months later I walked all the way to Olympic Auditorium to watch a big fight. Anyone who knows LA realizes how stupid that stroll was. Virtually every night I went to the Carl's Jr. or University Village at 1 or 2 AM, not much different from now in Las Vegas.

I never lived in the dorms since the housing priority was based on distance traveled so I was near the top of the list, coming from Florida.

I think I remember his family describing Michael as having muscular arms and shoulders in one of the online sites I visited a few weeks ago. That belies his size, and I guess it's natural for the family to describe the son as strong, but he probably was wiry muscular.

Look, it's hard to envision what could have happened. My friend Larry was strong as heck yet he was obviously abducted and murdered. I think he got in the car with someone he had no reason not to trust. Same thing could easily have happened with Michael that night. My hunch would be he went somewhere, perhaps willingly, as opposed to confronted inside the dorm. Once they have a gun pointed at you, or something similar, the dynamic changes in a split second.

I tend to think that Michael left the building. My reasoning for this is not as sound as the rest of yours, who obviously know a lot more about the case than I do, but for personal reasons.

In my college days, I was a Resident Advisor for two years; one year in a small, all female dorm, and one year in a large, co-ed dorm similar to Dykstra Hall at UCLA. As an RA, we were required to do "rounds" on each of the floors at certain times in the night. My college required rounds at 8pm, 10pm, 12am, and 2 am on weekends. I do not think that Michael could have gotten out of the dorm against his will due to the fact that SOMEONE would have seen SOMETHING.

Someone made an insomnia argument a number of posts up, and I tend to agree. As an RA, I dealt with several bouts of insomnia myself. It wasn't uncommon for me (a petite brunette) to be wandering around at 3, 4, 5, or even 6 o'clock in the morning. My dorm was IN NO WAY as large as UCLA's Dysktra Hall, but there was usually SOMEONE awake on each floor at that hour, not to mention a desk clerk on the ground floor that was in charge of answering the telephones. UCLA would almost certainly employ a lot of the same methods that my university chose to take (RA rounds, desk clerks, etc.) I find it very hard to believe that someone could slip out of the dorms at that time of night against their will without making some sort of scene.

I'm curious to know what Michael's major was. How hard were his upcoming tests? From my personal experience as an RA, we recieved special training in pre-finals anxiety. We also recieved depression and suicide counseling and were taught how to pick up the signs of this in one of our residents. From experience, I know that not everyone manifests the same symptoms and it is quire possible that Michael fell through the cracks. Despite this, however, I do tend to believe that Michael left the dorm, only to have something sinister happen to him after he left.

Has anyone considered the possibility that he may have been in a hurry to go gaming with his friends and chose not to take his keys and ID because he anticipated playing games until the dorms were open again? Did he leave the door to his room unlocked? (I had a ton of residents who would leave their doors unlocked-- they were the bane of my existence, but they did it nonetheless.)

As far as the "fugue state" argument goes, I would be curious to know if Michael had suffered a traumatic event in the days/weeks before he went missing. I have a degree in Psychology and I do think that a fugue state could entirely be possible if he was under an extreme amount of stress. This is why I want to know what his major was, how difficult it was, and how his grades were pre-disappearance. I think we definitely need to consider the possibility that he suffered a mental break.

Wow. I rambled. Sorry about that, and I'm curious to hear your thoughts on my "observations."

Fantastic to hear an RA's take on the situation. LooksLikeCRicci, what is your opinion about someone being able to get into the dorm without running into some kind of security.

There were a lot of times when someone's boyfriend would be let in through a side door.

It seems like almost everyone is in agreement that Michael must have left the dorms on his own - whether to see someone, in a fugue state, in a suicidal depression, or because he saw something going on outside.

I wonder about Michael's grade too. If he was accustomed to all A's in school, facing the possibility of a B- could have set him into a tailspin.

I also wonder about insomia. My roommate used to go for walks around campus when she couldn't sleep (why were we all so fearless in college?). It didn't matter how many timed she was warned by friends, she said she always felt safe on campus. As a guy, probably Michael felt even safer. If he took off around 4:30, he could have thought he'd go for a long walk before breakfast - he looked like a physically fit guy.

Awsi Dooger mentioned that his friend was abducted by someone he trusted. I wonder if Michael could have run into someone he knew with a car. That person could have offered him a lift or offered him breakfast off campus -- I'm sure I would have gotten into a car with a LOT of questionable people if they were offering to take me out for an off-campus breakfast.

I'm not sure about the setup that UCLA has in their dorm systems, but there were alarms equipped on all the doors in the dorms that I worked in. If a door was propped open for more than 3 seconds after 10pm, an alarm would go off and the desk clerk would then alert the RA's on call, who would then investigate. For the most part, I thought security was tight in the dorms WITH THAT OBVIOUS EXCEPTION. A lot can happen in 3 seconds.

Awsi Dooger mentioned that his friend was abducted by someone he trusted.

Well, we're not sure what happened. I detailed it in the Kathy Hobbs thread. The speculation is it was probably someone he trusted, especially since it happened at a tame part of the day, about 6 or 7 PM on a Sunday night. He needed a short 10 minute drive to the Palace Station, never showed up, and never was known to be alive again.

This thread has really opened my eyes to security in college dorms. I always stayed in university-owned apartments about two blocks off campus and I don't remember anything similar to what CRicci described, alarms and such. But come to think of it, in my brief visits to dorms when my friends lived in them, there were alarm systems, ones that seemed annoying at the time.

I wish I knew more about UCLA's campus and where that dorm is situated, but my only visits were for sporting events at Pauley Pavilion and their track and field venue.

As far as comfort level on campus, I never had the slightest concern. That was probably true of Michael or just about any guy. I worked at the student newspaper at center campus until 2 or 3 AM several days a week. One friend of mine had an odd habit of sitting on the back steps of Heritage Hall to contemplate, even late at night. One time I left the student newspaper office in the wee hours and toured campus in a bit of a tipsy state. I walked behind Heritage almost as a gag. But sure enough, my friend was sitting there in the darkness, completely motionless all by himself. It was so stunning I didn't even approach, thinking it would likely embarrass him to be found there at that hour.

I doubt Michael had a similar habit, or even if anyone would know about it if he did. But I always worry that authorities don't ask enough questions, as opposed to too many. It always strikes me when I watch a show like Hunter that they'll ask two or three questions of a witness, then say thanks and depart like it's all they need to know. Hell, even Columbo wasn't enough of a pest. Maybe that isn't real life but even the detectives who questioned me about Larry's disappearance didn't ask as many questions as I thought were proper, so I kept rambling and even sent long follow-up emails.

Mistagee, your opinion is interesting.

Up to now I haven't read anything contradicting the authorities conclusion that he was playing a game and signed off somewhere around 4:30 am. I'm not saying he wasn't chatting with someone he agreed to meet with outside the building that night. He just might have been. I read once that authorities did check his computer and couldn't find anything chat related that could have shed light on why he disappeared that night.

He could have met up with an older adult male that night. Or even a group of people in any age range. His family as well as other people believe that wherever he thought he was going, he didn't think he would be gone long. For a while they believe he left with nothing but the clothes on his back. Later after searching his room a pair of flip flops did turn up missing. He most likely wore those when he went to go visit his friend down the hall.

If anyone is interested, there is a pretty active dialogue about Michael on the WebSleuths website:
http://websleuths.com

I've been posting a bunch of links to people out there in cyberspace with the last name Negrete who look like Michael - just trying to work through my own delusional belief that he might have walked away on his own.

None of those men are Michael. Why would he keep his name if he voluntarily disappeared?

I would think its fair to say that Michael is probably deceased. Although we are all hoping for a miracle, I would say he would have contacted his family by now if he could

This case happened close to me:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,158639,00.html

Brandi Stahr, whose disappearance from Texas A&M in 1998 sent off a massive nationwide search and press explosion, has been found alive and working in Kentucky. She was apparently hiding from her family because of a poor grades.

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2005/06/missing_texas_student_brandi_stahr_found_after_7_years_-_yahoo_news/

This case changed the way I looked at missing persons cases.

Do any of you see a connection/similarities between Michael's case and missing Purdue student, Wade Steffey?

Everyone around here is already lumping Wade in with the other Midwestern River deaths.

No connection. Michael was killed by someone he knew

Some questions I've always been curious about--what were the details of the game he was playing? Was it a game where players could privately interact? Is it possible he met up with someone from the area who had also been playing?

He also could have left of his own accord due to depression. First year at a big school, and he is alone in his dorm playing video games until four in the morning. Was this on a Friday night? It's very easy to hide depression, especially if he was on his own for the first time. I think he could have taken his own life and wound up a John Doe somewhere....=(

I never heard details about what game it was. It was an online game. They had the time that he signed off. He did go talk to his friend for a few minutes after that apparently about this game.

If he were depressed and wanted to kill himself why not at least leave a note. From what I gather he had no problems with his parents and they had no problems with him.

Remember he left a party earlier that night before he stayed up until 4 am playing the game. It was at the end of the week to celebrate the end of the first term. The next week was finals and then Christmas break. I'm assuming that it was on a Friday night. Weekend, plus party, equals staying up really late. It would for me at least. :)

I have always found it suspicious that more or less a year after he disappeared, someone who had been previously interviewed by police disclosed the information about an older man lurking around the dorm that night. Apparently this "someone" was an aquaintance of Michael. Why wait so long?

Does anyone have access to the police records? Did Michael show any signs of stress? Was there any other unsolved murders in that area over the year?

I've just been browsing through this case. It's an interesting read. It reminds me of the case of Suzanne Lyall, (http://www.global2000.net/suzy/) a student from SUNY Albany who disappeared in 1998 and was never seen again. I first saw her missing person poster in the public safety office of my school when I was a freshman in college in 2001. It haunted me at the time, because I went to school only about fifteen minutes away, and my school was not in the safest of neighborhoods. That whole incident left me feeling very vulnerable, and even now, I still think of Suzanne now and then and hope for her family's sake that someday police will learn what really happened to her.

My gut tells me that Michael was murdered because he saw something he was not meant to see. People don't expect to see many other people at 4am. As such, their guards are down. Thus there are people wandering around who might not be taking the kind of precautions they would otherwise because they're not expecting to run into anybody, and there are also people sneaking around doing things they shouldn't be doing because no one is around to see them.

One of my late-night college rituals was laundry. I'd do the exact same thing Michael was doing -- I'd stay up half the night on the computer, then realize I didn't have any clean clothes. I'd throw on a pair of flip flops and head down to the basement. Maybe Michael went into the basement to do laundry, or throw something out in the dumpster, and while he was there, he witnessed something he was not meant to see -- perhaps a guy beating his girlfriend, or a drug deal, something of that nature. I get the strong feeling that he was killed to keep him quiet. I don't think it was planned, I don't think Michael was hunted down as an intended target. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he is deceased, the big question is where his remains are. That's my take, anyway.

My take is that Michael had been chatting with someone on the Internet and met them downstairs in front of his building since he didnt want them to know where he lived. He left willingly with the person and was then killed by them.

I don't think that's what happened, personally, but it's an interesting theory. I would think he'd have at least taken his keys or wallet or something -- maybe it's because I'm a girl, but I'd feel naked without those things. What led you to your theory?

I think Michael was walking around the dorms, maybe hitting the vending machines for a late night snack. I think he saw someone he knew (either in the dorm or right outside) and took a walk or ride with them -- never to return for whatever reason.

It really makes sense that it was someone he knew.

I still think its a liasion with another male, or something where he was abused

Remember the Unsolved case where the couple went myseriously missing without a trace only to be found, months, later after their jeep was found in a irrigation pound? All kinds of speculation behind their disappearence (starting a new life together, killed by a stranger...) BUT in the end, the simpliest answer ended up being the truth.

I was thinking about this case in relation to missing Purdue student, Wade Steffey, who was found diseased in the basement of his dorm. People had been searching all over the county but he was found 50 feet from where he was last seen.

What do you think is the very simpliest answer to Michael's disappearence?

Remember the Unsolved case where the couple went myseriously missing without a trace only to be found, months, later after their jeep was found in a irrigation pound? All kinds of speculation behind their disappearence (starting a new life together, killed by a stranger...) BUT in the end, the simpliest answer ended up being the truth.

I was thinking about this case in relation to missing Purdue student, Wade Steffey, who was found diseased in the basement of his dorm. People had been searching all over the county but he was found 50 feet from where he was last seen.

What do you think is the very simpliest answer to Michael's disappearence?


Hes stuck somewhere in the innards of the building, either the elevator shaft or the electrical closet, those college dorms have places that havent been cleaned in YEARS, trust me my dorm probably had a few bodies in it!

Hes stuck somewhere in the innards of the building, either the elevator shaft or the electrical closet, those college dorms have places that havent been cleaned in YEARS, trust me my dorm probably had a few bodies in it!

oh wow, i hadn't thought of the elavator shaft. wouldn't that be wild solution tothis case if it was found that he never actually left the building?

another 'simpliest solution' would be that he was struck by a car near that bus stop.

oh wow, i hadn't thought of the elavator shaft. wouldn't that be wild solution tothis case if it was found that he never actually left the building?

another 'simpliest solution' would be that he was struck by a car near that bus stop.


Hmm, the scent of the bus stop maybe bogus, If he was hit by a car, there would have been screech marks, a body, and someone would have seen blood, etc. The roads arent that dead at night, that no one would have seen it. I wonder if they checked every inch of that building

I've just been browsing through this case. It's an interesting read. It reminds me of the case of Suzanne Lyall, (http://www.global2000.net/suzy/) a student from SUNY Albany who disappeared in 1998 and was never seen again. I first saw her missing person poster in the public safety office of my school when I was a freshman in college in 2001. It haunted me at the time, because I went to school only about fifteen minutes away, and my school was not in the safest of neighborhoods. That whole incident left me feeling very vulnerable, and even now, I still think of Suzanne now and then and hope for her family's sake that someday police will learn what really happened to her.

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I was a senior at SUNY ALbany when Suzanne disappeared and it freaked a lot of us out. Especailly since in 1982 another woman, Karen Wilson, disappeared after leaving a tanning salon in the middle of the day. I have kept up to date on Suzanne and while she has not been found if you go over to crimerant.com you will see that there are serious questions that her boyfriend at the time is not willing to answer. It's funny because up until 2007 everything i read mentioned her having a boyfriend, but never that hee was any type of suspect and if you read the articles on that site you will see he has been a suspect from the beginning.

She honestly had about 200 feet to walk from where the bus dropped her off to her dorm (a walk i took many times when i worked at that same mall). It was a well lit and well traveled area. I always could not figure out how someone could take a girl away from that area with no one seeing it. Especially since that bus dropped off a ton of people at SUNY Albany. I always believed she made it back to her dorm room or was coaxed over to a car by someone she knew.

So I have a feeling there might be other things we might not know about the NEgrete case.

Wow... that's pretty surprising. I read everything I came across about Suzanne, and I never once saw anything that would indicate that her boyfriend was a suspect. It seemed as though he loved her very much. Granted, no one has any proof that he is the culprit, but the fact that he's trying to hide things certainly does not cast a good light on him. I really do hope this case is solved one day.

Is that SUNY Albany campus the same college where the New York Giants have their training camp? If so, I've visited several times the past few years while staying near Saratoga.

