INDIANAPOLIS - Toxicology reports have just been released for Joshua Swalls, 22, who mysteriously vanished this past November and was then found "drowned" three weeks later in a nearby retention pond that had already been scoured by divers the same week he went missing.
No drugs or alcohol whatsoever in the body of this young man.
That new evidence, coupled with the recent toxicology finding concerning 'drown' victim Matt Ward, who like Swalls also disappeared under suspicious circumstances from downtown Indianapolis, means the typical "he was drunk and drowned" story officials always issue in these cases now has a zillion little holes in it.
Despite police claims that Ward was heavily intoxicated when he drowned in October 2012, Ward's tox report showed him to be only slightly above the legal limit for driving an automobile. A fact which proves that the 911 call he made seconds before he went missing was not "just a misdial" as Indy metro-police are now insisting.
Matt Ward's emergency cellphone call was placed during a physical altercation in a parking lot with a bouncer from the Landsharks nightclub. The bouncer was never questioned by police and they say he has since "left town."
The Swalls and Ward reports are major achievements in The Case Of the Drowning Men. Normally medical examiners quickly rubberstamp investigators' assertions that a missing young man simply drank too much and fell into the water and perished. Therefore, even when the evidence clearly points to foul play, they'll pull a high BAC reading out of their hat instead, so to support the bogus ruling. Rarely will a coroner's office perform comprehensive tox reports on Smiley Face victims unless they feel publicly pressured to...
So let's keep the heat on Smiley then. We're finally getting somewhere.
Thank you for posting the tox screen results. I am new to this, but it appears to me that they didn't screen for GHB. If that's the case, do you know if post-mortem tox screens routinely look for common date rape drugs? Or does an ME need to request that in addition to the usual panel? I believe the benzodiazepines would have found if he'd been slipped a roofie. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteGHB (Gamma-hydroxybutyrate) is usually screened for. Unfortunately though, it doesn't stay in the system very long -- max about 8 hours in blood and 12 hours in urine -- which is why it's so popular with rapists.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, like a variety of other chemicals including alcohol, GHB is also produced through decomposition. So unless a lab is seeing a significant quantity of this byproduct in postmortem samples, it's hard to positively conclude by only trace amounts if a person was drugged with GHB before they died.
Tox tests on Swalls' were done from the heart and other organs, too. The only trace substance found in him was glucose in the urine. However, for forensic purposes, urine from decomposing bodies is widely viewed by pathologists as unreliable since it's easily contaminated by putrefaction.
I have the autopsy results as well. These show "mild to moderate decomposition" which is quite curious considering how long he'd been missing. Keep in mind that, allegedly, all that time Josh Swalls' body was in water decomposing...
He also had bruising and scrapes on his brow, nose, cheek and legs. These injuries are described as perimortem (at the moment preceding death).
Guess he got roughed up by somebody. His father, Dan Swalls, has a private investigator on the case now, and the two are pursuing the police to properly investigate.
Thank you for the great comment--
E.R.
Kudos for the Swalls family for standing up for justice for their son. I kept up on this case. If I recall right without looking it up Josh was said to have been in the water for 1 week and he had been missing for 3 week. Do the cops ignore this? Hello, where was the boy when he was missing for 2 weeks? I would be on them for an answer to that one too. Am I right in saying he was missing 3 weeks and said to be in the water for 1 week or am I thinking of another boy? I read so much on them sometimes the stories combine due to the similarity in cases. I read so much its ridiculous. Anyways.... My heart goes out to yet another family of a young man. This smiley face guy has some serious issues. I wonder what his sick psychological reasoning's are to go after young university boys. I don't recall reading Josh was a university boy, did he go to a university? I know a few of the boys do not go to universities and I am curious to if this is smiley making a oops thinking the person does or just seeing a young man and having such issues maybe the person unknowingly angers him and strikes.
ReplyDelete@ Peonydoe
ReplyDeleteBasically, you're thinking of the right case--when tactical divers returned to the retention pond the second time in order to recover Josh Swalls' body from it, they informed his father that the corpse looked like it had only been submerged about a week. The autopsy indicates similar findings. In fact, I'd estimate by the coroner's detailed descriptions no more than seven to ten days, tops.
