Announcing Smiley Face Killer Interview #1 with Gannon and Gilbertson

KILLING KILLERS is pleased to announce our upcoming Smiley Face Killer interview with none other than former NYPD homicide detective Kevin Gannon and internationally renown criminologist D. Lee Gilbertson.

It was Detective Gannon who, in 1997, first identified Victim Zero -- 21yo Patrick McNeill -- in what would become a decades-long *drowning* spree by an elusive "group" dubbed the Smiley Face Serial Killers.

Nearly 20 years ago, Gannon promised McNeill's grieving parents he'd never stop hunting their son's murderer, and to this day he has kept that vow, at great cost and consequence.

In that epic pursuit, Gannon joined forces with St. Cloud University's acclaimed sociologist and criminal-justice professor, D. Lee Gilbertson, and together this duo became one of Smiley's most relentless and formidable foes.

Since the late 1990s, Gannon and Gilbertson have been throwing a wide net for Smiley; forensically and statistically proving beyond a reasonable doubt, that the missing young men being victimized weren't drowning in cold weather by "accident" or committing "suicide."

In 2014 though, frustrated with local authorities stomping on Smiley Face crime scenes and with coroners rubber-stamping suspicious water fatalities as "accidental," they published the definitive, 462-page death-by-drowning analysis.

Gannon and Gilbertson's Case Studies in Drowning Forensics painstakingly dissects over a dozen  high-profile 'Smiley Face' disappearances and murders in the last 19+ years -- with autopsy results, photos, phone records, GPS data, and other never-before-seen evidence, permanently debunking the official "accidental drowning" myth.

So, if you're independently hunting Smiley too, then don't take another step until you've read this major treatise. Because, yes, your hunch that the Smiley Face cases are actual homicides is correct, and Gannon and Gilbertson can show you why.

And don't miss our exclusive Smiley Face Killer interview with Kevin Gannon and Dr. Gilbertson this week!

MORE ABOUT KEVIN GANNON: Kevin Gannon retired as a Detective-Sergeant for the NYC Police Department after 20 years of service, 14 of which were in supervisory positions. In addition to policing, he has extensive training and experience in personal and physical security, investigation and surveillance, and disaster response, including biochemical warfare training with the Department of Defense. Gannon has held leadership positions in the personal protection of numerous international dignitaries and celebrities, and was an NYPD representative on ex NYC mayor Giuliani’s 1997 "Operation ICE" (Interagency Chemical Exercise) task force, which planned and coordinated emergency responses to any major chemical disaster in lower Manhattan. 

As a detective and sergeant, Gannon routinely supervised plainclothes personnel in anti-crime, narcotics and robbery units, and was second in charge of the NYPD's Missing Persons Squad. He also headed the Bronx Homicide Task Force 'Nightwatch' from 1999 until his retirement. During his distinguished career in law enforcement, Gannon has made over 1000 felony arrests for offenses involving narcotics, burglaries, robberies and homicides, and was awarded almost 100 medals for heroism in the line of duty. As such, he remains one of the most decorated members of the Special Investigation Division of the NYPD's Detective Bureau, receiving the Medal of Valor twice before retiring. In 2008, Gannon also received the Frederic Milton Thrasher award for his continued investigative work on gang crime, a field in which he's also considered an expert.

ABOUT D. LEE GILBERTSON: A three-time recipient of the Frederic Milton Thrasher award, Dr. Gilbertson holds a doctorate in sociology with a concentration in gang criminology and substance abuse, as well as a Master of Science in Criminal Justice focusing on criminology and victimology. His background includes 16 years of exemplary military service (signals intelligence and infantry) from 1976 to 1992. He also trained in and served as the unit Alcohol and Drug Coordination officer (responsible for substance-abuse prevention training and overseeing urinalysis collections), and as the unit Nuclear and Biochemical Warfare Defense officer.

Dr. Gilbertson currently teaches at Saint Cloud State University and regularly works as a law enforcement consultant, providing training in the areas of forensic victimology, crime analysis, and gangs. He has in fact studied gangs, militias, and extremist groups since 1995 and is a certified gang specialist as well as the executive editor of the Journal of Gang Research. He's also presented and taught at numerous national and international conferences and academic institutions, and is a staff member of the National Gang Crime Research Center, participating in all phases of its 'International Gang Specialist Training' conferences.

