Posted on 03/23/2009 7:25:57 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
Dozens of young college men gave found dead across the country and their deaths ruled accidental drowning.
But they had one connecting symbol a smiley face found at the scene—and for the families they left behind it seems anything but accidental.
It’s a chilling story we first brought you last spring in a 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS investigation.
On Monday, there's new evidence more suspicious deaths may be linked to the so-called ‘Smiley Face Killers.’
Bill Szotak says surveillance video shows his son, Josh, inside a New York bar after a couple drinks, seemingly fine. But minutes later video from outside that bar displays him stumbling around.
Szotak says he later found a smiley face painted on a tree where he believes his son fell into the water.
Former 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS investigative reporter Kristi Piehl joined Szotak on Good Morning America Monday to discuss the case.
"We continue to find more links and I think that if a federal investigator would look at all the things we found and all the things we don't have access to, they would see what we see," Piehl said.
Piehl says the number of possible cases related to the Smiley Face Killers has doubled to nearly 80 since our investigation first aired.
Video at link.
There are supposed to be a gang of homosexuals driving around the country in a van drowning drunk guys and painting smiley faces? But nobody has ever seen them?
Sorry, I just don’t buy it.
One of my nephew’s best friends died at his college campus and a “smiley face” was found there.
Investigations later revealed that the victim did 18 shots the night he died and had previous run-ins with the law over public intoxication. It was very believable that the victim passed out or fell in a very cold creek.
While there may be something to the smiley face thing, we need to remember how easy it is for drownings to occur, particularly when drinking is involved.
Yes, people in the college town of La Crosse WI had a conspiracy thing going where they thought people are killing drunk college kids and dumping them in the river. Of course it could never be that their kid was stinking drunk and falls in the river, possibly hitting their head and being dragged along by a very stiff and strong current (Mississippi river).
Sometimes it is sad that the simplest explanation is the correct one. Sometimes it means a wasted life due to a worthless death.
18 shots is more than a fifth of liquor. Sounds like a suicide.
so let’s see.....80 deaths,connected even remotely, and I wouldn’t consider smiley faces remote, are not being investigated based on that fact alone........hard to believe indeed.
You be the judge:
While I never met this young man personally, everyone who knew him said he was a very nice guy. He appeared to have made some very bad choices.
College isn’t for everyone.
I get it . . .
you think the tooth fairy did it in the library with a frozen wet noodle?
. . . so just what IS your explanation for
the 80 young men who have ‘bought it’ rather terminally?
. . . and the consistent pieces of evidence . . .
???
Or is terminal skepticism an obsessive hobby that you fondle publicly every chance you get just to show how brilliant, erudite and addicted to TYPE II ERRORS you are?
Sheesh.
How many women have drowned in rivers after drinking? Surely there must be a statistic someplace!
It could be the largest Serial Killings in the US, and appears to have more than one perpetrator.
Once and for all I’d like to know just how many of these possibly 80 victims actually had the smiley-face appear near their demise.
And a statistical breakdown of how many young men should have been expected to drown drunk over this period of time based on long-range trends. People don’t appreciate how easy it is to drown while drunk. I believe the vast majority of drowning victims were drunk at the time.
There are always exceptions to the general rule of serial killers (Aileen Wurnos, the Beltway Snipers) but the idea of a gang of killers traveling the land looking to drown frat boys is a bit much.
I heard the researchers talk on . . . maybe C2C.
THAT ISSUE HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED IN EACH CASE. I don’t recall any stats on it but my impression was that none of the 80 were—certainly not falling down drunk etc. Most had only had one or two beers or some such.
The only conclusion of the researchers was a kind of date-rape drug slipped into their drinks or some such.
I think it’s real easy to throw rocks at these blokes for being in a bar to begin with etc. etc. etc.
However, the researchers have covered those bases. There is ENTIRELY SOMETHING ELSE GOING ON WITH EACH CASE.
My answer isn’t scientific, but generally women out drinking are with friends (in packs), and it is not unusual for one guy to leave by himself.
And I am also not saying that none of the La Crosse drownings were women, there could very well be some, I don’t know the details of all of them.
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