Josh was missing for approximately three weeks in all. (November 2012.)
This is a comment from a friend of Michael Ellis
ReplyDeleteMichael Ellis was seen running across Nato Parkway after being approached by what appeared to be a security guard who spoke into some kind of radio. The surveilance video showing this was put into evidence by Detectives. Why was this security guard (or whoever he was)never identified nor spoken of again? And Michael Ellis had fingerprint bruises on both wrists, as if held against his will. He also had purple contusions on both upper arms, again as if held down against his will. He also had toes scraped and bloody, knees as well, elbows as well. All this happened in less than a three block area as he left the club and walked to the fountain where he was found the next morning, victim of hypothermia.
some info on Chris Jenkins homicide
ReplyDeleteWe crossed Hennepin and proceeded to walk towards the Hennepin avenue bridge. I placed cell calls to both XXXXXX of the FBI and XXXXXX of the BCA and explained the apparent hit by the bloodhound. Beneath the north end of the Hennepin avenue bridge the bloodhound went to and into the river directly below the bridge. XXXXXX felt that might indicate another hit. We walked north on the rivers edge which proved unremarkable except for bedding and clothing located underneath the Grain Belt sign just past the west side of the bridge. There were Indian signs scratched into the steel support beams of the billboard and a slogan that read “stand proud.”
It was speculated that Chris had bruises from playing laCrosse. The bouncer is considered a prime suspect
Grain Belt is -Grain Belt beer. There does seem to be the possibility of symbolisi. There were already murders in lacrosse and items left at an indian statue and one of those victims was Blatz which is the name of a beer they made in laCrosse. Also Jenkins seemed to have been put in a pose just like the indian statue in LaCrosse and was dressed like an indian.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38601514/ns/solve_my_mystery/t/investigators-notes/#.UPq_KmfWibp
Great stuff, Tennessee. Thank you for sharing it here.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, regarding Chris Jenkins' case which was finally labeled a homicide, and "the bouncer is a prime suspect"...
He was also an off-duty cop.
Might explain the police department's foot-dragging and mishandling of Jenkins' disappearance and drowning, and the hell they put his parents through before finally being forced to investigate and, later, to publicly apologize.
It also shows the advantages of hiring a private investigator.
E.R.
Was Swalls a Type I diabetic? Several other of these men were, although I'm not sure that the numbers are statistically relevant and mean anything.
ReplyDeleteAll of my theories are based on newspaper articles. I have no access to autopsy or police reports. That said, I have come to believe that these men are being compromised by some sort of drug. Or perhaps a teenager or early twenty something could be so drunk that they could be abducted. In any case, there are almost never any signs of foul play, at least that are reported in the newspapers. So here's what I don't understand. For a strong young man to be murdered with no visible signs of foul play, he must be rendered almost completely vulnerable, by drug or by alcohol. But if he died at that point, when the GHB, roofie, etc., were still in his system, and he was especially vulnerable, then wouldn't the drug be detected by the tox screen, if they're looking for it? But if the killing takes place after the drug is out of his system, why aren't we seeing significant defensive wounds?
They can say they tested for drugs ,but unless they specifically look for a certain drug they might not detect it. We are seeing signs of defensive wounds. It also may be the case where injuries are overlooked or assumed to occurred while the victim was in the water. There have been bruised knuckles,ligature marks,and teeth knocked out.How often this is the case Is unknownWe also can not assume they found all the victims of a killer yet .
ReplyDeleteIsrael Keyes owned a cabin in Constable which is not all that far from where Collin Gillis-Adam Falcon and Albert Campbell were victims. He previously robbed a bank in Tupper lake.
ReplyDeleteI worked with Joshua for a couple of years. Sweetest guy I've ever had the pleasure to know. This guy was all about his car. He came over to my place a couple of times & had the chance to drink some liquor but it wasn't his thing. Hanging out & having a good time clean & sober is what he was really about. He was murdered. He loved his family & the life he had to go do something stupid & drown. Miss my friend & think of him very often. Hoping they find his "killers" soon. He would've fought for his life so I know there was more than one person. Love u Josh. Yours always, V.
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