EPONYMOUS ROX

SMILEY RAGES ON: The Jeffrey Woodruff Killing

Missing Found Drowned: Jeffrey Woodruff

Sometime around midnight of April 27th 2013, police in Saugatuck Michigan responded to a report of an unidentified male passed out in a lot near Wally's Bar and Grill.

When officers arrived to investigate the incident, however, the man "was gone," they claim. 

The following day the family of Jeffrey Woodruff, 25, realized he'd inexplicably gone missing overnight from the exact same town, so they began organizing a posse straightaway in order to effectively hunt for him.

They also called the local police department, of course, urging them to join in the search effort, but, to their puzzlement and dismay, the cops declined that invitation.

Officials also refused to list the uncharacteristically absent Woodruff as a missing person, despite learning his abandoned cellphone was recovered in a spot close to where the reportedly unconscious man had been sighted, the same night that Woodruff disappeared.

About Jeffrey Woodruff

The athletic Michigan native had only recently relocated to the riverside community of Saugatuck and was last seen on the night of April 27th socializing at Wally's popular pub.

Although new to the area, Woodruff was at ease going to a boisterous place like Wally's by himself because the bar owner is great pals with his boss over at the antique shop just down the road.

Amsterdam Antiques is in fact slightly more than a mile from Wally's watering hole, but the evening was fairly mild so, after closing up shop for his vacationing employer, Woodruff walked to the bar alone.

 
A number of other patrons who recalled chatting with him during the night found the newcomer friendly and outgoing, they said, adding that, while they'd observed him down a few beers, he was by no means slurring his speech or staggering.

Yet the nimble Woodruff still ended up dead in the Kalamazoo River hours later -- to be retrieved from those chilly waters by divers on April 30th, the supposed casualty of too much alcohol and an "accidental drowning."

Exactly how he went so quickly from a barstool to the bottom of a river, we may never know, since Wally's owner claims to have had a bit of a slip up too: He says he mistakenly erased all the film from his surveillance cameras.

The dead man was sporting a fresh gash across his knuckles, and an injured ear.

The Case of the Drowning Men

"They drink, they fall down, they drown," police and medical examiners always simplistically explain.

Not just a few though, not just a dozen, but hundreds and hundreds of young males between 17 and 30 -- from all walks of life, every race, every creed, every religion -- are drowning fully clothed in cold weather, for the past 16 years.

But before they all die in that bizarre manner, these victims first mysteriously disappear.

Sometimes they're gone for days, like Woodruff in Michigan. Sometimes for weeks, like Ward in Indiana. Sometimes for months, like Wilcox in Wisconsin. Sometimes for a decade, like Jansson in Illinois.

And sometimes, like Gillis in New York, they're never seen again...

Killing Killers will be featuring an exclusive interview with Becky Woodruff, in hopes of unraveling the tangled story of her own son's similar disappearance and untimely death in late April 2013.  Look for it soon in the VOICES FOR THE DEAD section. And read more about this case on CRIME MAGAZINE today.

Eponymous Rox

  

Smiley Face Murder Mystery: masonic eye tattoo key to IDing John Doe

Can you solve this Smiley Face Murder mystery?

Man with all-seeing mystic eye tattoo found drowned in Harlem's river

 

 

Detectives from New York  City's police department won't say exactly how they happened to stumble upon the partially clad and decomposing body of an adult male floating near the Bronx shore of the Harlem River early this May.

 

But they are asking for assistance from the public in identifying him. Something which, for those who knew the deceased man well, should be pretty easy to do -- he's got a very distinct eye and accompanying phrase tattooed in black ink on his shoulder.

 

Police say they've found no outward indication of any trauma on the cadaver, although they're still mystified as to how the mystic-eyed gent ended up dead in the water.

 

The meaning of his compelling tattoo has them a bit stumped, too.

 

Is it emblematic of membership with the secret order of the Masons? Is it an icon borrowed from the back of a dollar bill that the man merely found intriguing?  Or is he an assassinated Illuminati?

 

No one but the Smiley Face Killers can say, at the moment. But for anybody else who may recognize this graphic image, the NYPD asks that you call their anonymous Crime Stoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS.

 

EPONYMOUS ROX for Killing Killers

 

Cullen Finnerty Famed College QB Found Dead

UPDATE 6/14/13:  Cullen Finnerty toxicology tests negative;
Cause and manner of athlete's death still undetermined; 
Preliminary autopsy revealed a "slightly enlarged heart"
but coroner says there was no evidence of a heart attack.

