A story which has a few Wisconsin connections.
University of Minnesota college student Chris Jenkins was found in the Mississippi River in February of 2003. Minneapolis Police began investigating the case, which also caught the attention of two retired NYPD detectives.
Turns out, Jenkins' death was the missing part of the puzzle for Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte. They think Jenkins connects dozens of other deaths around the country over the last decade.
The stories are the same all over the country--an athletic, intelligent, well-liked college student goes missing. Family and friends launch a massive search. Weeks or months later, the young man is discovered drowned.
Gannon and Duarte are a retired NYPD detectives.
The investigation started 11 years ago in New York when then-Sgt. Gannon made a promise to the parents of Patrick McNeill.
Patrick McNeill was last seen at a New York City bar in 1997. His body was found 50 days later, 11 miles downriver.
"I think it is a serial killer, but not one individual. I would just say, a group of individuals, probably located in more than one state," Duarte said, adding that he thinks they may kill again.
While most local investigations focused on where a body was recovered, Gannon and Duarte tried to figure out where the body went into the river.
City after city, when they'd find the spot where the body went into the water, they would find something else: The symbol of a smiley faceCity after city, when they'd find the spot where the body went in, they would find something else: The symbol of a smiley face
In Michigan, they found something strange among the group's graffiti: the word 'Sinsiniwa.' They couldn't figure out what it meant until a few months later when they arrived in Dubuque, Iowa to investigate the death of Matt Kruziki.
This could be interesting. The detectives think that there could be as many as 40 (!!!) related deaths nationally, most of which are near the Canadian border and extending south as far as NYC and Chicago.
One of the potential related victims is Luke Homan of Brookfield.
This is interesting, but I still believe most, if not all the drownings in and around LaCrosse were so drunk that they fell into the water and drowned.
ReplyDeleteThis *will* be interesting, especially for those who think there's more to this than meets the eye...
ReplyDeleteDo college kids get drunk? Yeah. Do tragedies happen? Certainly. But it's too much of a coincidence for me that so many young men end up in the river after a night of drinking...
All believers in GOD knows this:
ReplyDelete"It was their time"
These kids would have died anyway, no matter what because it was in GODS plan.
Only a jew-atheist would question the word/works of GOD.
There's nothing any of us could do, so it's best just to leave matters as GOD intended, Amy!
WTF????
ReplyDeleteAnon:
ReplyDeleteWhat a load of bull. Way to try and throw my *faith* against me. But here's a newsflash: Murder is never in "God's plan".
Murder is a sin. It shows a gross ignorance (willful or otherwise) of basic theology to claim believers in God have to accept murder as "His plan".
THANKS for covering this awful story. How sad -- and creepy! On my blog, The Sope-Bocks, there is a list of potential victims' names, along with a couple of theories -- and lots of other stuff related to the Smiley Face Gang. I may have missed some evidence available to the public, but no other blog has more data available right now.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Huffpo, WebSleuths and a coupla others are developing the story, too. I think the you, me and other bloggers are going to crack the case -- sooner or later. At least, that's my hope!