If so, I had no idea that college was the site of a couple of unsolved disappearances. It always seems so quiet and tranquil.

Is that SUNY Albany campus the same college where the New York Giants have their training camp? If so, I've visited several times the past few years while staying near Saratoga.

If so, I had no idea that college was the site of a couple of unsolved disappearances. It always seems so quiet and tranquil.
It is indeed the same campus where the Giants train. Unfortunately, any site can be the scene of a crime. Sometimes it's the seemingly most innocent of places that turns out to be the scene for something like this.

On another note, I checked out Richard Condon's "Darklight" website. It displays a message informing the visitor that it is a private domain, and has a link to a missing person's profile on Suzanne. Apparently he's tired of the publicity.

I was reading about Brian in relation to missing college student Brian Shaffer (Columbus, Ohio) and thinking about how a grown man can go missing. It had to be someone he knew, right? Someone from the dorm or from a class, maybe even someone from his hometown. If you were his parents, wouldn't you just want to lock all his friends in a room until someone confessed?

I know what you mean. Someone always knows something in cases like this. I can't fathom how that person can go through every day knowing the pain and confusion that the victim's family is going through and not step forward with what (s)he knows. I think if it were my child, I'd want to know, one way or the other. If he had been found deceased, it'd certainly be very sad, but at least his family could have a place to lay him to rest and visit him. This not knowing must be excruciating for them. It's just too bad that Unsolved Mysteries is not on anymore -- it brought a lot of publicity to missing persons cases.

Hello. I am a UCLA student and this case has really bothered me since I first heard about it when another incident in a dorm occurred. I am so glad that people are still discussing the case. I personally feel that press attention fell off too quickly after this disappearance. The University police's investigation worries me...they are not highly regarded as far as I am aware, and perhaps you remember UCLA was in the news last year about a student being tased by one of the officers prematurely.

I check up on Michael's case from time to time and this time I found this thread as well as another possible source. As a student familiar with the campus I want to respond to some comments made that may clear some things up (or not). Sorry it is so long, but I have 6 pages of posts to respond to ;)

I found it especially creepy when during the search some bloodhounds traced his scent to a nearby bus stop.
I don't put too much into the bus stop scent thing...the bloodhounds weren't used until long after he disappeared and with so many people around the area every day walking that same route, you certainly can't say that he definitely took the bus anywhere or even walked that way. Or perhaps he took that route walking around before he disappeared. I just think it makes the case even more creepy though.
buses run all night in LA, I dunno if they care about whether or not you wear shoes, I've never taken the bus before. i also don't know if they run at all hours in all areas. the bus stop where his scent was supposedly last picked up is a very nice area. People who live in that area don't take the bus, that's for damn sure. And I'm sure if he wanted to get on the bus voluntarily, he would find a bus stop closer to where his dorm was.

This is very creepy. Even though UCLA (and the part of LA it is in) is generally safe, I would not want to be walking by myself at that time of the morning. This part of the campus is very dark at night. The scent trail zig-zagged in a bizarre manner from Dykstra to the bus stop. The way he walked was uphill, and far. It would have taken him 15-30 mins to get to the bus stop. Although there is a bus stop there, I have never ever seen someone walk from the dorms to that bus stop. There is simply no reason to: it is uphill, it is not close, and there are at least three other bus stops that are closer, one almost directly outside of Dykstra. During the day, there is a street vendor selling "Star Maps" at the bus stop but that is pretty much it. This part of the campus is mainly just a back entrance and a jogging trail...nothing functional there. Directly across from this bus stop is the entrance to Bel Air. I think the bus stop is frequented by the housekeepers and nannies that commute from out of the area rather than students. Not many buses run at that time of night. If he did walk to that bus stop, it was because somebody told him to be there. I believe that somebody that was not a student dropped him off there and he staggered (drunk) back to his dorm on a different occasion. It is very possible that nobody saw anything. Although this is LA and Sunset Blvd. is a very major street, after 1 or 2 this part of LA is a ghost town and it is downright freaky.

If he was hit by a car, there would have been screech marks, a body, and someone would have seen blood, etc.
Maybe, but there are screech marks all over this intersection. Blood would have easily stained and looked like oil, which is also all over this road. If he was hit by a car, I think the outcome was the body was hid.

I don't think there's a camera and Zero is mistaken, I've done major searching on Negrete's Case and found nothing at all to indicate he was seen on some camera before he disappeared. Zero must be thinking about some other missing person. Negrete's family most certainly would've had this so called video camera sighting of Michael leaving his dorm posted on their website.
I do not think there was a camera in Dykstra Hall at that time. If there was, it was a decoy...or broken. UCLA Housing talks a lot about security, but that's all it is. In the brand new De Neve Plaza (which was under construction at the time of the disappearance and searched by police), there are decoy cameras in the lobby. There have still been numerous robberies and a couple of assaults...we have yet to see a picture of any of these suspects.

There are security people posted at the entrance to the dorm, I would think, the key is to determine if Michael left the dorm or not.
There are now, but I don't think there were back then. I get the impression that this incident caused an increase in security, but happened a couple of years before I became a student.

Was this on a Friday night?
No, a Thursday night (and early Friday morning). Thursday night is "the" party night at UCLA which makes this whole case even stranger. December 9, 1999 was Thursday of 10th week (the last week of classes before finals). More than one person must have seen something even at that hour.

If the suspect got into the dorm through a lapse in security (an open door, another student letting the suspect in, faulty alarm system), I imagine UCLA kept it hush hush.
I suspect the campus police screwed that up. I tend to believe the student alerted them about somebody who may have looked suspicious and they didn't take it seriously until the real cops did.

Yup, to both comments.

now that I think about it, how ballsy would it be for somebody to abduct a student in a dorm filled with hundreds of young adults? Even around 4 AM when a lot of them are sleeping, there's still gonna be a few that are awake (especially on a weekend) and all it takes is one scream to wake up a bunch of people and find out what this struggle is all about. He must've gone out somewhere. Can you imagine somebody knocking him out some way and carrying him outta the dorm? Nah. I wonder where he went.
The abductor would be taking a huge chance since there would still be students around...somewhere. At 4am, there is most likely not an RA doing rounds. Their rounds end at 2am I believe. I also believe the access control staff also end their duties at 2am. Assuming the doors required a key for access after that point, somebody would have had to let this man in. He may have known that since it was a Thursday night it would be easier to wait for someone to let him in than it would be on other weeknights.

I can't really make any sense out of that anti-Van Dam website - can someone provide a brief overview of this guy and why he would be involved in Michael's case?
The only reason I can think of that fits is:
he and Michael were involved in a sexual relationship and he came to the dorms (perhaps not for the first time) to see him or have some kind of confrontation. Michael could have let him in a side door or someone else could have let him in (if he looked young enough at this time) and something happened resulting in Michael being forced to leave without his keys, wallet or ID.
I am interested to know who is running that site. It has been stated that the Negretes and the Van Dams were hardly even acquaintances, however, that sounds familiar...during the Westerfield trial they made him out to be "just a neighbor" whereas some testimony suggests more. If you look at the testimony and articles about that case, it seems that the van Dam's have a very weird relationship to say the least, which makes me believe that your hypothesis about a sexual relationship is not stretching it.

Another conflicting report is the friend he was playing computer games with. I've read that he was on the same floor as Mike but down the hall, on a different floor in the same dorm, and in a diferent dorm. Since Mike went to go talk to him afterwards, it changes everything if he left his dorm and went to another one if the friend lived elsewhere. I think the guy lived in his dorm though but it would be nice to know for sure.
A statement written by his mother on their website really suggests his friend lived on the same floor. She says something like he walks outside to congratulate his friend and then goes back to his room. If he were in another dorm, it would be quite a walk.

Are there No cell phone records??????
This is very disturbing. There have been no mention of the records whatsoever.

My gut tells me that Michael was murdered because he saw something he was not meant to see.
I think you're right. And if this has anything to do with the cadaver thing (I don't think it does), I think it is like you say. I think LE needs to take a closer look at DVD as well as possible sex offenders that target young men.

I am saddened that http://findmikenow.com is no longer functional. Felix.org is hosted on the same server so I am hoping it is a temporary server issue. Also, UCPD has removed the notice about the suspicious man in Dykstra Hall. From search results I found something from who I believe is Mary that believes he is dead, or was/is in a fugue or altered mental state.

it would be great to get this out in the open again but nobody in that dorm room will have been in school since Michael Negrete disappeared, not even close.'

I feel that this case will be solved. The case needs to be brought to the media's attention again...I think that is the key.

Now that I've read about how far the actual bus stop was it seems very impractical that he would walk all that way after 4:00 am. I think whomever said he walked from there before is right. He could have taken that bus by mistake one night and had to walk far to get back to the dorm. Maybe he was dropped off there by someone prior to his disappearance. Maybe he jogged from that bus stop with a friend.

I don't understand how bloodhounds (I trust those dogs!) could have tracked his scent left who knows how long before he disappeared, but were unable to track a fresher scent? I remember hearing about the case and I believe bloodhounds were used within a week of his disappearing.

It just wouldn't seem rational for someone to agree to meet someone at a place if they were going to have to walk uphill for 15 to 30 minutes. Especially at 4:00 am. At seven or eight, OK, but not in the early morning.

The only way a person would make that walk at that hour is if they were going to meet with someone or do something that they didn't want anyone to see. I'm not implying that he was involved in anything shady, I'm just saying a person would have to have a really good reason for making those kind of moves that late at night.

If he did in fact make that walk, I don't think it was willingly. By the way, what is outside that exit that he used? Is there a parking lot nearby? Road across the street? Big field? I'm not familiar with UCLA so I'm trying to get an idea. Bruin said there were three other bus stops nearby but approx. how far are they?

I can't give an exact estimate of the distance of the bus stops, but I can say the closest was 5 mins from his dorm if even that; a *downhill* walk. The map below shows the northwest portion of the UCLA campus. I am trying to get a copy of the 1999 map since this part of the campus looked drastically different back then. The red cars are bus stops. The yellow area did not exist back then. Dykstra Hall (I forgot to mark it) is within this yellow area. The blue path represents an approximate path from Dykstra to the bus stop (he zig-zagged when he walked so this path could be very off). I am also trying to find a copy of the 1999 bus timetables as well photos or maps of Dykstra Hall before part of it was demolished.

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/8056/mapuclacopyly0zb5.jpg

Unfortunately, I do not even know which exit he used or what may have been a possible route since the whole layout of the building was changed. Dykstra used to be connected to a dining hall and front desk area and I suspect he exited through one of those doors. My guess is that there was a parking lot there. Since the construction of DeNeve Plaza, the first floor of Dykstra Hall has been sealed off as a restricted area. Entry is only permitted through the second floor via a bridge from the DeNeve Plaza main building (which provides a new dining hall, and a single point of secure entry). The first floor entrance is only used to accomodate move in/out, but it may have been reopened since the parking structure opened.

If he did in fact take a bus, it would have to have been a line that only served that bus stop and not the others, but I think that scenario is unlikely. The bloodhounds came in rather late in the investigation, and I am a bit surprised that there were no other trails detected. What I do know is that I have jogged almost that exact path, so that is a conceivable scenario yielding the path (but not the zig-zag).

Just found this article on Michael:
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/archives/id/2146/

The shocking part of the article is reading that the L.A. County Sheriff's Department waited 6 months before sending out a questionnaire to all Dykstra Hall residents regarding the day of Michael's disappearance.

Also, the quotes from his mother are confusing. I'm sure they were taken out of context but they sound like she thinks he's alive.

Just found this article on Michael:
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/archives/id/2146/

The shocking part of the article is reading that the L.A. County Sheriff's Department waited 6 months before sending out a questionnaire to all Dykstra Hall residents regarding the day of Michael's disappearance.

Also, the quotes from his mother are confusing. I'm sure they were taken out of context but they sound like she thinks he's alive.


I couldn't get that page to load but I think that she still believes he's alive. I also think I remember reading that she went to a psychic (this would now have to be at least 4 to 5 years ago) that told her he was around and even gave her some insight as to where he might be. OH, I read it on the website she had about him.

One thing that I've stated before as strange is that composite that came out of the mysterious man wandering around that night. It took a year for a student to come forward with that information. Why a year?

I do know that in an interview I saw a few years ago, there was one investigator working the case. Can't remember for sure, but he either worked in San Diego or Los Angeles.

I did email the mom and briefly mentioned that she could write the story about her son to UM (this was before RS died), and the show Missing. She replied with a simple thank you. I've never seen his story broadcasted on either. Missing isn't great when it comes to replies. I believe the last time I saw anything about his case was probably around '02 and that was on LA's Most Wanted on the local Fox news.

You think it's possible that his case was solved and that's why the site is no longer around? That's what happened with Jill Behrman. Once her remains were found, there were no more updates to the site. I mean, NONE. Her parents did thank the people involved, but that was on page from her university. Eventually the site just ceased to exist.

Could be. There was a rumor on campus several years ago that he was found but the family was too embarrassed to say anything due to all of the media coverage. Now that the site is down as well as the alert from UCPD, there might be something to that, but I really do believe he is still missing. findmikenow.com and felix.org are both hosted on the same server. It sounds like whomever runs that server recently migrated it. I suspect that a technical problem shut the site down and perhaps Michael's family does not know.

I did not want to mention anything about a psychic, but this is what has sparked renewed suspicion in this case to me. Two psychics have had differing forecasts: both say he is alive, one places him in Arizona and another places him in the general vicinity of UCLA.

A third psychic, who recently just correctly described the abduction and murder of the recent female hiker that went missing with her dog (not to mention several, several other cases). It is eerie how correct he is in many instances. I question his description of the suspect, but he does see a location of Michael's remains, and I feel that he may be correct, however...

After seeing this, there are still too many unanswered questions. Assuming that this does yield some information, I asked him to do another analysis to see if he could see why this happened, and how the abduction happened (if that is what it was). His remote viewing of the suspect bothers me, which is why I asked him to do another one.

Hm....

This is very interesting. Keep me posted on what the guy says. You can PM me if you prefer.

I couldn't get that page to load but I think that she still believes he's alive. I also think I remember reading that she went to a psychic (this would now have to be at least 4 to 5 years ago) that told her he was around and even gave her some insight as to where he might be. OH, I read it on the website she had about him.

Here is the article:
Anniversary of Negrete’s disappearance coming up
Investigation still hasn’t yielded answers as to student’s location
Linh Tat
Published: Thursday, December 7, 2000
UCPD Michael Negrete is still missing.

By Linh Tat
Daily Bruin Senior Staff


Police are not much closer to solving the case of a missing UCLA student now than they were one year ago.

Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of the day Michael Negrete, then a first-year student living in Dykstra Hall, disappeared.

“The first thing that went through my head was why did he go somewhere without telling me, and I was angry,” said Mary Negrete, Michael’s mother, by phone on Tuesday night.

“My first reaction was that I was annoyed with him and I was going to tell him off, but then he never came back,” she continued.

Michael was last accounted for around 4 a.m. Dec. 10, when he logged off a computer game he was playing with a friend down the hall. He was last seen wearing a blue plaid shirt and khaki shorts. He left behind his wallet and other personal belongings in his room.

His disappearance at first generated a large community search effort. Early in the investigation, bloodhounds from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department traced his scent from the dormitory to a bus stop on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Bellagio Drive.