Finnerty found face down in the woods with arms spread;
Had been fleeing "two men" allegedly following his boat.

-  5/29 story below; join active case discussion via comment section -

Cullen Finnerty, 30, a former star college QB found dead while fishing on Baldwin River in Michigan: Snakebite? Suicide? Psychosis? Or just another run-of-the-mill 'Smiley Face' serial killing?

 

Finnerty spent the weekend vacationing with his family and, in a classic Smiley Face Killer scenario -- absent an outright drowning -- somehow got  separated from them on Sunday, May 26th, while boating downriver.

 

Shortly thereafter the panicked-sounding athlete cellphoned his wife to vaguely inform her he was "in danger." He then left his watercraft and fled on foot into the adjacent woods ... promptly disappearing.

 

A massive search in those dense and swampy woodlands ensued, and the young man's corpse was found three days later. He was still wearing his waders and cammies.

 

Autopsy results are pending, but Michigan authorities are already insisting there was "no foul play" involved in the famous college quarterback's premature death. Ostensibly because there are no apparent indications of trauma on his body.

 

They also emphasize, rather self-consciously, that he "was not found in the water."

 

That's because Cullen Finnerty is but one of hundreds of males between 17 and 30 to weirdly vanish under similarly suspicious circumstances over the past 16 years, only to be found deceased days, weeks or months later in or near a lake, creek, pond, stream, or river.

 

In fact, Finnerty's sinister disappearance matches the following sampling of missing/found drowned cases documented for the month of May alone:

 

May 5, 2013 - Oklahoma: The body of Jerry Lytle, 22, was discovered floating face down in a local creek. Police state the young man disappeared following an altercation with friends and was found in the water a few days later. Foul play is therefore being investigated.

 

May 6th - Indiana: While searching for a male reported to be missing, searchers found the cadaver of a man in a nearby pond. Officals say it's not clear if this unidentified victim is the same person they were looking for, as an ID is still pending.

May 9th - Arkansas: The body of a young adult male found floating in a Polk County pond has been identified as that of missing 19-year-old Benjamin Wahl. Officials say the exact cause of his death is still unknown.

 

May 12th - Texas: The man recently discovered dead beneath a Medina River bridge has been identified as Mohamad Taiym. Foul play is strongly suspected, police say, because the 23-year-old vanished under suspicious circumstances. His car is still missing.

 

May 15th - Washington: Officials state that the body found in one of their coastal rivers is that of 30-year-old Jake Simons, missing since April 5 2013. They "know of no medical reason" why the man disappeared and drowned, they've claimed.

 

May 18th - Illinois: Officials have confirmed that the decomposed corpse of an adult male found in a local lake is that of Matt Pulis, the 31-year-old man who had suddenly gone missing in October 2012 during a night out with his coworkers and friends.

 

May 19th - Michigan: Forensic analysis of the remains of an unknown male found drowned in Thornapple River are being compared to local missing person reports in hopes of identifying the victim. The nature of John Doe's death has not been announced yet.

 

May  24th -  South Carolina:  Authorities have identified the body of a man found in Lake Welchel as Terry Lynn Martin Jr. The  29-year-old's disappearance was reported by his family and is considered suspicious, although his cause of death has not yet been determined.

May 26th - Georgia: The body of Calvin Cunningham, 19, has been found in an Augustan canal, after he was reported missing only days earlier. A local police officer claims to have sighted Cunningham and then pursued him on foot, but then he says the teen fled and even "jumped in the lake" to elude capture ... so he removed Cunningham from the missing persons databank. Further details concerning this case are being withheld pending a full investigation.

 

May 26th - New York: The badly decomposed corpse of an unidentified male was pulled out of the Hudson River. The body was discovered just 20 blocks south of the George Washington Bridge, the area where Curtis Aukshunas, 25, was said to have been sighted just before he mysteriously vanished on May 8, 2013.

 

May 28th - Michigan: Following an intensive search for him, '30-year-old Cullen Finnerty college QB found dead near Baldwin River', search-and-rescuers have just announced. The star athlete vanished without a trace after placing a distress call to his spouse in which he stated a belief that he was imminently "in danger." A cause of death is unknown at this time, authorities are stating.

May 28th - Arizona: The "fully clothed" body of 21-year-old Gerrick Begay was discovered floating in Tempe Town Lake, the same river basin where a number of other men his age have similarly been found over the past few years. Police are investigating and autopsy results are still pending.

