Possible connections in the “accidental drowning” deaths of more than 40 college-aged men over the past several years has some thinking that serial killers are at work. Smiley Face killers may be stalking college men by 
drugging them at bars and disposing their bodies in nearby rivers and lakes.
At six of the locations where bodies were recovered, “smiley faces” were found painted on trees nearby, suggesting that some sort of pattern is at work. Until recently, no connection had been made in the cases as the deaths were scattered across twelve states. However, in the small town of LaCrosse, Wisconsin eight deaths which were originally labeled as accidental, are now considered to be homicides.
Investigators, led by a pair of New York crime fighters, have pieced together a pattern going back several years. At first, their investigation was of several men who died in the state of New York, but when they learned that a similar event also took place in Minnesota, they began to connect the dots.
As their investigation deepened, the pair — retired NYPD detective Kevin Gannon and NYPD officer Anthony Duarte — saw that similar deaths along the I-94 corridor bridging Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa had also taken place. In each situation the men were young, attending college, and were considered to have died from drinking too much, falling in the water, and drowning.
The FBI, which has jurisdiction over criminal acts which have crossed state lines, isn’t sure that the cases are connected, nor are they certain that every death ruled as accidental is a homicide.
Gannon and Duarte are disappointed that the FBI hasn’t recognized what they see as a pattern and are concerned that other men are now being stalked. In some cases the men are being held for some time before being killed, with one student’s body turning up several months after he went missing.
Further Reading
Detectives: 40 Drowning Victims May Have Been Murdered by ‘Smiley Face Gang’
FBI Statement Regarding Midwest River Deaths
Adv. — Starting College
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