In June, detectives issued a questionnaire to all Dykstra Hall residents about the day Michael disappeared.

After months without a solid lead, detectives released a sketch in July of a man allegedly seen on Negrete’s floor the night he disappeared.

The man, who was reportedly wearing a gray jacket with a turquoise design, is described as white, 35 years old, 5 feet 7 inches, with a heavy build and no facial hair. Police are still looking for him.

According to Sgt. Joe Purcell of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department homicide bureau, detectives came across the lead while reviewing the questionnaires, but the student who provided the information also came forward of his own accord. The student had also contacted university police shortly after Michael disappeared, Purcell said.

“He had tried to get the information to the appropriate sources within a week of Mike’s disappearance, but there was no action taken,” he said.

But UCPD detectives said they investigated the student’s lead.

“The information was reported differently and that information was followed up on,” said Terry Brown, a detective with UCPD.

For the Negrete family, slow developments in the case have tested their patience.

“Our lives are really disrupted by this, but we think we need to provide a pretty stable life for our other two boys,” Mary said.

“You would think that I would be more overprotective, but we’re just trying to maintain a pretty normal relationship with (the boys),” she said.

The family, which hired a private investigator early in the case, established a Michael Negrete Search Fund to help pay for the $100,000 reward offered for information leading directly to finding Michael.

“We are considering that if the money never gets used as reward money, the money may be donated to the two high schools Michael went to,” Mary said.

The Negrete family considered holding a concert to observe the anniversary of his disappearance, but decided against it.

“We thought we’d rather relax that day and not relive the whole thing again. The last thing I want to do is relive that day,” Mary said.

Though nearing the one-year mark of his disappearance, police maintain that they will never close the case but acknowledge the difficulty of finding leads now.

“Certainly the longer time elapses from the event to the investigation, the more difficult it becomes because you can’t recreate what happened originally,” Purcell said.

At the peak of the investigation, seven detectives were working on the case simultaneously. Now, police agencies like the UCPD may receive tips, but Purcell and his partner are leading the case.

“Of course I want the investigation to be ongoing until they find answers. I’m frustrated that they haven’t found any answers,” Mary said.

Michael’s story is scheduled to air on the show “Million Dollar Mysteries” on Fox next month.

His mother posted a note on a Web site devoted to finding him:

“Michael: We love you, we miss you terribly, and we think about you constantly. Our greatest wish is for you to contact us and let us know that you are all right. We will never give up looking for you.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact the L.A. Sheriff’s Department at (323) 890-5500. For more information about the case, go to www.findmikenow.com.

NEGRETE CASE TIMELINE A look at some of the key events in the search for Michael Negrete. Sunday marks the one year anniversary of his disappearence. DECEMBER 10

Michael Negrete was last accounted for at approximately 4 a.m. after logging off a computer game he had been playing with a floor mate.

Bloodhounds from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department trace his scent to a bus stop on the corner of Bellagio Drive and Sunset Boulevard.

At the peak of the investigation, seven detectives were working on the case simultaneously. This has been scaled down to one.

The family hires a private investigator.

An award of $5,000 is posted for information directly leading to his whereabouts.

JANUARY 6 Parents cancel their son's housing contract and remove his personal belongings from his room in Dykstra Hall. FEBRUARY Only one detective remains working on the case part-time.

Mary Negrete writes a chain letter via e-mail, asking for the public's assistance.

MARCH 25 Michael's birthday; family travels to San Bernardino to attend the Orange Show Speedway, where one competitor completes a parade lap with Michael's picture on the truck. APRIL The family increases reward money to $10,000. JUNE 5 The L.A. County Sheriff's Department issues a questionnaire to all Dykstra Hall residents regarding the day of Michael's disappearance. 6 Mary Negrete holds a rally at the Dykstra Hall patio.

More than $19,000 raised to date through the Michael Negrete Search Fund.

JULY 17 Detectives released a sketch of a man wanted for questioning. Original graphic by ADAM BROWN/Daily Bruin Web adaptation by MICHAEL PARKER

The last time his story was featured on the news was in 2004 on NBC. It was rather short, and just restated the facts of the case. Seemed random, but my guess is that it aired at that time because any that were Freshmen when Michael went missing were likely to have graduated, in case they were withholding information while they were in college.

this is probably a naive question but can parents/police check to see if Michael's social security # is in use?

I mention this mainly because of a missing woman found in my area working at a Home Depot -- she had been missing for years and presumed dead. if only her parents could have known that she was safe all those years.

I would imagine that has been looked into. The private detectives seem more active in the investigation, but they may not have access to that information, or would they?

Credit cards, bank cards etc. had not been used since he disappeared. I know that may not be an indication of anything, but if I put myself back at that age (I am not that much older), I can't imagine anybody having the ability to pull off such a strange and "perfect" disappearance to start a new life, especially somebody that seems somewhat sheltered.

What is interesting...in 2004 another UCLA student disappeared. He took a bus from Anaheim headed for UCLA. About a mile from UCLA, he intentionally got off the bus and disappeared. About 3 months later or so he was found alive in Mexico. He had some sort of psychological breakdown is all we heard (sounds like that fugue theory).

I emailed the owner of the server that hosts findmikenow.com. It turned out to be a technical issue and the site was restored.

I know that may not be an indication of anything, but if I put myself back at that age (I am not that much older), I can't imagine anybody having the ability to pull off such a strange and "perfect" disappearance to start a new life, especially somebody that seems somewhat sheltered.

When I imagine myself at the same age, it makes me think he must be deceased or have had A LOT of help from someone close to him.

One of my co-worker's has a sister who lost touch with the family/went missing years ago. My co-worker basically bribed an FBI agent to look up her sister's social security number. It was still active -- her sister had changed her name and moved several times.

My reason for relaying this story is that it was extremely hard to find out if a person is still using a social security number.

I still feel the Van Damm connection is the key to this case. This guy knew Michael, played video games, and dramatically changed his appearance after the Michael case surfaces, too many coindicences, and from my criminology training, I can say, most killers know their victims AND have minor criminal offenses prior. I think this is the person responsible and there was definitely a botched investigation.

Yes, I agree. I also agree that the investigation was botched from the start.

In everything I have read about the case, there is no mention of cell phone records, and little mention of his roommate as a possible witness of anything strange. Of course, there could be nothing there, but usually it is at least reported as such. I also have the suspicion that a lot was missed in the investigation of his computer system. There was mention of investigating the contents of the hard disk, but some record of connections to Internet sites would have been more useful if that was not considered. There must have been something there.

If cell phone records and Internet connection logs turned up nothing suspicious at all, I would believe it is more likely to be related to the Van Dam case since there would have been a more personal connection, or some strange accident followed by a cover up/disposal of body which seems unlikely.

Is there a link for Van Dam -- besides the really cluttered one?

Besides the mild resemblance to the sketch, his interest in video games and the connection to his family, is there anything that places Van Dam on the UCLA campus?

UCLABruin, can you go into any more detail about the psychics you'd mentioned?

The connection is convoluted, but if I remember correctly, they do live in the same area and Damon and Miguel worked at the same company at some time (notable, but not suspicious although Damon did assist in Michael's search). There is another bizarre thing. Although I am basing this just on what I have read, there seems to be something weird about the involvement of Bill Garcia and Damon in missing person searches. Something is very fishy here. I don't like to believe in conspiracy theories, but it seems too strange that Damon seems to be very interested in missing person cases and that two of them he was closely involved with (father of Danielle, and Michael Negrete's search).

The psychic http://www.briansprediction.com calls his readings "Remote Viewings." I followed his site carefully over my Winter Break and it is somewhat disturbing how accurate he has been in his viewings on some cases. I withheld the link in my earlier posts because as a scientist I am of course a bit skeptical, but I think there is something here. In my description below (?) means I do not believe, or do not know how that fits into the case.

He sees the following: the name DAMIEN (Damon?) and draws a man that does resemble Damon with hair (but actually looks strikingly like Jack McClellan, Santa Monica pedofile hobbyist that was arrested at UCLA recently). Michael is dead, and his body was taken somewhere off of Pacific Highway 21 (perhaps either Pacific Coast Highway, or CA-27 Topanga Canyon Blvd.) 900 meters from the road, possibly under a newly constructed building. He was killed by somebody with immense anger that will kill his ex-wife (?) and is a child molesterer. DAVID (perhaps Westerfield??) is the only one that can stop this man. He also sees the rock and roll hand symbol (?), or a surfer hang-loose sign (?), there is a bookcase with the numbers 3, 4, 5, 6 (I think this is actually an elevator, Michael lived on the 6th floor). He also sees California 415 (?), STOP 1260 (a stop sign and block number?). DAVID can show the murders.

What do you think? I am waiting for a second RV on this.

The contents of his remote viewing are below. I am not quite sure it makes sense and his viewing may be a combination of cases that have nothing to do with Michael.

http://www.briansdreams.com/MISSING/publicr/565.htm

Regarding a link to the Van Dam case. I will clarify, but I want to do some more research on the case before I comment further to avoid looking misinformed. Also just to clarify, I do know he disappeared three years before Danielle was killed, and not around the same time.

He left late at night as one of the other posters suggested in order to hook up with someone, probably a male.

He wasn't abducted in the dorm, and in fact, he wasn't abducted at all. The probability that the only successful abduction was also one of the very few 10+ years missing persons is highly unlikely. Instead, he left to meet someone for to specific reason in a car or something.

Let's face it, there's plenty of liberal sexuality in the area, and by that I mean a thriving gay community.

He was on chat and met someone. The person in the sketch is probably not someone who was even seen there that night. After 6 months (when the person came forward remembering this man), you misremember when things happen.
I don't think anyone was there that night..that sketch is a stab in the dark after the case went nowhere. Instead, someone was outside or waiting in car.
This kid went out there. Maybe he was drugged at that point and driven away, and who knows what happened after. End of story.
Nothing else makes sense. He didn't disappear from his dorm. He disappeared after getting into someone's car, and he did it willingly.
The only way I'd reject this theory is if he for sure had a girlfriend.

He left late at night as one of the other posters suggested in order to hook up with someone, probably a male.

He wasn't abducted in the dorm, and in fact, he wasn't abducted at all. The probability that the only successful abduction was also one of the very few 10+ years missing persons is highly unlikely. Instead, he left to meet someone for to specific reason in a car or something.

Let's face it, there's plenty of liberal sexuality in the area, and by that I mean a thriving gay community.

He was on chat and met someone. The person in the sketch is probably not someone who was even seen there that night. After 6 months (when the person came forward remembering this man), you misremember when things happen.
I don't think anyone was there that night..that sketch is a stab in the dark after the case went nowhere. Instead, someone was outside or waiting in car.
This kid went out there. Maybe he was drugged at that point and driven away, and who knows what happened after. End of story.
Nothing else makes sense. He didn't disappear from his dorm. He disappeared after getting into someone's car, and he did it willingly.
The only way I'd reject this theory is if he for sure had a girlfriend.

But why would he leave his keys, ID and shoes behind if he were meeting with a stranger he met online? The only scenario along those lines that makes sense to me was that the person identified themselves as a UCLA student (lie) and made up a story about why he drove to pick him up instead of walking (cold, dangerous at night etc). Thinking the person lived in the dorms or nearby, he did not think to put on more suitable shoes.

My own simplest explanation is similar to the Wade Steffey case. I think he may have left the dorm not planning to go far (who knows where). He realized he forgot his keys and had to find a way back into the building. The Dykstra Hall area was under *very* heavy construction as UCLA was building about 6 or 7 buidlings around it. He could have ended up in an empty construction area, perhaps fell and hit his head. It's possible nobody saw his body and it was covered (or the University covered it up).

Could be. There was a rumor on campus several years ago that he was found but the family was too embarrassed to say anything due to all of the media coverage.

Hi - I've followed this forum from a distance for some time ... I went to high school in San Diego with Mike. Only knew him in passing, via some friends who were also in band with him; he was also a year ahead of me in school. I've always wondered whatever happened to him.

On the facebook group, just recently (within the last 6 weeks), his mother posted a request for assistance in obtaining UCLA alumni information, to perhaps contact former students from the time of the disappearance. I don't know if that means that she has a new lead, or if she's just reaching out to try again ...

It's hard to believe it's been 11 years.

The "gay" theory had been thrown around a lot, but Michael's mother specifically said when we inquired that "Michael had no hidden lifesytle that we were aware of."

I have always believed that Mike met another older male that night and met with foul play. I also believe the guise could have been video games, and that Michael was unaware of this other male's intentions. Regardless, Michael was probably overpowered by a bigger man.

I dont think suicide was an issue, as he was looking forward to seeing his family in the vacation time approaching.

The scent thing may not be correct, dogs mess up all the time, but I cannot understand how no one saw anything totally bizarre

The "gay" theory had been thrown around a lot, but Michael's mother specifically said when we inquired that "Michael had no hidden lifesytle that we were aware of."


The lifestyle could be gay, drugs, anarchist/hacker, anything.


I have always believed that Mike met another older male that night and met with foul play. I also believe the guise could have been video games, and that Michael was unaware of this other male's intentions. Regardless, Michael was probably overpowered by a bigger man.


Several months later, a student gave a description of a strange man seen in Dykstra Hall around the time Michael was last seen. I am not sure if Danielle van Dam's father has been mentioned in this thread, but people have argued that he would have fit your description as well as the description given by the student. Michael's father apparently knew him but was just a passing acquaintance.

The amount of time it took the witness to provide this description, providing a profile that looks like van Dam is suspicious though.


...but I cannot understand how no one saw anything totally bizarre
[/QUOTE]

At that time in the morning, it is a crapshoot if anyone would have seen anything. It was the end of the week before finals, very cold, and very late at night. Students would have either been sleeping, or studying indoors. At that time, I believe Dykstra Hall still had a parking lot out front, so if he left with someone in a car, it would have been very quick to get away. Despite the campus being very large, and typically bustling, it is eerily quiet between 2:30 and 5:30. Some type of construction related accident would also make sense because if he was knocked out, nobody would have heard anything.

---

It is now difficult to enter any of the dorms after a certain point in the evening (10 or 11 I believe) without a student ID programmed with access to a particular dorm. Larger dorms (Dykstra included) have students that check IDs as well. All doors are now controlled with cards instead of keys (which monitors traffic into rooms) and entrances/exits have cameras. All of these changes occurred within the 3 years between Michael disappearing, and my first year at UCLA. No doubt his disappearance led to these changes. The University screwed up, because there could have easily been more surveillance inside and outside the dorm and parking lot because weird stuff and crime happens all the time.