May 29th - Alaska: Authorities say the remains of a young adult male retrieved from an Alaskan lake have been tentatively identified as those of Shanon Lovell, a resident of Anchorage. The 30-year-old had been reported missing after attending a party in early October 2012.

May 29th - California: Marine patrol deputies were dispatched to Konocti Bay in Clear Lake to retrieve the drowned body of 31-year-old Cuong Minh Tran, missing a few days prior after allegedly visiting his friend. Autopsy results and a cause of death are still pending.

May 31st - Pennsylvania: Rescue divers and homocide detectives from the Pittsburgh Police Department were called to the shores of the Ohio river after a boater spied the rotting corpse of 25-year-old Vijay Rajaputana floating in the water. No report yet on the cause or manner of death.
  

(NOTE: This is a partial list; more cases will be added as additional IDs and CODs as determined. Bookmark to follow and be sure to also check out April 2013's victims as well. Use the comment sections to send notice of other cases or updates on existing ones.)

 



MISSING PERSON ALERT: Curtis Aukshunas

UPDATE MAY 29, 2013 - Curtis Aukshunas found drowned: The badly decomposed body found on May 26th floating in the Hudson River just 20 blocks south of the George Washington bridge is in fact that of the missing 25-year-old man. 

Aukshunas, a NYC financial analyst, mysteriously went missing from work in midtown Manhattan on May 8th around noontime. He was dressed in a dark gray suit (no tie) and was believed to have taken a taxi at nearby 51st street and Seventh Avenue.

Allegedly he was last sighted in the vicinity of the George Washington Bridge, although it is not clear yet if he committed suicide by jumping, slipped over the rail as he was jogging, or met up with foul play somehow. Autopsy results are still pending.

 

 

Aukshunas resided in New Jersey with his wife and a host of rescue pets. Per his missing persons poster, he was 6' 3" tall and about 165 pounds, with brown hair and eyeglasses.

 

Anybody who may recognize this individual or who might know what happened which ultimately led to his drowning death is asked to call 911 or the Englewood, NJ police at (201) 568-4875.


Matthew Royer FOUND SAFE in another state. (At the request of the family no other details are available at this time:) MISSING FROM PENNSYLVANIA on 5/16/13: , 21 and a student at Rhode Island University, drove from campus at around 6PM on May 16th to his parent's home in Pennsylvania. He made a couple of service station stops along the way, but within only 35 miles of his destination his cell hone went dead and the young man then vanished without a trace.

Royer is a Caucasian male approximately 6'1" tall and 160 pounds. He has light brown hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing a green golf shirt, off-white shorts, flip-flops, and a Biltmore Adventures cap. He is/was driving a silver 2008 Chevy Cobalt with Pennsylvania license plate number GZR-9059. Anyone with any info about what happened to him is urged to contact the Pennsylvania State Police in Skippack at 610-584-1250.

 

Missing / Found Drowned (April 2013)

The following young males were missing / found drowned in the month of April 2013. Read May 2013's list here. Bookmark these posts if you are tracking and investigating the Drowning Men phenomenon too, and use the comment sections to send notice of any cases that have inadvertently been omitted:

Trevor James O'Brien, 28, went missing from Michigan in February. He was found drowned on April 23rd.
 

Ryhene Jamel Thomas, 25, went missing from Wisconsin in December 2012. He was found drowned on April 21st.

Charlie Geurts, 26, went missing from Wisconsin in January. He was found drowned on April 17th.

Sarath Kumar Potharaju, 35, went missing from Washington DC on Easter Sunday. He was was found drowned on April 11th.

Carl Austin Travis, 22, went missing from Ohio in February. He was found drowned on April 12th.

Nick Wilcox, 24, went missing from Wisconsin on New Year's day. A body was found floating in the Milwaukee body on March 29th and identified as his on April 1st.
 

Ryan Johnson, 28, went missing from Maine on April 17th and was found drowned the next day.

Jeffrey Woodruff, 25, went missing from Michigan on April 27th and was found drowned on April 30th.

