Is there a serial killer stalking college aged men? If you are college aged, beware of the smiley face. Some believe there is a killer or killers called the “Smiley Face Killer,” active in the United States. What they do is drown drunk college aged males and leave a smiley face painted near where the body was dumped.
Smiley Face killers still unidentified
Between 1997 and 2008 authorities pulled the dead bodies of more than 40 young white men out of rivers and lakes in more than 25 cities across 11 states. They mostly all been college aged, popular and athletic. Most had been last seen leaving bars or parties while drunk. In nearly all cases the police believed that the person simply being drunk fell into a river or body water and drowned. After all almost half of drowning deaths, they’re linked to… you know. However, one pair of detectives believed there was more to it.
The smiley face murder theory came from two New York City police detectives, Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte. They concluded that the deaths of at least 45 young men by drowning have too many similarities to be unrelated. The theory began in connection with bodies found in New York City, it then spread to include murder cases from the Midwest. In at least a dozen cases a painted smiley face was found near a body of water where victims’ corpses were dumped.
Nearly all the victims of the smiley face killer were white college men. The victims all had been spotted at local bars or parties getting drunk on the evening they disappeared nearly all these alleged drowning victims were discovered in a frigid northern climate during the winter months not a good time to go for a swim in the drink and definitely not while you’re drunk and in at least a dozen cases smiley faces were found painted near where the detectives determined the bodies had been dropped into the water also the word since anyone which means rattlesnake was found near some of the smiley faces the detectives believe that one of the primary motives may have been jealousy as all the men were good-looking athletic and academically successful.
Smiley face murders done by an organized gang of murderers
However because some of the deaths occurred on the same night but in different states the detectives believe that the murders were carried out by an organized gang of murderers they believed their theory enough to reportedly use their own personal money to continue the investigation when official funds dried up. So they truly believe in it.
The smiley-faced murder theory all began with 20-year old Patrick McNeil. He was last spotted drinking with friends at a Manhattan bar one night. In February of 1997 his corpse was dragged out of the East River two months later and 12 miles away he was found floating in the water face-up. Which is extremely rare for drowning victims an autopsy revealed ligature marks around his neck his groin area showed House fly larvae that had to have been laid on his body indoors and under warm conditions.
McNeil was dead before he ever hit the water although he’d been missing for two months when his body was found the absence of what’s known as skin slippage under his feet indicated he’d been in the water for less than a day on Halloween night 2002 21 year old University of Minnesota student Chris Jenkins was last seen being kicked out of Minneapolis bar. Four months later his body was found encased in ice in the Mississippi River face-up with hands folded across his chest again not the typical position of a drowning victim.
Gannon eventually gave up on the case
Gannon then working in missing persons caught the McNeil case and he promised to the McNeil parents he would never give up when he retired he enlisted soirée his old partner. And dedicated his life to keeping that promise, mortgaging his house and spending thousands of his own money in 2003.
They learned four young men had vanished in Minnesota and Wisconsin over a 40 day period instead of looking at where the bodies were found the detectives looked at the point of entry into the water finding smiley faces nearby nine of 22 faces were drawn with horns Gannon said like an evil the smiley man in 2008.
The two retired New York City detectives turned private investigators announced their findings painted on the walls near the locations of where 22 of the dead bodies were found was the same symbol over and over a smiley face given the presence of the graffiti and the similarities among the victims the two investigators insisted that the deaths have been the work of a serial murderer or likely murderers now widely known as the smiley face killer they’re Psychopaths one of the investigators said of the murder or murderers at the time they have no remorse however not everybody is so keen on the smiley-faced murder theory in fact the smiley face murder theory has been widely discredited.
Police departments involved do not officially treat these deaths as part of a serial killer investigation. The Minneapolis nonprofit Center for homicide research released a thorough report on the smiley faced killer theory in 2010 that firmly debunked the entire idea. They list 18 reasons why the theory is false. We’ll run through some of them real quick.
Graffiti is omnipresent you’ll find it everywhere and let’s be honest you’ll see a lot of smiley faces – painted as graffiti none of the smiley faces exactly match one another. No criteria has been established specifying the necessary distance that a smiley face must occur in proximity to a deceased body in order to be counted as smiley face could be 10 feet away it could be a mile away there is no evidence of victim trauma.
Investigations appear to have stopped
Smiley face investigations seems to have stopped researching the case Sometime around 2012 he and Duarte have reportedly moved on to more lucrative cases. Several surviving parents of the alleged smiley face victims have also expressed doubt about the former detectives motives for making such a large public announcement about their theory.
Although the smiley face murder theory still exists to this day. It was brought up again after the 2012 disappearance of a Northwestern University student who’s floating corpse was found near smiley face graffiti on a tree more recently the smiley face murder. The theory was brought up in 2015 in regards to the reputed drowning death of 21 year old Shane Montgomery who had last been seen drinking with friends the day before Thanksgiving but whose body wasn’t found up until right before Christmas. So it’s largely been thought but not confirmed that the smiley face theory is just an urban legend. It’s a myth maybe it’s correlation, not causation and even that it’s minimal at best however having said all of that there could be a smiley face murderer out there who knows let me know what you think
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