I was a student at Santa Monica College when Michael Negrete vanished. The case has always been on my mind. My friends and I would routinely spend our off-days at UCLA or near UCLA. In a way, I feel connected to the case. The area that Michael disappeared from is and was a safe area.
I currently work in government and have frequent contact with law enforcement. It is not uncommon for police to keep key pieces of information to themselves. I believe that is why the case is so baffling to those on the outside. I keep up with other cases from the doenetwork and the most baffling cases that get solved are the ones that had the most reasonable explanation such as a scorned lover or drugs.
So what do I think?
I think that Michael probably went for some kind of gay hookup with a male that he did not know. That is why he didn't tell anyone where he was going. He wanted to keep it to himself. I think the hookup was going to be a fast and quick deal but something went bad. Maybe Michael took some drugs and died.
When I was Michael's age, I did the same thing. It was reckless, stupid and dangerous. My point is that it happens ESPECIALLY on college campuses- a lot.
I believe that is why the Negrete family has also been reluctant to share information too. I actually emailed the mother awhile back and asked her if there was any information that hadn't been disclosed to the media that she would like to share on the tenth anniversary of her son's disappearance and she never replied. Usually people release previously held information to generate interest in a cold case as time goes on. I think she is trying to protect her son.
Another thing about law enforcement is that they always know who committed the crime but proving it is another story. I think they know who Michael met that night but can't come up with any solid evidence to show that a crime was committed.
Think about it- the police would tear UCLA a part to find a missing college student who vanished into thin air but not necessarily if he was doing something that would make UCLA look bad.

It's highly unlikely that Michael was kidnapped or was a targeted murder victim. It just doesn't make sense to target a male student in a crowded dorm. Too many risk factors.
Also, how would someone get in if they did not have a keycard? I would think most students would NOT let in a strange man into their secure dorm building but if they did, certainly someone would have said so.
A final thing to consider is that there were no more unexplainable cases of young males like Michael going missing before or afterwards his disappearances. It was an isolated incident.
I think Michael went to meet someone and something happened during that meeting that led to his death, probably an accidental drug overdose. The person he was meeting panicked and got rid of his body. I was even thinking that this person could be from the northside of Los Angeles ie Hollywood Hills where it would be quite easy to hide a body.
This person would have a lot to lose if the public found out that a college kid died from an overdose in his car during a gay tryst which explains why they took the body with them instead of dumping it.

I think that Michael probably went for some kind of gay hookup with a male that he did not know. That is why he didn't tell anyone where he was going. He wanted to keep it to himself. I think the hookup was going to be a fast and quick deal but something went bad. Maybe Michael took some drugs and died.


I initially thought this (or drugs). In general it makes sense, but the fact that he didn't take shoes, ID, keys, anything wouldn't seem to fit... unless he expected to be dropped off in the morning (but he would still need a room key).

The gay hookup could be another student, which may fill in those holes..

I feel like his family and the University have some inkling as to what happened to him and it isn't being shared. His mother wants to contact people that lived on his floor though.

It's highly unlikely that Michael was kidnapped or was a targeted murder victim. It just doesn't make sense to target a male student in a crowded dorm. Too many risk factors.
Also, how would someone get in if they did not have a keycard? I would think most students would NOT let in a strange man into their secure dorm building but if they did, certainly someone would have said so.
A final thing to consider is that there were no more unexplainable cases of young males like Michael going missing before or afterwards his disappearances. It was an isolated incident.


The dorm is likely desolate at 4:15am, but someone would have to know this. I do not think the doors required key cards back then, but I could be wrong. Either it required a key, or the door was unlocked with a desk attendant next to it. Cameras show Mike leaving the dorm on his own, however, some witness claims an older man was on the floor.

The fact that no other young men have gone missing makes me feel like it was either a accident by himself (construction related), or opportunistic (died and hid, or was killed spontaneously).

About the shoes: He could have been wearing another pair of shoes. For example, I've always had two pairs of shoes- flip-flops and shoes that I wear to work. Just because they found shoes in his dorm doesn't mean that he wasn't wearing any when he disappeared. If he was walking around the dorms with no shoes then it could be within the norm for Michael to go outside while shoeless. Another example is that I don't wear shoes when I go outside to get the newspaper early in the morning.
Another theory that I have is that maybe he went to go visit another friend and he accidentally overdosed on drugs. Some students probably panicked and dumped his body somewhere. I believe there was a lot of partying going on. The students probably weren't going to risk being expelled from UCLA and compromising their futures over it. It'd be interesting to know if any of the students who lived near Michael had dropped out/transferred to another school after his disappearance.
Regardless, I do believe that the police and the Negrete family knows what happened and that is why it's not being actively investigated. When you compound the fact the investigation was botched from the start, it wouldn't be surprising if the police decided to write off the case as a lost cause because they know they will never get a conviction unless someone confesses.

About the shoes: He could have been wearing another pair of shoes. For example, I've always had two pairs of shoes- flip-flops and shoes that I wear to work. Just because they found shoes in his dorm doesn't mean that he wasn't wearing any when he disappeared. If he was walking around the dorms with no shoes then it could be within the norm for Michael to go outside while shoeless. Another example is that I don't wear shoes when I go outside to get the newspaper early in the morning.

Articles I read said that he only had one pair of shoes and they were in the room. All that was missing was a second pair of "night shoes" (I can't think of the right word, but they're like slippers but not sandals) and it is presumed that he was wearing them, and wasn't dressed appropriately for the weather.


Another theory that I have is that maybe he went to go visit another friend and he accidentally overdosed on drugs. Some students probably panicked and dumped his body somewhere. I believe there was a lot of partying going on. The students probably weren't going to risk being expelled from UCLA and compromising their futures over it. It'd be interesting to know if any of the students who lived near Michael had dropped out/transferred to another school after his disappearance.


That sounds reasonable. I wasn't a partier but I think most partying here ends around 2am. It's plausible he could have been partying, especially those rave style parties that were common. He was drinking earlier in the evening.

It seems like all of the pressure of the investigation would have brought out info if he was with students and they dumped his body but it happens all the time. Of course, if they were not students... well now I am going in circles.

[Back when I believed the scent hounds, I thought maybe a drunk driver hit and killed him at Sunset/Bellagio accidentally and dumped the body.]



Regardless, I do believe that the police and the Negrete family knows what happened and that is why it's not being actively investigated. When you compound the fact the investigation was botched from the start, it wouldn't be surprising if the police decided to write off the case as a lost cause because they know they will never get a conviction unless someone confesses.

I am conflicted. It's not actively being investigated, yet his mom was asking where she could get contact info for alum. It seems like she could get that information through the private investigator she hired. I thought that was kind of strange.

If I were the investigator, I would be interviewing the heck out of the person that came forward 7 months later with the sketch of the man supposedly seen on Mike's floor when he disappeared. Not that the student necessarily was involved, but could have had a guilty conscience about something in the best case. I wouldn't be suspicious except for the fact that this person waited so long, after everyone had moved out for the summer when there were plenty of opportunities to share this. There might be some explanations for the long wait, but I have rambled on enough for one post.

Articles I read said that he only had one pair of shoes and they were in the room. All that was missing was a second pair of "night shoes" (I can't think of the right word, but they're like slippers but not sandals) and it is presumed that he was wearing them, and wasn't dressed appropriately for the weather.
That sounds reasonable. I wasn't a partier but I think most partying here ends around 2am. It's plausible he could have been partying, especially those rave style parties that were common. He was drinking earlier in the evening.

It seems like all of the pressure of the investigation would have brought out info if he was with students and they dumped his body but it happens all the time. Of course, if they were not students... well now I am going in circles.

[Back when I believed the scent hounds, I thought maybe a drunk driver hit and killed him at Sunset/Bellagio accidentally and dumped the body.]

1. Yes, but the investigation was botched from the start. They probably know who did it or at least who has information about what happened. At the end of the day, all that matters to the police is getting a conviction and they probably felt like they couldn't get one with all the mistakes that were made. You'd be surprised at what secrets people will hold when it's their ass on the line. I'm sure a lot of those students came from rich families who have access to some pretty good legal counsel who would advise them to keep their mouth shut.

I don't think it was a drunk driver. It doesn't make sense as to why Michael would be wandering in the streets late at night. A hit-and-run driver isn't going to take the body with them either.

I am conflicted. It's not actively being investigated, yet his mom was asking where she could get contact info for alum. It seems like she could get that information through the private investigator she hired. I thought that was kind of strange.

If I were the investigator, I would be interviewing the heck out of the person that came forward 7 months later with the sketch of the man supposedly seen on Mike's floor when he disappeared. Not that the student necessarily was involved, but could have had a guilty conscience about something in the best case. I wouldn't be suspicious except for the fact that this person waited so long, after everyone had moved out for the summer when there were plenty of opportunities to share this. There might be some explanations for the long wait, but I have rambled on enough for one post.

2. I would be skeptical about the credibility/reliability of anyone from that night especially if they had all been partying, drinking, etc. I think the mystery man is more of a red herring. Some people think it was David Westerfield who was an acquaintance of the Negrete family and had killed a 7 year old girl. It's odd that only one person saw this mystery man. Maybe they felt pressure to give the police something. The person who gave them the description could have been a suspect themselves.

Overall, I think the mom should give more information about the case. Obviously, the police are not interested in it and findmikenow.com is no longer active. Maybe she's at peace?

I'm sure a lot of those students came from rich families who have access to some pretty good legal counsel who would advise them to keep their mouth shut.

At UCLA, that is much less likely than at a private school. Mike himself was from an upper-middle class area, but seemed modest and humble. That could be the case though.


I don't think it was a drunk driver. It doesn't make sense as to why Michael would be wandering in the streets late at night. A hit-and-run driver isn't going to take the body with them either.


That's not my theory, but initially the scent path was a focus. The area where his scent was supposedly last picked up is a very winding road that is a major congested street during the day. A drunk driver on that empty boulevard is likely, and a drunk driver getting into an accident on that road is likely. (This is near where Lindsay Lohan got in her accident). If the scent was reliable, he could have been picked up by someone, or left on his own via bus (scent was detected at the bus stop). Who knows why he would wander the campus (that whole area was the residential part of the campus). His scent trail was a very bizarre one away from sidewalks. [Another student disappeared from UCLA for a few months due to a psychiatric syndrome. He disappeared by bus. Likely just coincidence though?]

But the dogs have pretty much been ruled out as reliable.



2. I would be skeptical about the credibility/reliability of anyone from that night especially if they had all been partying, drinking, etc. I think the mystery man is more of a red herring. Some people think it was David Westerfield who was an acquaintance of the Negrete family and had killed a 7 year old girl. It's odd that only one person saw this mystery man. Maybe they felt pressure to give the police something. The person who gave them the description could have been a suspect themselves.


Mmhmm. Exactly. I've heard David Westerfield and Damon van Dam both mentioned. The sketch matches Damon a lot and he and his father were somewhere between "just knew of each other" and "casual acquaintances". Likely red herring. I wish that would have been investigated more.


Overall, I think the mom should give more information about the case. Obviously, the police are not interested in it and findmikenow.com is no longer active. Maybe she's at peace?

It is hosted by a family friend. It went down for a long time and I wrote to the webmaster and he didn't realize it was down and he reactivated it. I think she is in a catch 22 with releasing information. From the way she reached out to the Facebook group, it seemed like she was at peace, but still wanted to know something, anything, just without a formal investigation anymore.

That's not my theory, but initially the scent path was a focus. The area where his scent was supposedly last picked up is a very winding road that is a major congested street during the day. A drunk driver on that empty boulevard is likely, and a drunk driver getting into an accident on that road is likely. (This is near where Lindsay Lohan got in her accident). If the scent was reliable, he could have been picked up by someone, or left on his own via bus (scent was detected at the bus stop). Who knows why he would wander the campus (that whole area was the residential part of the campus). His scent trail was a very bizarre one away from sidewalks. [Another student disappeared from UCLA for a few months due to a psychiatric syndrome. He disappeared by bus. Likely just coincidence though?]

But the dogs have pretty much been ruled out as reliable.

It could also be that Michael had been in that area earlier in the day and that was the scent that they picked up. Also, Michael did not have a car and it would not be unrealistic for him to have taken the bus from time to time.



It is hosted by a family friend. It went down for a long time and I wrote to the webmaster and he didn't realize it was down and he reactivated it. I think she is in a catch 22 with releasing information. From the way she reached out to the Facebook group, it seemed like she was at peace, but still wanted to know something, anything, just without a formal investigation anymore.

The site is still down. I think she knows that Michael is dead. I can't think of a better way of bringing attention to the case by releasing new information or at least what she thinks happened.

Haven't posted here in a while, but I've thought about Mike and remembered some things. Some LONG thoughts;

I've seen the mention of cell phones records. Back in 1999, hardly anyone had them. A few years before, pagers were all the rage, and that fad stuck around for quite a while. In late '99, I had a high paying job for an 18 year old, and even I didn't have a cell phone. I don't remember if I still had my pager then, but regardless, you get what I'm saying. Cell phones were just not common. It's very possible that he didn't have one.

I do remember sometime after the case went cold (could have been a year or a little less) there was a special on security at UCLA. The report centered around just how easy it would have been for some stranger to enter a dormitory. The camera captured students holding the door open for others out of courtesy, as well as a student knocking on a door and being let in. I want to say that keycards were used in that segment. Regardless, what I'm trying to say is, I believe it may have been easier for the strange 35 year old man to have enter the dorm than we originally believe.

The last time I saw anything about this case was a news report some years after. It was from a local affiliate in San Diego. I remember Michaels father spoke with a heavy spanish accent, and said he was very angry. He believed his son was taken by force, and he warned they would find the person or persons responsible. The reporter did mention "the camera" shows Michael simply walking out the door and vanishing. I saw this online, but this was a long time ago.

Chatting with someone, and going to meet them outside does make sense, especially if the mysterious individual lived elsewhere. The potential suspect would have had to have been hooked up to a computer himself. There was no WiFi back then. No messaging capabilities on cell phones, even DSL and cable were a luxury back then. Data ports were quite rare too. You had a telephone cord hooked to your computer and there was nothing you could do about it.

Michael could have been abducted. I don't mean a big burly guy grabbed him and carried him away. If he was taken against his will, it was more likely he ran into someone (willingly or not), and they pulled out a weapon and forced him to a vehicle. "Make a noise and I'll shoot!" That kind of thing.

Now that I read there was a lot of construction, it seems plausible that something did happen to him. Maybe he walked out and was murdered around the dorm, then buried by the killer. Whomever did that though had to have known just where to take his body.

As far as an accident cover up, I could see that happening if there was a basement that used to be there, later removed, thus leaving a giant hole in the ground, not closed off. That would be a liability. But I cannot see a cover up taking place if he just fell dead on the grass somewhere. Regardless of why, who would have had the time to drag him away? A security guard would have called for help. An undocumented immigrant walking or working in the area would have ran in the other direction. My point is, if he died outside of a construction site, I just don't see the desire to cover it up.

Until we know WHY he wanted to leave the security of his dorm at 4:30 in the morning, there will never be a solid lead. Just where on Earth was he going?!!? :(

Sorry for the long post.

The Michael Negrete case is difficult to understand because the UCLA dormitory area is considered extremely safe and Michael did not have any genuine reason to disappear from what I've read. I think Michael died outside of the dormitory. I believe there is an individual who knows the killer and had introduced Michael to the killer. It seems probable that the killer did not know Michael, but the killer knew a student in his dormitory or a nearby area. Michael was introduced to his killer by someone in the dormitory or by another ucla student nearby and got into the killers car. Maybe Michael insulted the wrong person, a botched robbery where MN had no money, a gang initiation killing, or complimented the killers girlfriend etc. The reasons for Michael leaving his dormitory at 4 am are for a chance to socialize, to be with a girl, to buy drugs (meth to study?), or to get food. Why would MN leave his key? I read one article that did not mention the key being left behind, but most articles do mention that MN left his key. His roommate seems suspect because no one in my opinion just leaves their key inside their dorm room. How else do they plan to get back inside??? Other then bothering the RA or hoping that their roommate will let them back in?!