Charles River drownings: On April 4th a cadaver was found on the banks of Boston's Charles River and identified only as a 22-year-old male. On April 26th another man's body was spotted floating near the Esplanade and ID'd via a wallet, although the victim's age and name has also not been disclosed.  This estruary has been the site of numerous cold weather drownings of male students and professionals over the past few years, the most suspicious by far being that of grad student Jonathan Dailey whose corpse was discovered by a rowing coach in October 2012 bound with chains and cinderblocks. The entire city of Boston itself is now a hot zone for missing/drowned young men and appears to have a new policy of not publicizing their disappearances anymore nor the identities of victims when finally located. Likewise, metro police are not following through with investigations either, even in dubious deaths such as 23-year-old Jon Dailey's and 21-year-old Franco Garcia's in February 2012. Therefore Killing Killers is urging all men between 17 and 30 to excercise extreme caution when visiting this metropolitan area and its numerous pubs, and to do so whether alone or with friends.

 

INVESTIGATE MISSING/DROWNED MAY 2013 CASE FILES HERE

 

*R.I.P. to Sunil Tripathi, 22, from Rhode Island who ran away from his family in mid March this year, leaving behind a cryptic suicide note. The despondent young man had dropped out of college a year earlier and was battling chronic depression for some time. His loved ones said if he did take his life that, based on previous discussions with him about this, they figured he would choose death by drowning and that is exactly what he did ... on April 24th a body was found floating in the Providence River and on April 25th it was positively identified as his. Thus brings a sad close to the search for him. 

(Note that the Killing Killers crime site does not cover disappearances and drownings by suicide, accident or hazing, but in the initial days the Tripathi case was presented by his family as a mysterious vanishing which closely resembled the bona fide ones regularly featured here. Use the comment section below to submit only suspicious disappearances and drownings, or use the contact feature on the side panel to e-mail me a tip.)

 

EPONYMOUS ROX

 

MISSING PERSON ALERT: Charles Geurts

UPDATE - April 18, 2013: R.I.P. Charlie Geurts, missing on January 15 2013 and found "drowned" in Wisconsin's Lake Monona in the city of Madison on April 17, 2013  MORE COMMENTARY HERE  (Post has been bounced to top of blog for ease of commenting.)

 

 

UPDATED 1/25/13 - STILL MISSING: Charles Geurts, 26, from Kaukauna Wisconsin was visiting the nearby city of Madison for an agricultural conference. He went missing early in the morning of January 15th after leaving his hotel room at the Sheraton.

 

Over the past 15 years, this northern U.S. city has become a hot spot for 'Smiley Face' disappearances and drownings of men between the ages of 17 and 30. Not incidentally, for that same length of time the Madison Police Department has shielded amongst its ranks a cop known for especially abusive treatment of young males he perceives to be inebriated.

 

Badged sociopath, Stephen Heimsness, has been written up a number of times for using excessive force -- beating, tasering, and even shooting to death unarmed and allegedly intoxicated men.

 

Recently suspended for the wrongful shooting death of 30-year-old Paul Heenan, officer Heimsness was cleared to return to work at the MPD just this month, ominous news for men like Geurts who was last observed to be drinking with friends.

 

Coincidentally, police say that someone in the neighborhood of the Sheraton Hotel had called the police about "a prowler" in their yard only 20 to 30 minutes after Charles Geurts left the hotel premises. Police say they have a "strong reason to believe" it was the missing young man, but refuse to elaborate on the basis for that hunch.

The MPD did, however, start searching for the 26-year-old almost immediately, which, as most people who follow these cases know, is an unusually swift response to a missing man report...
 

They have ended those search efforts now, and have also recently begun asserting that Geurts "fell into Lake Monona" and drowned, although this theory too they don't expound upon. As of January 23rd 2013, the MPD has still not released the name or names of the cops who responded to the 911 call on the evening the young man vanished into thin air...or thin ice.

Regardless of who the perps turn out to be, anyone with information about this case should contact the police at 608-266-4275. Charles Geurts is blond-haired, blue-eyed, and approximately six-feet tall and 180 pounds. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt, denim jeans, and boots when last sighted.

In that same now-notorious region Nick Wilcox, 24, still remains missing as well. Wilcox disappeared from downtown Milwaukee while celebrating New Year's eve with his friends. They last saw him being physically removed by bar bouncers for some yet unexplained reason, after which he too vanished in thin air. 

