[burghguy]

I believe you are referring to the “Smiley face” killings, where over 100 young men have been found or pulled from rivers in the upper midwest. This would certainly fit that profile. Young, motivated men with no signs of trauma. Almost all of the drownings have been said to be accidental or related to alcohol supposedly. Was there any mention of a smiley face in the vicinity of the drowning?

[driftless2]

I've heard of the smiley face connection, but how do you prove when they were done and who did them? My personal skepticism about a serial killer owes to the fact that all the kids who drowned in La Crosse were young, strong college males. A few were school athletes, one on the wrestling team. And he was big and strong.

If there was some serial killer or killers dispatching these young males, don't you think at least one of them would have escaped or they would have found wounds or lesions on one of the victims indicating a struggle? Also nobody heard any cries for help. Just the odds of some lunatic being able to kill so many young strong people, however inebriated, without signs of a struggle makes me doubt the whole serial killer paradigm.

p.s. They've pulled a few people out of river before they drowned since the onset of the drownings, and one lucky idiot managed to get himself out of the water after falling in. He had no idea how he fell in. He only remembered drinking heavily and wandering away from the bars. He also added that no one pushed him in.