I googled "michael negrete" "video" "security" to see if I could find any links of the actual footage but I just found individuals mentioning MN

unsolveditn.blogspot.com/2009/05/clues-sought-in-local-mans.html

this article says he logged off his computer at 3:40 am
articles.latimes.com/1999/dec/16/local/me-44533


I think the chances that the UCLA cadaver group had anything to do with this are slim to nil. I don't think that UCLA cadaver group would risk taking a UCLA student from campus, but I might be wrong. Perhaps the UCLA cadaver group needed a young adult male because they had sold off too much inventory and they needed an immediate replacement (maybe there are cadaver inventory records from around the time of MN disappearance that can confirm this?). I think it is a lot more probable that MN willingly got into a car and drove off. I really doubt someone abducted Michael from the dormitories because it would be to risky having the possibility of someone making too much noise and the predator being caught. Remember Thursday night of 10th week is a party day. The only reasons I can think of for someone going out at 4 in the morning on thursday night on 10th week is for a chance to socialize, to be with a girl, to buy drugs (meth to study?), or to get food. I hope this missing persons case gets more publicity! No Lost Bruins!

His scent trail was a very bizarre one away from sidewalks.



Could the scent trail have come from someone dragging his body away?

Well, the one thing I can remember very well about 1999 - as a 20-something at the time - is that you could meet people via internet chat. I met a married woman whom I had a fling in the summer of 1998 through one of those here-today-gone-tomorrow chat clients. In the Fall of 1998, I met a girl who lived in Nor. Cal. We met on ICQ. We flew back and forth for several months over weekends for our trysts. By the Spring of 1999, I met another girl - that time through a Yahoo chat (they no longer have now) based in Los Angeles - and we dated.

In between, I met lots of people for chit-chat that I could have met in person, too. I met other local women up through 2001. By 2001/2002, dating sites became the easiest way to meet potential mates, and I switched to that.

My point is, back in 1999, chat wasn't a useless space filled with spam and 'bots and weirdos as it is now. I still get pop up boxes to my old yahoo account daily - all spam.

Most of the 'people' on the other end of the chatbox were real back in 1999 - and it was easy to find someone nearby - especially in Los Angeles.

I've no doubt he could have been chatting online and met someone. The reason I think it's a man is because of course, if it were a girl, he'd have met her during the day, and he'd be alive (what girl wants to meet at 3:40 am?). Someone met him late at night for a reason. He got into a car, was naive, and who knows where they ended up. Even if he died by accident and no drugs were involved, the person might be unwilling to come forward due to his own closeted situation.

Of course, the other scenario is that he fell and died somewhere in the construction area. No - it was not covered up. He was simply not found and buried right away. This seems pretty unlikely, but you never know. The construction going on there at the time is probably the biggest problem to easily attributing it to a secret rendezvous.

Hey all,

I am wondering if this case was ever on UM. I remember watching it on some sort of show, but wasn't sure if it was UM or not. It is the case where a UCLA college student goes missing after a late night of online gaming. There was a mysterious older man seen on his dorm floor that night. Police were able to track his scent to a nearby bus stop, but he has never been seen or heard from since....he disappeared c. 2000.

Unfortunately, no, this was never on UM, but this is definitely one of the top 10 missing persons cases I'd love to see an UM segment for since it's so damn baffling.

However, this case is still discussed around here as the "All Other Cases" folder actually has an eight-page thread about it:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=188879

Here is his Charley Project profile. He looks a tad bit like David Archuleta.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/negrete_michael.html

Haven't posted here in a while, but I've thought about Mike and remembered some things. Some LONG thoughts;

I've seen the mention of cell phones records. Back in 1999, hardly anyone had them. A few years before, pagers were all the rage, and that fad stuck around for quite a while. In late '99, I had a high paying job for an 18 year old, and even I didn't have a cell phone. I don't remember if I still had my pager then, but regardless, you get what I'm saying. Cell phones were just not common. It's very possible that he didn't have one.


I don't think he had a cell phone anyone knew about at least. Since he was an adult, he may have bought one himself, especially if he was hiding something. I am not sure that is the key part of the mystery though.


I do remember sometime after the case went cold (could have been a year or a little less) there was a special on security at UCLA. The report centered around just how easy it would have been for some stranger to enter a dormitory. The camera captured students holding the door open for others out of courtesy, as well as a student knocking on a door and being let in. I want to say that keycards were used in that segment. Regardless, what I'm trying to say is, I believe it may have been easier for the strange 35 year old man to have enter the dorm than we originally believe.


It is still very easy to get into the dorms, however, at 4am, students would have found it very suspicious and hopefully would have said something. I question whether or not the sighting of this man is even real because it took 7 months for this to become known.


Chatting with someone, and going to meet them outside does make sense, especially if the mysterious individual lived elsewhere. The potential suspect would have had to have been hooked up to a computer himself. There was no WiFi back then. No messaging capabilities on cell phones, even DSL and cable were a luxury back then. Data ports were quite rare too. You had a telephone cord hooked to your computer and there was nothing you could do about it.


The person he was meeting would have had to have lived on campus, or somewhere nearby as he did not take his shoes. I am pretty sure UCLA would have had data/Ethernet ports at that time. Maybe not 5-10 years prior.


Now that I read there was a lot of construction, it seems plausible that something did happen to him. Maybe he walked out and was murdered around the dorm, then buried by the killer. Whomever did that though had to have known just where to take his body.


This could smell like the Wade Steffey case. He forgot his keys, couldn't get back in, so tried to gain access some other way. In Wade's case, he got into an electrical vault without a key and was electrocuted. In Michael's case, perhaps he had to get through a pit.

A student that lives in that area would have easily known where and how to get a body into the construction pit though.


As far as an accident cover up, I could see that happening if there was a basement that used to be there, later removed, thus leaving a giant hole in the ground, not closed off. That would be a liability. But I cannot see a cover up taking place if he just fell dead on the grass somewhere. Regardless of why, who would have had the time to drag him away? A security guard would have called for help. An undocumented immigrant walking or working in the area would have ran in the other direction. My point is, if he died outside of a construction site, I just don't see the desire to cover it up.


A cover up would be because the University knew that the construction area was not safe or violated some code. This also would assume that the university knew that it was likely he was killed in the construction area. That is the only reason I believe this could be a cover up. I think that is unlikely. I think it is more of a botched investigation by the university.


Until we know WHY he wanted to leave the security of his dorm at 4:30 in the morning, there will never be a solid lead. Just where on Earth was he going?!!? :(

Sorry for the long post.

I find it so hard to believe that a UCLA student would be involved in an abduction and/or murder... but aside from an accident, that is really all I can think.

Could the scent trail have come from someone dragging his body away?

Yes, but this would have been so risky. It would have taken forever (uphill and far), it would have been loud in the dead of night, and although the path zig-zagged through a wooded area, it would have passed by dorms where someone would have been at least a little suspicious.

Apparently the dogs are not incredibly reliable. If this path was indeed Michael's it could have been an abduction path or body... or he was up to something nobody knows about previously.

I've been really thinking about this Michael Negrete case a lot because a few things don't make sense at all. Here are a list of the suspicious circumstances. I'm quite convinced that Michael Negrete knew who killed him or was introduced to that person and then got into a car. The second most likely thing to happen is a UCLA student murdered Michael Negrete in the dorms then covered it up and disposed of the body.

I. The Computer
a. What kind of computer forensic investigative work was done if ever on Michael Negrete's computer?
b. Is this computer in the LAPD evidence room(s)?
c. what game was MN playing?
d. what logs are available from Michael Negrete's computer?

II. Zero claims that the camera in the hall shows Mike Negrete leaving willingly. I can't find this footage or any mention of it. Does this actually exist?

III. Strange old man is he real or fake?
a. Was this student trying to throw police off course?
b. SiberianKiss quotes a Daily Bruin article where a student came forward with the sketch almost immediately to UCLA PD but it looks like it may have been overlooked by UCPD investigators.
c. If the person in the sketch exists where and how did he find Michael Negrete?
d. What does a shiny grey jacket with a turquoise design look like? WTF is a turquoise design anyway isn't that a color? why call it shiny grey? If anyone can show me a pic of what kind of jacket this is I'd appreciate it. A sports jacket, a joggers warm up jacket?

IV. Was Michael Negrete used in the UCLA Cadaver Organ Scandal?
a. If so how did he become a target?
b. what if any medical or student databases was Negrete in that the UCLA organ peddlers could have found him in?

V. At 4 am most people are tired and going to sleep. What made Michael Negrete leave his dorm room when he most likely would have been very tired? Remember MN disappeared on the party night of UCLA's 10th week.
a. Socializing
b. Drugs
c. Romance
d. Food
e. Smoke a Cigarette
f. What kind of lure gets someone to choose leaving their dorm over sleep?
g. Did Michael see something from his Dorm room window that caused him to leave?

VI. Why does he leave his shoes keys wallet inside his dorm room and how did he plan to get back in without his keys?
a. What would cause him to involuntarily leave his ID and keys? Was he in a rush at 4 am and just forgot? doubtful
b. I find it highly unlikely that he was abducted from the dorms because this seems extremely risky for a predator
c. Then again I really think Michael didn't leave his dorm room at all because he chose to leave things he would need to get back in.
d. What would cause another student to kill someone in their dorm room? Would it be something Michael saw or did?
e. Did Michael go downstairs for a snack only to run into someone he knew and then leave with that person as connieallbright suggested? It does seem highly plausible that Michael Negrete ran into someone he knew or was introduced to someone by a trusted friend and things went wrong.
f. Did Michael leave with shoes/night shoe slippers? How many pairs did he have. I think this is a big deal and I'm not sure about the shoe situation. UCLABruin says he left with slippers.

VII. Was Michael Negrete involved in a Fraternity or other Society?
a. Was Michael Negrete rushing a fraternity and died of alcohol poisoning?

VIII. Besides one website claiming Damon Van Dam killed Michael Negrete what other evidence is there for this theory?
a. Did Damon Van Dam really know the Negrete family and Michael?

IX. Was Michael Negrete the first victim? Where there other missing people who vanished around LA under similar unknown circumstances?

X. How much did Michael Negrete really have to drink that night? What was his state of mind?
a. When Michael disappeared it was a Thursday on the 10th week of the quarter. Definitely a party night as UCLABruin stated.

There are many misleading clues about the Negrete case, but two logical events must have occurred.
1. Michael Negrete died in the dorms
2. Michael Negrete died outside of the dorms.

. Michael Negrete leaves keys id etc making it seem like where ever he went after congratulating his opponent in the video game he didn't plan to leave the dorm. However it seems highly unlikely that a UCLA student or group of students would have a motive for killing MN and then being able to dispose of a body. Unless Michael Negrete saw something or knew something that could seriously compromise those students career i.e academic cheating perhaps?

If #1 isn't the case then I think that it is extremely likely that Michael Negrete was introduced to his killer by a UCLA student and then got into the wrong person's car.

I'm quite convinced that Michael Negrete knew who killed him or was introduced to that person and then got into a car. The second most likely thing to happen is a UCLA student murdered Michael Negrete in the dorms then covered it up and disposed of the body.

I agree. And unfortunately, I do believe a student *could* have been involved.


I. The Computer
a. What kind of computer forensic investigative work was done if ever on Michael Negrete's computer?
b. Is this computer in the LAPD evidence room(s)?
c. what game was MN playing?
d. what logs are available from Michael Negrete's computer?


It is infuriating that not much was mentioned. IIRC a Daily Bruin article mentioned that the system logged a "logout" event at 4:15 or 4:30. It is unclear if that was a logout from the game, or from Windows. And what "logout" means is also important. If he turned the computer off, he did not plan on returning for quite some time.


II. Zero claims that the camera in the hall shows Mike Negrete leaving willingly. I can't find this footage or any mention of it. Does this actually exist?


A DB article published about a year after he disappeared (some time in 2000) claims the camera shows him leaving the lobby willingly. It was literally mentioned only once and may not actually exist. It mentioned the person matched the description, but were not positive it was Michael.


III. Strange old man is he real or fake?
a. Was this student trying to throw police off course?
b. SiberianKiss quotes a Daily Bruin article where a student came forward with the sketch almost immediately to UCLA PD but it looks like it may have been overlooked by UCPD investigators.
c. If the person in the sketch exists where and how did he find Michael Negrete?
d. What does a shiny grey jacket with a turquoise design look like? WTF is a turquoise design anyway isn't that a color? why call it shiny grey? If anyone can show me a pic of what kind of jacket this is I'd appreciate it. A sports jacket, a joggers warm up jacket?


This is a serious misstep by UCPD. The other possibility is that they dismissed the claim as incredible or of no significance. This could also point that it was meant to throw off the police.


IV. Was Michael Negrete used in the UCLA Cadaver Organ Scandal?
a. If so how did he become a target?
b. what if any medical or student databases was Negrete in that the UCLA organ peddlers could have found him in?


This is doubtful.


V. At 4 am most people are tired and going to sleep. What made Michael Negrete leave his dorm room when he most likely would have been very tired? Remember MN disappeared on the party night of UCLA's 10th week.
a. Socializing
b. Drugs
c. Romance
d. Food
e. Smoke a Cigarette
f. What kind of lure gets someone to choose leaving their dorm over sleep?
g. Did Michael see something from his Dorm room window that caused him to leave?


This is the main thing that leads me to believe a student may be involved. My guess is either a videogame party or study session. I also feel like he trusted this student or the circumstances that would allow him back into the building. He would likely be going to another dorm on campus because of the next point.


VI. Why does he leave his shoes keys wallet inside his dorm room and how did he plan to get back in without his keys?
a. What would cause him to involuntarily leave his ID and keys? Was he in a rush at 4 am and just forgot? doubtful
b. I find it highly unlikely that he was abducted from the dorms because this seems extremely risky for a predator
c. Then again I really think Michael didn't leave his dorm room at all because he chose to leave things he would need to get back in.
d. What would cause another student to kill someone in their dorm room? Would it be something Michael saw or did?
e. Did Michael go downstairs for a snack only to run into someone he knew and then leave with that person as connieallbright suggested? It does seem highly plausible that Michael Negrete ran into someone he knew or was introduced to someone by a trusted friend and things went wrong.
f. Did Michael leave with shoes/night shoe slippers? How many pairs did he have. I think this is a big deal and I'm not sure about the shoe situation. UCLABruin says he left with slippers.


This is weird but I think there are some explanations. 4:30am is close to sunrise, so it's possible he went to another dorm (or somewhere else close) and knew he would be staying until the morning (say, an all night LAN party, or all night study session). At which point he could either wake up his roommate, follow someone into the building, or get a spare key. I am unsure whether or not UCLA used key cards at that time. Other UCs were still using old-fashioned metal keys. Due to being tired or maybe drunk, he may have just forgotten his keys. Forgetting a key may not have been a big deal back then (I know it is now at UCLA).

The shoes he was wearing were like slip on shoes. Not slippers, but not shoes. They are the kind of shoes you would probably wear to go to the shower. These days, they would be "crocs".

It makes sense that he never left the building, but then where could he be? Someone would notice an odor. The only possibility in my mind is that he ended up in the dumpster and was immediately picked up the following morning (which would have only been about a few hours later). This is a possibility. I wonder if cadaver dogs searched the landfill.