Nick Wilcox is described as a blond-haired, blue-eyed, six-foot-two, 180-pound Caucasian male. He was last seen wearing a gray shirt, dark pants and black shoes. Anyone with any information about this case is urged to contact the Milwaukee police at 414-933-4444, or their Sensitive Crimes Division at 414-935-7403. (Found drowned March 2013)
 

READ NEXT: An in depth look at the drowning death of actress Natalie Wood in November 1981. The "accidental" ruling in Wood's death has finally been overturned due to the recent determination by LA's county coroner that extensive bruising on the front and back of the victim's body is totally inconsistent with injuries derived in an ordinary ocean drowning. Wood's cold case is in the very early stages of a homicide investigation now, with her husband at the time, actor Robert Wagner, the prime suspect. Christopher Walken was also present the night that Natalie Wood--in the midst of a heated altercation with her soused spouse--disappeared from Wagner's yacht The Splendour. Wagner waited almost two hours after his wife went overboard before calling rescuers, during which time Wood perished. Of the two famous leading men on the luxury vessel that night, only Christopher Walken is cooperating with investigators; Wagner has gone into hiding at his mansion. In my examination of this famous drowning incident, I'll be comparing the Wood "accident" and her autopsy with the "accidental drowning" and autopsy findings of 22-year-old Joshua Swalls. Swalls' body was pulled out of a shallow retention pond in downtown Indianapolis this past November, a full three weeks after he mysteriously vanished. That pond had already been thoroughly searched by tactical divers within only days of his initial disappearance and his body is estimated to have only been in it for about a week...yet police have closed their investigation. How are these two suspicious water fatalities related? (Stay tuned for the answer.)

 

Sailor Drowns on Dry Land

After two long months, Carl Austin Travis has finally been found.

 

The 22-year-old sailor from the U.S.S. Halliburton was spotted in the Ohio River doing the Dead Man's Float, approximately seven miles south of where he was last seen in Marietta, Ohio.

 

The banks of the river and the water itself had already been searched before with sonar, probes and tactical divers, and the young man wasn't there.

 

Travis vanished from his Marietta hotel in the middle of February 2013 while on short leave from the Navy.

 

He told his family by phone that he was going out for the night with his friends, but was never seen or heard from again.

 

CLICK FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF THIS CASE
 

Murder Weapon in Coed's Slaying: A Bathtub Filled with Water

It has been a longstanding belief, widely held by law enforcement officials as high up as the FBI, that people don't kill people with water. Or they very rarely do, that is....

 

For months now, authorities have been hinting that pretty coed Julia Niswender was a victim of foul play, while never disclosing what evidence they'd found in the 23-year-old college student's off-campus apartment that supports such a grisly theory.

 

But at last, in what is bound to become a can of worms for the state of Michigan, where so many youths have been disappearing and drowning of late, police finally announced that the EMU student had been intentionally drowned in her bathtub.

 

read more here

 

Family of Nick Wilcox Insists He was Murdered

Milwaukee's police insist Nick Wilcox "slipped" into the river and "accidentally drowned" after bouncers dragged him from a bar on New Year's day and he went missing for three months.

 

They've told his family he walked over there to "relieve himself" and "fell" in.

But "I don't believe that," Wilcox's father says. "I knew him. He would not do that...What was he doing over there? None of this makes any sense."

 

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

"While the rate of police officers officially charged with murder is only 1.06% higher than the current general population's murder rate, if excessive force complaints involving fatalities were prosecuted as murder the murder rate for law enforcement officers would exceed the general population murder rate by 472%." -  Cato Institute, which ranks Milwaukee's police force among the top twenty most violent and criminal in the nation.

 

 

New Hope in Solving Lambertville Drownings

Hunterdon County's prosecutor and medical examiner say they will "leave open" their investigations into the sudden and suspicious disappearance and drowning death of 39-year-old bartender Sarah Majoras in Lambertville New Jersey this past January.

 

Officials had formally closed that inquiry on March 11th, but changed their minds after a recent request for access to their investigative documents by a reporter for The Trentonian revealed the startling fact that a full autopsy hadn't even been completed yet.

 

Read the full story here and, if you have been following this case and are concerned about its apparent linkage to the previous Lambertville canal drowning of Majoras' close friend, David Anderson, then share the article with whomever you can think of in order to give the matter more national exposure.

 

I will endeavor to provide more coverage of the Majoras/Anderson drownings on this website, and for other outlets I am affiliated with, whenever new information and evidence becomes available.

 

Eponymous Rox 

Body Found in Milwaukee River Likely That of Nick Wilcox

NEWEST UPDATE: 4/1/13:  Wilcox funeral to be held April 6th. - 3/30/13: Medical examiner  rubberstamped "accidental drowning" as the cause of Nick Wilcox's suspicious disappearance and death. His corpse was retrieved from the Milwaukee River decomposed beyond recognition, yet the coroner claims there "is no sign of trauma or injury to the body." Toxicology reports are still pending; little doubt they will claim a "high BAC" reading, too.

