Family, friends hold rally for missing student

By Linh Tat

Daily Bruin Staff

As the school year comes to an end, police and family friends
are still asking for the public’s assistance in the
investigation for missing first-year student Michael Negrete.

Negrete, who was last accounted for in his Dykstra Hall room
around 4 a.m. on Dec. 10 as wearing a blue plaid shirt and khaki
shorts, left behind his wallet and other personal items.
Bloodhounds from the County Sheriff’s Department traced his
scent to a bus stop on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Bellagio
Drive.

After police distributed questionnaires to all Dykstra residents
about their knowledge of the case Monday, Negrete’s mother
and friends arrived on campus for a rally at the Dykstra Hall patio
Tuesday.

“We decided to come here because this is the last place
anyone saw Michael,” Mary Negrete, Michael’s mother,
told students at the rally. “I find it hard to believe no one
in this whole world knows anything.”

Mary also acknowledged student support of the case.

“I know a lot of you are praying and thinking of
him,” she said. “I’ve been thinking a lot about
you for the past six months. I just want to thank you for giving
Mike a good couple of months (at UCLA).”

Students were offered snacks and bumper stickers advertising a
$100,000 reward for information directly leading to finding
Michael.

Students also stopped by to hear a steel drum band perform.

“We have a feeling that someone at UCLA knows more than
they’re telling us,” said Chris Wabich, Michael’s
former music teacher and lead player of PANic All Stars, a band
Michael performed with last summer.

Tuesday’s rally was the third event the band has performed
in for Michael.

“We’re just here to play as loud as we can to send a
message,” Wabich said.

While friends of the family volunteer their services, police
have continued investigating the case.

“There have been no leads that have surfaced at
all,” said Joe Chefalo, the family’s private
investigator. “It doesn’t look like an abduction.
There’s no evidence, no ransom demand. It’s just a
mystery to everyone.”

Chefalo said he has been in touch with the police, who are
re-interviewing people.

“I don’t want to duplicate what the police and FBI
are already doing,” he said.

Chefalo said the case is classified as one of kidnapping by the
Federal Bureau Investigation because the agency does not have a
special department for runaways or mysterious disappearances.
Chefalo said a kidnapping case involves a person being “taken
against their will.”

More than $19,000 has been raised to date through the Michael
Negrete Search Fund, said Pat Markley, the family’s neighbor
who handles the fund. No donations have been made in the past three
weeks, Markley said.

“The cycle for the fundraisers is pretty much over at this
point,” he said.

Markley said neighbors continue to display a yellow ribbon
outside their homes, including those who recently moved into the
neighborhood. He also said the family has appeared more positive in
the past few weeks.

“There seems to be a change in them of late. Mary was
laughing the other day outside with my wife,” Markley said.
“It seems the Negretes are beginning to come out a little
more.”

But Mary said her son’s disappearance has continued to be
difficult for the family.

“Some days we don’t even talk to each other because
we don’t know what to say. Usually when you work so hard on
something, you expect a resolution. You have a goal in mind. We
haven’t reached our goal yet,” she said.

She said Michael’s disappearance has been especially hard
on her middle child, David, who was influenced by Michael’s
love for jazz.

“They’d jam together on the instrument,” Mary
said. “Mike was young. He didn’t have time to do a
whole lot with his life, but if there was one person in this life
affected by Mike it was David.”

“When Mike went off to college, we knew it would be hard,
but now he may never come back,” she continued.

The Negretes are planning a trip to Michigan and Pennsylvania
over the summer for a family reunion, Mary said.

“I’ve been sort of afraid to leave, but
everyone’s been telling me I should,” she said.

Among the students who attended the rally were many from
Michael’s residence hall. Ross Wolf, a first-year electrical
engineering student who was one of Michael’s best friends on
the floor, said students are still affected by the case, but are
learning to move on with their lives.

“It’s not as prominent of an issue,” Wolf
said. “People still think about him, but it’s not as
evident.”

Also present at the rally was Marisa Hill, Michael’s
former girlfriend.

“He could quote any “˜Simpsons’ or “˜Star
Wars’ episode,” she said with a smile as she reminisced
about Michael. She said that most of his friends are still having a
difficult time acknowledging what has happened.

“Most of them are still shocked. I keep expecting him to
show up,” she said.

More information is available at http://www.FindMikeNow.com