VII. Was Michael Negrete involved in a Fraternity or other Society?
a. Was Michael Negrete rushing a fraternity and died of alcohol poisoning?

VIII. Besides one website claiming Damon Van Dam killed Michael Negrete what other evidence is there for this theory?
a. Did Damon Van Dam really know the Negrete family and Michael?


No idea about a fraternity. If so, he would be finishing a pledge quarter (I guess), and not rushing since that is at the beginning of the quarter. If there was a night to party though, this would have been it.

DVD knew Michael's father in passing; they were not friends. I believe they worked at the same company for a period. They also lived in the same housing tract or neighborhood. The sketch of the strange man also has a striking similarity to him. DVD was also into video games which may have been a common connection. Any other connection that may have existed between the two we will probably never know.


IX. Was Michael Negrete the first victim? Where there other missing people who vanished around LA under similar unknown circumstances?


In the past several years, there have been two other high profile missing persons cases at UCLA. The first was a student that had some kind of mental break and took a bus to Mexico (he was supposed to go to UCLA). He was located alive in TJ a few months later.

The other case was a student that ran away and committed suicide in Pacific Palisades.


X. How much did Michael Negrete really have to drink that night? What was his state of mind?
a. When Michael disappeared it was a Thursday on the 10th week of the quarter. Definitely a party night as UCLABruin stated.


This, and the possibility he could have been drugged or using some other kind of drugs.


There are many misleading clues about the Negrete case, but two logical events must have occurred.
1. Michael Negrete died in the dorms
2. Michael Negrete died outside of the dorms.

. Michael Negrete leaves keys id etc making it seem like where ever he went after congratulating his opponent in the video game he didn't plan to leave the dorm. However it seems highly unlikely that a UCLA student or group of students would have a motive for killing MN and then being able to dispose of a body. Unless Michael Negrete saw something or knew something that could seriously compromise those students career i.e academic cheating perhaps?

If #1 isn't the case then I think that it is extremely likely that Michael Negrete was introduced to his killer by a UCLA student and then got into the wrong person's car.

After all these years, I think the best place to start is to look at everyone that attended UCLA in 1999 and determine if any of them have been convicted or investigated in a violent, sexual or drug crime.

I agree. And unfortunately, I do believe a student *could* have been involved.

If Michael Negrete didn't meet anyone online then he either met with a student, teacher, graduate student, was introduced to his killer, or even someone from the UCPD could have possibly been involved.

It is infuriating that not much was mentioned. IIRC a Daily Bruin article mentioned that the system logged a "logout" event at 4:15 or 4:30. It is unclear if that was a logout from the game, or from Windows. And what "logout" means is also important. If he turned the computer off, he did not plan on returning for quite some time.

Michael Negrete was most likely running the windows 95, 98, or NT 4.0 operating system I imagine. I assume that the logout event most likely refers to when his computer logged out of the UCLA intranet, by being powered down. I doubt that the logout event refers to Michael Negrete's computer signing off of AIM, ICQ, a game etc because I don't believe those events would get logged. Maybe I'm wrong so if someone can add some more to this it would be appreciated.

A DB article published about a year after he disappeared (some time in 2000) claims the camera shows him leaving the lobby willingly. It was literally mentioned only once and may not actually exist. It mentioned the person matched the description, but were not positive it was Michael.

I can't find this article on dailybruin.com does it exist?
The only reference to this supposed video is from the user Zero.

If you have observed this footage please let us know your thoughts on it.



This is a serious misstep by UCPD. The other possibility is that they dismissed the claim as incredible or of no significance. This could also point that it was meant to throw off the police.

Is it possible that this "serious misstep" by UCPD was not a misstep, but perhaps someone from UCPD was involved? I'm not sure if this idea is easily dismissible.
I know that UCPD are a bit green so to speak but what kind of rookie dismisses that type of information? It seems very odd and almost bizarre to me, which is why I suggest that perhaps a person who was involved in Michael Negrete's disappearance was working on the UCPD team.


Also just to ask again because I haven't heard a reasonable explanation... What does a shiny grey jacket with a turquoise design look like? WTF is a turquoise design anyway isn't that a color? why call it shiny grey? If anyone can show me a pic of what kind of jacket this is I'd appreciate it. A sports jacket, a joggers warm up jacket?

This is doubtful.

I agree, but I don't want to leave any stone unturned.
It is highly unlikely unless Michael Negrete was in a database that the cadaver thieves had access to.


V. At 4 am most people are tired and going to sleep. What made Michael Negrete leave his dorm room when he most likely would have been very tired? Remember MN disappeared on the party night of UCLA's 10th week.
a. Socializing
b. Drugs
c. Romance
d. Food
e. Smoke a Cigarette
f. What kind of lure gets someone to choose leaving their dorm over sleep?
g. Did Michael see something from his Dorm room window that caused him to leave?
This is the main thing that leads me to believe a student may be involved. My guess is either a videogame party or study session. I also feel like he trusted this student or the circumstances that would allow him back into the building. He would likely be going to another dorm on campus because of the next point.

I'm glad that point V. is convincing enough to lead you to believe another student may have been involved. I highly doubt that Michael Negrete met some random person online and that this person killed him because MN would have to be extremely naive or inebriated etc to do something like this. Everything about Michael Negrete that I've read tells me he had enough wits about him to not meet a stranger from the internet at 4 am in the morning! It seems so out of character. I also think it is too late at night for Michael Negrete to go to a video game party or study session. Furthermore if he did I think students would have let it be known to investigators. At 4am most parties are dying down unless it is an after hours spot. Put yourself in Michael Negrete's shoes and imagine it is 4 am 10th week on Thursday. Something causes you to leave your dorm when you should be tired. What is this? When you are tired and ready to sleep what makes you leave the dorms? Why didn't Michael Negrete go to sleep at 4 am??? It is either something Michael Negrete wanted, or someone had some type of lure / control where they could ask Michael Negrete to leave his dorm at 4 am knowing he would comply.


I think it is much more probable that Michael Negrete was asked by someone he knew/trusted to go somewhere to do something. Either that or he died in the dormitory and his body was quickly removed.

What causes one student to kill another student? Love, Money, Drugs, Information that Michael Negrete knew and someone wanted him silenced? The only type of information that I believe would cause a student to possibly kill another student is academic plagiarism cheating etc?
I also wonder if Michael Negrete went to do cocaine with someone and had a heart attack or an overdose on some other drug. Did Michael Negrete owe someone money? I don't think someone killed Michael Negrete over money, but this missing persons case is so bizarre.


This is weird but I think there are some explanations. 4:30am is close to sunrise, so it's possible he went to another dorm (or somewhere else close) and knew he would be staying until the morning (say, an all night LAN party, or all night study session). At which point he could either wake up his roommate, follow someone into the building, or get a spare key. I am unsure whether or not UCLA used key cards at that time. Other UCs were still using old-fashioned metal keys. Due to being tired or maybe drunk, he may have just forgotten his keys. Forgetting a key may not have been a big deal back then (I know it is now at UCLA).

I don't know how common it is for people to get together at 4 am for a study session. I don't think it would be too efficient to study at 4 am with a group of people. I can see the all night lan party thing occurring but other students would have mentioned this and I believe Michael Negrete could have simply stayed in his dormitory to play a computer game over the intranet. Also Michael Negrete had just finished playing a computer game, and if he had gone to congratulate someone he must not have wanted to continue playing because he stopped to go over and congratulate the person rather than asking for a rematch. Maybe my line of thinking is incorrect I don't know.

The shoes he was wearing were like slip on shoes. Not slippers, but not shoes. They are the kind of shoes you would probably wear to go to the shower. These days, they would be "crocs".

Would someone even wear those outside? I assume a pair of shower shoes wouldn't be worn outside. Regardless I think that because he didn't take his normal shoes he didn't intend to go somewhere far or stay awake much longer. He left his dorm to do something quick and didn't need to be out and about so he took shoes that he could put on quickly.

It makes sense that he never left the building, but then where could he be? Someone would notice an odor. The only possibility in my mind is that he ended up in the dumpster and was immediately picked up the following morning (which would have only been about a few hours later). This is a possibility. I wonder if cadaver dogs searched the landfill.

If Michael Negrete was killed in the dorms this seems very likely.



No idea about a fraternity. If so, he would be finishing a pledge quarter (I guess), and not rushing since that is at the beginning of the quarter. If there was a night to party though, this would have been it.

Do you think Michael Negete went to a late night party and overdosed? It seems plausible.

DVD knew Michael's father in passing; they were not friends. I believe they worked at the same company for a period. They also lived in the same housing tract or neighborhood. The sketch of the strange man also has a striking similarity to him. DVD was also into video games which may have been a common connection. Any other connection that may have existed between the two we will probably never know.

good points.



In the past several years, there have been two other high profile missing persons cases at UCLA. The first was a student that had some kind of mental break and took a bus to Mexico (he was supposed to go to UCLA). He was located alive in TJ a few months later.

The other case was a student that ran away and committed suicide in Pacific Palisades.



This, and the possibility he could have been drugged or using some other kind of drugs.

It doesn't seem like those are linked to the Michael Negrete missing persons case.



After all these years, I think the best place to start is to look at everyone that attended UCLA in 1999 and determine if any of them have been convicted or investigated in a violent, sexual or drug crime.

I agree including teachers, UCPD, and any other staff who was working around Dykstra Hall at the time. Thank you for the well written response UCLABruin.
Hopefully these discussions lead to some results. I wonder if whoever is responsible for Michael Negrete's dissappearance knows about this forum and these posts? No Lost Bruins!

Michael Negrete was most likely running the windows 95, 98, or NT 4.0 operating system I imagine. I assume that the logout event most likely refers to when his computer logged out of the UCLA intranet, by being powered down. I doubt that the logout event refers to Michael Negrete's computer signing off of AIM, ICQ, a game etc because I don't believe those events would get logged. Maybe I'm wrong so if someone can add some more to this it would be appreciated.


Both of these services do log to files, but you need to know where to look.


I can't find this article on dailybruin.com does it exist?
The only reference to this supposed video is from the user Zero.

If you have observed this footage please let us know your thoughts on it.


I thought you said there were "zero mentions of..." I misread. I will have to look for it again. It's been a while. The video footage was never made public.


Also just to ask again because I haven't heard a reasonable explanation... What does a shiny grey jacket with a turquoise design look like? WTF is a turquoise design anyway isn't that a color? why call it shiny grey? If anyone can show me a pic of what kind of jacket this is I'd appreciate it. A sports jacket, a joggers warm up jacket?


That is my impression. That is like a jogging jacket that a coach or PE teacher might wear on a cold day. It would be shiny for visibility/reflection. For some reason, Puma (the brand) comes to mind. I Googled "shiny grey jacket turquoise design" on Google Images and did not come up with much except these two pictures which kind of matches the above:
http://theformula1shopandmore.com/product.php?id_product=722
http://www.tauntonleisure.com/the-north-face-men-039-s-nuptse-2-jacket-asphalt-grey/p8815

This is close to what I am thinking of (ANSI Class 3 Safety Windbreaker). Meant to be shiny for safety:
http://www.arizonacap.com/jackets.htm


Note that UCLA jackets also may have come in this color. Grey (perhaps shiny or not) with a turquoise design (sometimes the UCLA logo is printed in a light blue color).


I'm glad that point V. is convincing enough to lead you to believe another student may have been involved. I highly doubt that Michael Negrete met some random person online and that this person killed him because MN would have to be extremely naive or inebriated etc to do something like this. Everything about Michael Negrete that I've read tells me he had enough wits about him to not meet a stranger from the internet at 4 am in the morning! It seems so out of character. I also think it is too late at night for Michael Negrete to go to a video game party or study session. Furthermore if he did I think students would have let it be known to investigators. At 4am most parties are dying down unless it is an after hours spot. Put yourself in Michael Negrete's shoes and imagine it is 4 am 10th week on Thursday. Something causes you to leave your dorm when you should be tired. What is this? When you are tired and ready to sleep what makes you leave the dorms? Why didn't Michael Negrete go to sleep at 4 am??? It is either something Michael Negrete wanted, or someone had some type of lure / control where they could ask Michael Negrete to leave his dorm at 4 am knowing he would comply.


I used to work for a video game company. These people would work 10-12 hours a day and stay up all night playing video games. It is definitely plausible that he could go to a video game party at 4am. However, this would be more likely if it was related to the friends or game he had just played earlier in the night. A study session is a stretch, but is plausible if it involved the same people he socialized with that night.

You bring up a huge point though. Someone would have known. They may not say anything though if they didn't know he was coming, or was not wanted there, or if this event also had other stuff involved (drugs, sex, etc.)


I think it is much more probable that Michael Negrete was asked by someone he knew/trusted to go somewhere to do something. Either that or he died in the dormitory and his body was quickly removed.


I agree. I can't help but feel that this was someone he "kind of" knew, and trusted by association. In other words, I don't think this was a good friend or someone he knew all that well. Maybe a classmate, floormate, friend of a friend etc.


What causes one student to kill another student? Love, Money, Drugs, Information that Michael Negrete knew and someone wanted him silenced? The only type of information that I believe would cause a student to possibly kill another student is academic plagiarism cheating etc?
I also wonder if Michael Negrete went to do cocaine with someone and had a heart attack or an overdose on some other drug. Did Michael Negrete owe someone money? I don't think someone killed Michael Negrete over money, but this missing persons case is so bizarre.


Beats me. One thing that is clear to me is that he most likely had some type of secret lifestyle.



I don't know how common it is for people to get together at 4 am for a study session. I don't think it would be too efficient to study at 4 am with a group of people. I can see the all night lan party thing occurring but other students would have mentioned this and I believe Michael Negrete could have simply stayed in his dormitory to play a computer game over the intranet. Also Michael Negrete had just finished playing a computer game, and if he had gone to congratulate someone he must not have wanted to continue playing because he stopped to go over and congratulate the person rather than asking for a rematch. Maybe my line of thinking is incorrect I don't know.


For many of these gamer types, it is a way of life. He may have ended his game with his friend only to start another one with another person or group of people. Some of these people literally play all day/light long, and it is how they socialize and make friends with others.


Would someone even wear those outside? I assume a pair of shower shoes wouldn't be worn outside. Regardless I think that because he didn't take his normal shoes he didn't intend to go somewhere far or stay awake much longer. He left his dorm to do something quick and didn't need to be out and about so he took shoes that he could put on quickly.


Personally, I would. This is California. We don't really think about it being cold outside. If I am correct and he was going to another dorm, his feet wouldn't have been exposed for that long. Something made him leave rather quickly. Putting on shoes doesn't take that long. Something as simple as "you HAVE to get here NOW because so and so is leaving soon and they want to meet you."


Do you think Michael Negete went to a late night party and overdosed? It seems plausible.


I am rather straight laced I guess. I cannot imagine there is a party starting or really still going on at 4:30am, especially not in the dorms. Only a rave would, but I would imagine he would have worn more proper attire for that.


It doesn't seem like those are linked to the Michael Negrete missing persons case.


Correct.


I wonder if whoever is responsible for Michael Negrete's dissappearance knows about this forum and these posts?