 

CLICK TO READ MORE COVERAGE HERE

 

 

3/29/13: Body found in river is Nick Wilcox

[read original report below]

MANSLAUGHTER IN MILWAUKEE AND

ANOTHER CONVENIENT DROWNING:

 

The body of "a man in his twenties" was retrieved from the Milwaukee River last night, not far from the disreputable bar that 24-year-old Nick Wilcox was dragged from by bouncers on New Year's day 2013.

 

Wilcox vanished after the troubling event which was witnessed by many including his friends but not fully captured on any surveillance videos. The bar has since lost its operating license.

 

An autopsy will be performed on the "badly decomposed" corpse now in order to positively ID the victim, although the Wilcox family has already been notified by police that it's probably their missing young man.

 

If it is Wilcox, that's additionally suspicious because the inordinate length of time between his sudden disappearance and refloat suggests that the body was recently dumped or else had been anchored. Otherwise it would have surfaced much sooner than three months and, with the strength of spring currents, most likely would not have been found in the exact same area where the victim purportedly entered the water and went under.

 

Milwaukee is infamous now for missing/drowned young male patrons, like Wilcox, and, not incidentally, for police brutality too. As a result, Milwaukee's concerned citizens have introduced sweeping new reforms this year striving to take the hiring, firing, and disciplining of cops out of police hands permanently.

 

Unfortunately, since many bouncers are off-duty officers and work in conjunction with their uniformed colleagues, citizen activists will need to focus their efforts on these rogue enforcers next.

 

Nobody, not even a cop, has the right to just take the life of another human being, even if the victim was indeed intoxicated.

 

 

Bookmark - updates to this developing story will be posted here.

The "Sunil Tripathi is Missing" Hype

When there are so many young men whose suspicious disappearances aren't being investigated, why the costly hunt for a suicidal college-dropout who's made it clear to his wealthy family he doesn't want to be found...?

 

The beguiling 'Find Sunil Tripathi' Facebook campaign that instantly transformed a mundane family melodrama into a major missing-persons saga not only showcases the value of mastering social media, but also the disparity in the way rich and poor are treated by the press and police agencies.

 

To wit: From the start, 22-year-old Sunny Tripathi, the son of a wealthy software CEO, has been shrewdly marketed by his tech-savvy family as a "missing Brown student" who mysteriously vanished one brisk March morning while strolling his college campus.

 

In reality, however, this young man isn't missing, per se, and he's not a student at Brown University either...read more

 

HUNTING SMILEY

What's Natalie Wood got to do with it?

 

Continuous coverage of the “Smiley Face Killers” investigation;

with breaking news, updates, photos, and brand new evidence.

 

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IN THIS ISSUE:
 

DEAD IN THE WATER FEATURE ARTICLE – examining new proofs and a new ruling in the Natalie Wood “accidental drowning” investigation - autopsy analysis and comparison with the November 2012 disappearance and drowning death of 22-year-old Joshua Swalls from Indianapolis, Indiana  /  page 47

Wrongful Death, or Bloody Murder? – investigating the David Gerken disappearance and drowning behind the Buffalo Bills’ stadium in upstate New York mid November 2012  /  page 1

Drowning In Neglect – why it’s always “an accident” ‒ crime exposé on the cozy relationship between the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Marion County Coroner’s Office  /  page 7

Voices For the Dead (Interview #1): in depth Q&A with the family of Indianapolis drown victim Walton Matthew Ward, 23, who vanished in October 2012 during an altercation with a bar bouncer and was found dead 11 days later in the White River  /  page 13

BLOOD ALCOHOL: Smiley Strikes Again – close up examination of postmortem toxicology findings for Matt Ward – drowning while intoxicated…when hardly even drunk  /  page 25

Voices For the Dead (Interview #2): in depth Q&A with the family of Indianapolis drown victim Joshua Swalls, who mysteriously disappeared and drowned in November 2012…while sober  /  Page 33

SMILEY INTERNATIONAL: Seeping and Creeping ‒ new faces, new cases, new places  /  page 57

Is Keyes Key To the Gillis Disappearance? a missing youth, and his link to a dead serial killer  /  page 60

10 Tips For Eluding the Smiley Face Serial Killers ‒ complete survival guide + sample profiles  /  page 65

Odd Drownings & Drowning Odds:  calculating the statistical chances of dying in freshwater  /  page 71 

 

HUNTING SMILEY FEBRUARY 2013 ILLUSTRATED PREMIER ISSUE

 

Body in Bay Jacob Samusenko?

UPDATE: 3/21/13 -

 

Coroner has ruled Jacob Samusenko's odd disappearance and drowning death "accidental" read full news article HERE (original story below)

 

He wasn't drinking, wasn't partying with his friends, wasn't hanging out at a bar until all hours of the evening. Instead the honor student disappeared form his parents' home two months ago while taking out the trash...

Now the family of Jacob Samusenko, 17, is awaiting confirmation today that the body retrieved from the Presque Isle Bay near to where he vanished in late January is in fact the missing teen. The decomposing cadaver was spotted yesterday afternoon by a passerby and the Samusenkos promptly notified by police...click to read the full article here, PLUS continued coverage posted in the article's comments section.

 

Victory in THE CASE OF THE DROWNING MEN

(From ABC NEWS out of Chicago)

February 25, 2013 - "The alarming number of young men drowning across the country has caught the attention of federal law enforcement...Federal authorities are said to be considering a nationwide investigation."

ABC reports that a group of former law enforcement personnel working together with independent investigators who all call themselves the "I Team" and who also run an organization called Find Me, studied hundreds of drowning men cases, many of which are covered extensively here on this weblog.

They have similarly and unequivocally concluded that there are now too many such deaths occurring throughout the United States, and that it's a statistical improbability that they are all accidents, whether or not these young men were drunk or sober.

Former federal drug enforcement agent Jerry Snyder is the founder of the not-for-profit victim-search group. He went on record as saying, "When we are talking numbers, there are 194 bodies. If half of those are homicides we have a problem here."

So, whatever beliefs people may have about THE CASE OF THE DROWNING MEN, whoever they think the culprits might be, mainstream theories or fringe, it doesn't matter. One thing is very clear now: Smiley's days are numbered.

   

                                        Special thanks to reader 'Tennessee111' for the scoop

 

MISSING PERSON REWARD: Nick Wilcox

$10,000 Reward

 

After numerous fundraising events, the family of 24-year-old Nick Wilcox is able at last to offer a monetary reward for information that will lead to closure in his disappearance last month.

 

"Bad case, good case, I hope to bring him home," the young man's sister, Andrea Wilcox, vowed when she announced the $10,000 reward to reporters this week.

 

Wilcox was last seen alive on New Year's day when he was being physically removed by unnamed bouncers from a disreputable and now defunct downtown Milwaukee bar, the Irish Rec Room. No explanation was ever provided for why his forced removal was necessary.

 

Additionally, police who were stationed in squad cars just outside the establishment that night claimed they witnessed nothing. They also say they have "no leads" regarding the Wilcox disappearance and have stopped searching for him.

 

Over the past decade or more, Milwaukee has been the scene of many similar ejections of young men from riverside pubs, which far too often has led to weird nonrecreational drowning deaths. Apparently with that in mind, police divers had immediately searched an area in the Milwaukee river where the "ice appeared to be disturbed" but reported that Wilcox wasn't in it.

 

The city of Milwaukee is also notorious for mysterious dash cam malfunctions in police cruisers -- an unbelievable 80% fail rate has been reported by patrol officers. That means valuable video feed from the specific units poised outside the Irish Rec Room to make arrests the night Nick Wilcox was ousted by security will likely never be retrieved.

 

Dash-cam failure and police brutality are two issues the residents of Milwaukee have finally decided to confront head on in 2013 as they seek once and for all to take the hiring, firing, and disciplining of cops out of the hands of police.

 

If successful,  they'd be the first in the land to implement this significant legislative overhaul -- for two  plus centuries law enforcement agencies throughout the United States have policed themselves and exercised sole discretion over who will or will not be members of the force.

 

Milwaukee citizen activists are hoping their sweeping reform proposal, combined with the mandatory installation in all squad cars of reliable dashboard cameras, will usher in a new era of 100% police accountability and guarantee greater public safety in their neighborhoods as a result.

 

In the meantime, Wilcox's loved ones will continue canvassing the particular Milwaukee neigborhood where he was last known to be in, as well as handing out and hanging up new fliers with reward information.

 

Nick Wilcox is six-foot-two, between 180 and 200 pounds, and has blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a grey shirt, dark pants and black shoes when he vanished. More details can be found at the Facebook page Find Nick Wilcox.