What is eery is that someone went onto MN's Facebook group and claimed they know where he is. He was reading these posts as well as the ones from Websleuths. He was kicked from the group because there are people that do this stuff. I hope he was looked into though because he was very insistent.

This just seems so hard to believe. The only evidence that he left the building was a video that is only mentioned once and nobody has ever seen. It makes sense that he left the building, but the evidence points more towards never leaving the building. Then where the heck is he and how did he get carried out of the building? The garbage chute theory has actually occurred before, but that seems like the first thing they would check. The water tanks? I have always found it odd that the first floor of Dykstra Hall has been sealed off and nobody is allowed down there. Seems too obvious/ridiculous though.

Also, this guy just started posting on Reddit asking what everyone thinks happened. This is getting weird.

http://www.reddit.com/user/trewdat

I wanted to reply to a couple of things and then post a link to a video.

I previously mentioned a cell phone. Yes, Michael could very well have had one. I remember in 1999, companies were practically GIVING phones away if you signed up for a 2 year contract. I mentioned this because someone asked about searching for cell phone records. It's important to realize that this may not be possible. After all, in 1999, not everyone had cell phones like they do today.

What I said about someone having to be hard wired while chatting with Michael... if someone was indeed chatting with him (I may have missed that detail), this person could have only done so from a computer. It wasn't like someone was outside chatting with a cell phone, or in the parking lot with a laptop on WIFI. It had to have been a student on campus, or someone from a nearby house who could have gotten there quickly. I think the point I was trying to make with this is, this eliminates the possibility of some "stranger" messaging Mike from anywhere outside.

Yes, I did mention that I had seen a video of Michael leaving the dorm. It has occurred to me, since then, that what I saw was possibly a re-enactment from the show Million Dollar Mysteries. This was back in 2001 I believe, so it was a long time ago now. BUT, I have heard of the existence of this footage on a few different news reports. This much I know for sure!

Has there ever been any mention of what Michael said to the student he visited after logging off his computer? Supposedly he went across the hall, or down the hall (it was nearby I think) and spoke to someone for a few minutes. That was apparently the last sighting of him, but for the video captured on camera.

If he forgot his keys, wallet, etc. when he went to talk to this student, he would have knocked on the door when he tried to get back into the room, awakening his roommate. Unless he KNEW he was going elsewhere after talking to that kid. I wonder, was his roommate even in the room, or was he too elsewhere?

I'm starting to think that maybe Mike's scent that was tracked by the bloodhounds was not left that night. Maybe Mike caught a bus there days prior?

The baffling question remains... why did he leave the building, and where was he going? He lived on the sixth floor, so trying to find another way into his room (window) would have involved climbing the building. Were there all night security guards there that could have possibly helped him get back into his room?

Here is a recent video from KTLA's 10:00 news. Mike is again profiled on L.A.'s Most Wanted. I believe this is the second time now. His mother is interviewed and watching her make me really wish they could find out what happened to her son. It must be a nightmare being in this kind of limbo. :(

http://www.myfoxla.com/story/19139515/l-as-most-wanted-ucla-student

I've still been thinking about this bizarre missing persons case.
Something is odd about leaving so late at night that I don't believe Michael Negrete met someone online because I doubt he was that naive. I just can't see Mike agreeing to meet an online person (even if he had been chatting with the individual for some time) at 4 am unless he had known this person for a long time. I also don't really see Mike meeting someone to buy drugs other then Meth (which I doubt he was using) because it was already so late at night.

I'm quite certain just based on assumptions that Michael Negrete had to have known his killer beforehand or had been introduced to the killer, and some sense of trust was established.

Then there must have been some type of communication medium that was used to relay some message to Mike and this was used as a lure to get him outside of the dorm. Whatever the message was it must have been brief, and whoever was outside must have been some sort of authority figure imo.

Is it possible that Michael Negrete had socialized with this person before, and that this killer had purposefully lent Michael money knowing that he would use it as a lure to get Negrete out of the dorm late at night? I.e the person tells Mike that same day that they will need to be paid back and works it out so that Mike will come out at night and give the person back their money?

Was there any kind of investigation into the professors? or grad students? Someone like that could easily get a student to leave their dorm late at night if there was any kind of secrete lifestyle, maybe there was $ for grades? A prof or grad student also could slip in and out of dorms with little to no trouble especially if ucpd stopped them.

I doubt that Michael Negrete was killed inside the dormitory, but if that did occur then more then one student was involved.

I found an image of what appears to be Mike Negrete's room on this URL below

(argh its not letting me post urls until i have 5 post or more) i attached the pic

I've never seen this image before. Can anyone confirm that this is actually Mike's dorm room?

I doubt that Michael Negrete was killed inside the dormitory, but if that did occur then more then one student was involved.

I found an image of what appears to be Mike Negrete's room on this URL below i attached the pic I've never seen this image before. Can anyone confirm that this is actually Mike's dorm room?

Michael went missing in 1999, is that right?

What does everyone think about the laptop in the pic and the water bottle and maybe some other stuff?

Were laptops that slim and streamlined 14 years ago? It looks newer to me, I remember laptops being more boxy back then.

Any idea on when that style water bottle was manufactured?

If that's Michael's room, maybe it's a pic taken after a new resident moved in and those aren't actually Michael's things? I dunno.....

Michael went missing in 1999, is that right?

What does everyone think about the laptop in the pic and the water bottle and maybe some other stuff?

Were laptops that slim and streamlined 14 years ago? It looks newer to me, I remember laptops being more boxy back then.

Any idea on when that style water bottle was manufactured?

If that's Michael's room, maybe it's a pic taken after a new resident moved in and those aren't actually Michael's things? I dunno.....

Yes in the year 1999 on dec 10th at 4 am.

I can't verify that this image is actually mike's room
I found this image by searching google. I put "Michael Negrete" in quotes then I changed the search parameters using the search tools, to only look for web content within the last month and then to order it by date instead of relevance. I found the image on a website called Tea and Skeletons Tumblr . This is my 5th post so after this post I can actually post the link or you can search for it following the directions I gave in the previous sentences.



Has anyone else seen this image before. I wonder where the tea and skeletons tumblrl page got it from.

That image is from this article. http://listverse.com/2013/07/27/10-missing-persons-who-seemingly-vanished-into-thin-air/

I think it is just a stock photo of a dorm room. I do not think it is Michael's room. In fact, I think that may be a girl's room. Looks like a handbag hanging on the bed post to me.

Also, I was reading the Charley Project cases thread today, and someone shared this case. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/t/tammen_ronald.html
The similarities to Michael's case are striking! And no, I'm not suggesting their disappearances are connected. Ronald Tammen disappeared from Ohio in the 50's. Still, I was shocked when I read the description.

I think this case will be solved soon because I truly think Michael died in the dorms that night at the hands of another student. The key is to investigate anyone who had an empty room that time: RA, student who had no roommate etc. He died in there, and was simply taken out of the dorm and hidden or burned elsewhere. And with people moving out it would be easy to hide his body in a trunk or suitcase or laundry bag. He was not a big guy. This is what happened, I just know it.

I think this case will be solved soon because I truly think Michael died in the dorms that night at the hands of another student. The key is to investigate anyone who had an empty room that time: RA, student who had no roommate etc. He died in there, and was simply taken out of the dorm and hidden or burned elsewhere. And with people moving out it would be easy to hide his body in a trunk or suitcase or laundry bag. He was not a big guy. This is what happened, I just know it.

Michael either died on campus or off campus this much is true.

If Michael died in the dormitory and if his body was removed from the dorms then it was by a person(s) who was fairly strong. I would look at the athletes and their roommates in that building, IMO.

I wonder if it is at all possible that Michael Negrete was lured to a place on campus where he disappeared from.

Someone somewhere knows what happened to Michael Negrete. I'm sure someone in his dormitory knows something that may be a possible clue that leads to solving this case.

One thing that stops this case from being solved is the lack of information about who Michael Negrete was in contact with while at UCLA. Michael Negrete's contact information in regards to personal acquaintances telephone calls, and internet data should be gone through with a fine tooth comb because at some point Michael Negrete most likely established some form of contact with either his killers or his killers accomplice.

Michael either died on campus or off campus.

That certainly narrows it down...

That certainly narrows it down...

Yes, we are hot on the trail now. :lol:

I don't understand why some people seem to think Michael must have secretly been gay and went out for some kind of booty call. Or maybe it was on WS that people were putting forth that theory. Was their any evidence of his being gay? Why couldn't it have been a girl whom he was chatting with and went to meet?

That certainly narrows it down...

Yes, we are hot on the trail now. :lol:

I don't understand why some people seem to think Michael must have secretly been gay and went out for some kind of booty call. Or maybe it was on WS that people were putting forth that theory. Was their any evidence of his being gay? Why couldn't it have been a girl whom he was chatting with and went to meet?

One thing that is really spooky about UCLA is how so many individuals (faculty included) at that system are hell bent on doing anything and everything for money with absolutely no regard to life liberty or freedom in any way shape or form. If you disagree with this statement just goto UCLA and look at how the homeless are treated, and then argue with me.

UCLA is a farm essentially and the students are the most likely group of individuals to get victimized by the older staff on campus. UCLA has a lot of private money flowing through it, and I seriously wonder if MN was a victim of the UCLA Body Parts for Sale Scandal...

I'd be really curious to see if there happened to be any large anonymous donations that occurred before or after MN's disappearance.
If you choose to investigate this based on the "follow the money" principle then the Body Parts for Sale Scandal at UCLA has to be seriously considered, I believe.

I wonder how much medical data UCLA had for Michael Negrete?

UCLA is extremely tight lipped about this and I haven't been able to find any data in regards to Medical Record(s) Information for Michael Negrete, that was catalogued by the UCLA Hospital while MN was attending the school.

Does anyone know what the UCLA ID Number is for MN? This is key for combing through UCLA Medical Records Data Sets because sometimes databases refer to medical history based simply on serial numbers/id numbers/ etc.

UCLA sells student data to companies and so they are very unwilling to share data because they use student data like google uses data on their userbase ( For pure profit)

Think for a moment and imagine if you can see a small group of people at UCLA who start to source cadaver parts, then they get more and more orders! Soon they need to source parts to fulfill these orders, but there aren't enough cadavers and the UCLA Body Parts for Sale ring starts to look for new inventory so they naturally look at Medical Records for Freshmen. Who knows maybe a high priced client was willing to pay more then the normal cadaver rate etc...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/05/ucla-body-parts.html

https://chronicle.com/article/New-Arrests-in-Alleged-Thefts/38322/

UCLA and the LA Times try to pretend that a business that sells body parts only involves 2 individuals when in reality it is highly probably that a good amount of individuals who were most likely involved in this scandal are probably still at UCLA. Some article quote that this body parts for sale racket at UCLA was a multi-million dollar business.

I can imagine that if the Cadaver Body Parts Organization got more and more order they would try to fulfill these orders so long as they weren't getting caught. This would involve a computer specialist, a Medical Specialist, and a few other individuals. Definitely more then the two people named in the LA Times Article that I linked above.


It is sad and unreasonable to hear about someone vanishing from the face of the Earth, typically for something like that to occur it involves a single individual or a group. I never really saw enough evidence to completely rule out the nefarious elements that are at UCLA, and one only need to think about the UCLA Body Parts Cadaver Scandal to understand this simple logic of eliminating possibilities for a missing persons case.

Yes, we are hot on the trail now. :lol:

I don't understand why some people seem to think Michael must have secretly been gay and went out for some kind of booty call. Or maybe it was on WS that people were putting forth that theory. Was their any evidence of his being gay? Why couldn't it have been a girl whom he was chatting with and went to meet?

It might have to do with the mysterious older man seen in Dykestra hall the night he went missing? Not sure though.

One thing that is really spooky about UCLA is how so many individuals (faculty included) at that system are hell bent on doing anything and everything for money with absolutely no regard to life liberty or freedom in any way shape or form. If you disagree with this statement just goto UCLA and look at how the homeless are treated, and then argue with me.

UCLA is a farm essentially and the students are the most likely group of individuals to get victimized by the older staff on campus. UCLA has a lot of private money flowing through it, and I seriously wonder if MN was a victim of the UCLA Body Parts for Sale Scandal...

I'd be really curious to see if there happened to be any large anonymous donations that occurred before or after MN's disappearance.
If you choose to investigate this based on the "follow the money" principle then the Body Parts for Sale Scandal at UCLA has to be seriously considered, I believe.

I wonder how much medical data UCLA had for Michael Negrete?

UCLA is extremely tight lipped about this and I haven't been able to find any data in regards to Medical Record(s) Information for Michael Negrete, that was catalogued by the UCLA Hospital while MN was attending the school.

Does anyone know what the UCLA ID Number is for MN? This is key for combing through UCLA Medical Records Data Sets because sometimes databases refer to medical history based simply on serial numbers/id numbers/ etc.

UCLA sells student data to companies and so they are very unwilling to share data because they use student data like google uses data on their userbase ( For pure profit)

Think for a moment and imagine if you can see a small group of people at UCLA who start to source cadaver parts, then they get more and more orders! Soon they need to source parts to fulfill these orders, but there aren't enough cadavers and the UCLA Body Parts for Sale ring starts to look for new inventory so they naturally look at Medical Records for Freshmen. Who knows maybe a high priced client was willing to pay more then the normal cadaver rate etc...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/05/ucla-body-parts.html

https://chronicle.com/article/New-Arrests-in-Alleged-Thefts/38322/

UCLA and the LA Times try to pretend that a business that sells body parts only involves 2 individuals when in reality it is highly probably that a good amount of individuals who were most likely involved in this scandal are probably still at UCLA. Some article quote that this body parts for sale racket at UCLA was a multi-million dollar business.

I can imagine that if the Cadaver Body Parts Organization got more and more order they would try to fulfill these orders so long as they weren't getting caught. This would involve a computer specialist, a Medical Specialist, and a few other individuals. Definitely more then the two people named in the LA Times Article that I linked above.


It is sad and unreasonable to hear about someone vanishing from the face of the Earth, typically for something like that to occur it involves a single individual or a group. I never really saw enough evidence to completely rule out the nefarious elements that are at UCLA, and one only need to think about the UCLA Body Parts Cadaver Scandal to understand this simple logic of eliminating possibilities for a missing persons case.

I read the articles that you posted and am hard pressed to believe Michael was part of this scandal. The body parts were taken off of cadavers that had been donated to the school for medical research. The amount of money that was reportedly made from the scandal (1.5 million over 5 years) isn't really a huge amount of money. Body part harvesting and selling on the black market is a large business. I'd venture in the billions of dollars yearly. For me it's a stretch that they started abducting and/or killing people to get body parts for what looks like $300k a year on average. Which is not a lot of money, in my opinion.

The only one who could possibly get his medical records from UCLA are his parents, I think. Is there any evidence that he was even examined by a physician at the UCLA Medical Center or treated for anything? (I kind of went from page 1 to the last page). I'll read up some more tonight.

For me it's a stretch that they started abducting and/or killing people to get body parts for what looks like $300k a year on average. Which is not a lot of money, in my opinion.



Yes, this. It's a big leap from selling donated body parts to actually killing people to obtain them. And killing students would increase the risk that they (the killers/sellers) would be found out.

And the school is probably tight-lipped about medical records because they have to be, by law. They can't give out medical info to just anyone.

This was posted on Websleuths awhile back. Can't believe none of us have stumbled upon it! It's a blog by Michael's brother Steve and contains some pretty interesting info.

http://stevethesoundguy.tumblr.com/post/52852449360/hey-steve-apologies-if-this-is-a-tad-personal-but-i

I have a personal grudge against ecstasy, however.

This next part is a very personal tale for me, but upon reflection, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to bring it up. More exposure is always better in this circumstance…

Anywho, the story is, I lost a brother back in 1999, and I believe that drugs were a critical component that led to his disappearance.

Michael Negrete was a freshman at UCLA when he mysteriously disappeared from his dorm room in the wee hours of December 10th, 1999. He had been playing a computer game with a friend for several hours. The game ended at approximately 4am, at which time he logged off his computer.

At 9:00 am, his roommate woke up and discovered that he was nowhere to be found. He had left behind all of his personal belongings, including his clothes, shoes, wallet, and musical instruments. He has not been seen nor heard from since.

Disappeared. Vanished. Missing.

If you want to read the known information about the story, you can visit: http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/negrete_michael.html

What the report doesn’t mention is that Mike’s friends verified that he had been attending raves and experimenting with different drugs, most notably ecstasy, in the weeks before the disappearance. My personal theory is that he was under the influence of ecstasy or some other substance, left the dorm for whatever reason, and was picked up by one of those people your mother warns you about.

Theories abound, but none have ever led to results. I actually laughed out loud when I read about the Sylvia Browne psychic vision… anyone who takes stock in that nonsense is living in a fantasy world.

Mike was unbelievably smart, a damn near genius trumpet player, and incredibly charismatic. He was also damn athletic, and way strong enough to defend himself if need be. To me, the only explanation is one that involves him being out of his right mind, and the simplest cause for that is drugs and alcohol.

The drug information adds a whole new angle to this story, in my opinion. Maybe he went to meet up with a dealer and never came back.

Thanks for sharing that info 88keys.

The drug angle being confirmed by the brother is interesting, but you'd think that there would have been some kind of evidence like pills or a container with residue found in his dorm room if was on drugs when he went missing, as his brother theorizes.

I wonder if he was using something, could be ecstasy or something else, since his brother said he'd been experimenting with other drugs, and while under the influence, had a bad reaction, or it made him unable to sleep, and he ended up out in the elements and died.

That just happened in Texas a few months ago. A guy's family thought he was clean, but he took bath salts or something, went kinda nuts, and just started running out of a parking lot and way out into the woods where they found him dead a couple weeks later.

In his case, they were able to find him because it was daytime, someone had seen the direction he'd been running in, and I think he'd been stripping off some of his clothes sort of leaving a hit or miss trail for them to follow.

If something like this happened to Michael, it was the middle of the night, and no one knows if he was meeting someone, just walking around, or having a drug related issue.

It's just a couple miles from his dorm to a huge area of rough terrain with some desolate areas and the Stone Canyon Reservoir. If you want to look at the area on a map, the address for his dorm, Dykstra Hall, is 401 Charles E. Young Drive West Los Angeles, CA 90024-1314

The scent dogs lost his trail just a few hundred feet from his dorm tho, it was near a bus stop, if he was walking, it is in the direction he might take if he was heading toward the hills and the reservoir.

It's also kinda weird about the unknown man in his 30s being seen inside Dykstra hall at 4:35 in the morning, just a half hour after Michael logged off his computer. Michael was a freshman. Was his dorm building for freshmen only? Even if not, isn't it a bit odd for a man in his mid 30s to be visiting young students in their dorm at that hour? It was a Friday night, tho, so coulda been a pizza delivery guy or something like that. Would a drug dealer actually come into the dorm to sell or would he stay out in his car in the parking lot for the buyer to come out of the building?

FWIW, for all this time, I've been thinking that Michael went missing while barefoot because they said he left behind all his personal belongings, including his shoes, but the CP page says he was wearing a blue plaid shirt, khaki shorts, and white shoes.

Thanks for sharing that info 88keys.

The drug angle being confirmed by the brother is interesting, but you'd think that there would have been some kind of evidence like pills or a container with residue found in his dorm room if was on drugs when he went missing, as his brother theorizes.

I don't necessarily think he was high when he disappeared. But maybe he went looking to score a hit and met up with the wrong person.


It's also kinda weird about the unknown man in his 30s being seen inside Dykstra hall at 4:35 in the morning, just a half hour after Michael logged off his computer. Michael was a freshman. Was his dorm building for freshmen only? Even if not, isn't it a bit odd for a man in his mid 30s to be visiting young students in their dorm at that hour? It was a Friday night, tho, so coulda been a pizza delivery guy or something like that. Would a drug dealer actually come into the dorm to sell or would he stay out in his car in the parking lot for the buyer to come out of the building?

FWIW, for all this time, I've been thinking that Michael went missing while barefoot because they said he left behind all his personal belongings, including his shoes, but the CP page says he was wearing a blue plaid shirt, khaki shorts, and white shoes.

That's the problem with this case. A lot of the info is sketchy and unconfirmed. Are we really sure there was an unknown male in the dorm around that time? I thought that was just a rumor.

Same thing with the shoes. Most of the accounts I've read said he was wearing some kind of flip-flops or thong sandals, but a few say barefoot. It's like the Amy Bradley or Maura Murray cases; we can't be sure the info we have been given is really factual or not.

here's the case of another Michael Negrete that disappeared from California.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/negrete_jared.html

thoughts on this?

White pages says there are currently 34 people named Michael Negrete in California (and 66 possible matches to that name). With such a large population as California has, it seems to be a pretty big coincidence that two young men with that name went missing 8 years apart.

But the young man in this thread who went missing in 1999 is Michael William Negrete:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/negrete_michael.html

And the other young man, missing since 1991, is Jared Michael Negrete:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/negrete_jared.html

So with all the various combinations of first and middle names, that probably raises the chances of two people with similar names going missing and makes it a bit less likely to be connected or a case of mistaken identity by a predator, imo.

I don't necessarily think he was high when he disappeared. But maybe he went looking to score a hit and met up with the wrong person.




That's the problem with this case. A lot of the info is sketchy and unconfirmed. Are we really sure there was an unknown male in the dorm around that time? I thought that was just a rumor.

Same thing with the shoes. Most of the accounts I've read said he was wearing some kind of flip-flops or thong sandals, but a few say barefoot. It's like the Amy Bradley or Maura Murray cases; we can't be sure the info we have been given is really factual or not.

I believe his mother confirmed slip-on shoes in one of the Daily Bruin articles. They were sort of like a slipper but but more sturdy. I've never seen mention of barefoot or sandals. I think people allude to "barefoot" because articles say he "left without shoes".

The strange man is another story. Nobody knows. A student came forward in July (8 months after Michael's disappearance) with the first mention of the strange man. I find this suspicious in itself.

here's the case of another Michael Negrete that disappeared from California.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/negrete_jared.html

thoughts on this?

This one is interesting. That boy's name was "Jared Michael Negrete" though; his first name was Jared. There is an article online (unposted.com maybe?) that accuses Damon van Dam of a lot of things... in one of the articles, it mentions that someone (I don't think they were referring to Damon here, maybe David Westerfield) was part of the Jared Negrete search in 1991 and also had weak ties to Michael Negrete's family. Jared was 12 in 1991, Michael would have been around 10.

Negrete is neither common nor uncommon. Nobody has ever said if the two families are related. My guess is that they are not, but it's a very weird coincidence.

I am going to intentionally bump this case because it still tugs at my heartstrings. Michael and I were in the same class in college, though we went to different universities, so it speaks to me in a way. Especially with the type of technology we had back in 1999.

After thinking more about this case, I am starting to believe that maybe drugs, or sex could have been involved/connected, given the late hour and the circumstances. I think it's 100% correct that he did not vanish intentionally and am sad that his family and friends have never had closure.

As to people who saw or heard something, I wish this case could get back into the limelight after almost 16 years due to the possibility of anyone who saw anything and might be willing to come forward with some information.

After thinking more about this case, I am starting to believe that maybe drugs, or sex could have been involved/connected, given the late hour and the circumstances. I think it's 100% correct that he did not vanish intentionally and am sad that his family and friends have never had closure.

As to people who saw or heard something, I wish this case could get back into the limelight after almost 16 years due to the possibility of anyone who saw anything and might be willing to come forward with some information.

UCLA will make it a point to not have this case be in the limelight ever again. Michael Negrete's case will get little to no exposure as the years go by because... UCLA is a massive business and this type of thing hurts their reputation because it exposes the school for being more of a farm than an educational center that can protect its students.

I also think that IF UCLA actually did a real investigation into this they may have uncovered that Negrete was involved in a body parts for sale scandal, and those are the people who murdered him. To deny the economics of the body parts / organs trade is naive and to assume that individuals in the USA will ignore the lure of $ is beyond naive. Furthermore when Negrete disappeared there was a body parts / organs for sale GROUP Operating at UCLA. Only 2 people were found guilty... and for a group like that to operate logistically there were more than 2 people involved. What is beyond sad is that the public will never be able to rule out the possibility that Michael Negrete disappeared because of a UCLA body parts for sale gang.

Just thought I would leave this here for any doubters of how deep the rabbit hole goes at UCLA's body parts cartel

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/30/local/me-ucla30

Japanese gang figures got new livers at UCLA
Recipients included one of Japan's top crime bosses. Some fear a chilling effect on organ donations

Right now no one is powerful enough to do a real investigation into Michael Negret's disappearance & I fear that this was also the case when he vanished.

With so little evidence as to what happened and no evidence of foul play -assuming that LE isn't hiding evidence from the public-, I think there are three explanationsfor Michael's dissapearance:

A. He committed suicide. This would explain the lack of evidence and the fact that he didn't take anything with him. After all, people are more likely to kill themselves than to become victims of a homicide.

B. He left the dorms to take a walk or to get something to eat, possibly from a vending machine. He left his keys by accident. This possibility takes of to two possible outcomes:

B(a). He was the victim of a crime of opportunity.
B(b). He realized he had no keys and tried to get back to the dorm through another way, possibly a construction site. He had an accident and his body got buried in the morning when construction resumed.

I think that his drug use and the guy someone witnessed are simply red herrings. The gay hookup is not likely either as there are no reports of the police finding anything suspicious in his computer.

With so little evidence as to what happened and no evidence of foul play -assuming that LE isn't hiding evidence from the public-, I think there are three explanationsfor Michael's dissapearance:

A. He committed suicide. This would explain the lack of evidence and the fact that he didn't take anything with him. After all, people are more likely to kill themselves than to become victims of a homicide.

B. He left the dorms to take a walk or to get something to eat, possibly from a vending machine. He left his keys by accident. This possibility takes of to two possible outcomes:

B(a). He was the victim of a crime of opportunity.
B(b). He realized he had no keys and tried to get back to the dorm through another way, possibly a construction site. He had an accident and his body got buried in the morning when construction resumed.

I think that his drug use and the guy someone witnessed are simply red herrings. The gay hookup is not likely either as there are no reports of the police finding anything suspicious in his computer.

The problem with your idea that he dies on campus is that there is no body and no signs of foul play apparently. So assuming he does die on campus how does something like that occur? Does a construction crew really overlook a body and just carry on? How does he magically get buried? I would give more credence to the theory that Negrete was part of the Yakuza Body parts trade going on at UCLA.

It is safe to assume that we aren't getting the full story from a Mega Corporation University like UCLA. After all anyone who has done any research on the UC system knows they are as thick as thieves with little to no oversight.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/09/after-blistering-uc-audit-interfering-with-state-auditor-could-become-crime/

"The report from State Auditor Elaine Howle, who has served in that role for the last 17 years, also revealed late last month that the UC system’s central office amassed more than $175 million in undisclosed reserves. "

A lot of money goes through UCLA and the students are the PRODUCT that the UC system consumes and feeds off of. The people who run the UC System don't have the student's best interest at heart which is why they always steal whatever they can.

There has been some semblance of activity around Negrete's case recently. Some people think this John Doe could be him http://www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMU/1184153/1.html/mainposter

The following post was on Reddit

John Doe was found on July 13 of 2003 in Angeles National Forest on the side of a mountain off the Bouquet Canyon Road. His remains were almost skeletonized except for the presence of some soft tissue. At least one of his limbs wasn't recovered. His age was in the 14-24 range, but he is believed to have been 18 or 19 years old like Michael.

When found, John Doe had been deceased for AT LEAST 1 to 3 years. Michael's disappearance at the end of 1999 falls within this range. LE enforcement believes that John Doe might have had Hispanic ancestry. By "Hispanic" they mean mestizo, as in Caucasian mixed with Amerindian. Michael, although listed as white, was likely a mestizo, son of a Mexican mestizo father and a white mother.

Although John Doe was likely male, LE considers the possibility that it might have been female. This uncertainty suggests that a DNA test wasn't performed or that the DNA sample was too degraded to yield accurate results. This would explain why Michael hasn't been located even though his DNA is available.

It must be noted that Saugus is just 30 to 40 minutes from Dykstra Hall when the traffic is light. If Michael was the victim of a crime of opportunity as theory #4 suggests, it wouldn't make sense for the killer(s) to go to great lengths to conceal the body in a more sophisticated way. In cases like this, the killers are more likely to drive to a wild area close to the city and discard the body there. If Michael was taken to San Fernando Valley to withdraw his money in an attempt to avoid the more transited streets of LA, Angeles Forest would've been a convenient place to get rid of him.

Anyone here think that it is a good match for Negrete?

There has been some semblance of activity around Negrete's case recently. Some people think this John Doe could be him http://www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMU/1184153/1.html/mainposter

The following post was on Reddit

John Doe was found on July 13 of 2003 in Angeles National Forest on the side of a mountain off the Bouquet Canyon Road. His remains were almost skeletonized except for the presence of some soft tissue. At least one of his limbs wasn't recovered. His age was in the 14-24 range, but he is believed to have been 18 or 19 years old like Michael.

When found, John Doe had been deceased for AT LEAST 1 to 3 years. Michael's disappearance at the end of 1999 falls within this range. LE enforcement believes that John Doe might have had Hispanic ancestry. By "Hispanic" they mean mestizo, as in Caucasian mixed with Amerindian. Michael, although listed as white, was likely a mestizo, son of a Mexican mestizo father and a white mother.

Although John Doe was likely male, LE considers the possibility that it might have been female. This uncertainty suggests that a DNA test wasn't performed or that the DNA sample was too degraded to yield accurate results. This would explain why Michael hasn't been located even though his DNA is available.

It must be noted that Saugus is just 30 to 40 minutes from Dykstra Hall when the traffic is light. If Michael was the victim of a crime of opportunity as theory #4 suggests, it wouldn't make sense for the killer(s) to go to great lengths to conceal the body in a more sophisticated way. In cases like this, the killers are more likely to drive to a wild area close to the city and discard the body there. If Michael was taken to San Fernando Valley to withdraw his money in an attempt to avoid the more transited streets of LA, Angeles Forest would've been a convenient place to get rid of him.

Anyone here think that it is a good match for Negrete?

I hope the family is aware of this and that some forensic investigators are able to determine one way or the other if it is Mike. DNA, dental records, superimposed images. Since the unidentified man was found in 2003, I wonder if his remains are still intact today, or if they took as much evidence as they could and then cremated him. Probably no way to know.