More Severed Feet Flotsam Washes Ashore in Canada

Severed foot number 16 has washed ashore this week on the border of Washington State and Canada, but officials still don't suspect foul play is the answer to this grisly and recurring mystery.

As has been happening for the past several years, the latest piece of freaky flotsam to arrive in British Columbia via the Salish seaway is also a detached foot in a sneaker.

U.S. and Canadian coroners have previously determined that nearly all the drown victims these rotting appendages belonged to deliberately drowned themselves, either because they were "depressed" or suffered from "mental illness."

However, in 2007, when startled beachcombers discovered two separate severed feet in the same area and time-frame, Corporal Garry Cox of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police offered his own expert opinion:

“Two being found in such a short period of time is quite suspicious,” he told reporters for the Vancouver Sun. “Finding one foot is like a million to one odds,” he assured them.

Five more sneaker shoes filled with decomposing feet or foot bones appeared the following year, and now they just keep on coming.

Submerged corpses will disintegrate fairly quickly, especially when repeatedly subjected "to the push and pull" of a body of water as turbulent as the Pacific Ocean.

As well, these could easily become dismembered soon after going underwater by hungry marine animals.

Either of those possibilities might explain why only detached feet clad in buoyant rubber-soled footwear would eventually resurface and drift to shore again... 

But not why they aren't showing up anywhere else in the world, or why there's always only one severed foot per victim.

Theories about this strange case range from organized crime and drug cartel assassinations to human traffickers or an actual serial killer using the northwest ocean waters as a body dump.

What do you think is really going on?

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

  

Drowned UK student Souvik Pal "was murdered" says father

The father of a 19-year-old university student in Manchester England, who's corpse was just pulled out of a shallow canal already searched by divers weeks ago when he first went missing, has demanded authorities launch a murder investigation:
 

Souvik Pal, 19, was ejected by bouncers from the Warehouse Project nightclub in the city of Manchester on New Year's eve, apparently over a misunderstanding concerning the location of the bathrooms.

 

He was then observed on surveillance feed returning to the club only a few minutes later, hopeful of rejoining his friends who were still inside. However, security prevented him from reentering and after that the young man mysteriously vanished.

 

Police have begrudgingly obliged Mr. Pal's request for further inquiry into this troubling drowning, saying they will indeed go back to the Warehouse to interview revelers this weekend. Although clearly they are loathe to interrogate the overzealous bouncers themselves, the last people to actually see Souvik Pal alive and to interact with him. 

 

Here or abroad, that reluctance is typical of most police departments confronted with such cases because it's common practice for off-duty cops to moonlight as security for busy nightspots like the Warehouse Project. Thus, to thoroughly investigate a young male patron's sudden disappearance and inexplicable drowning would mean having to detain and possibly arrest one of their own in the process. 

 

That's the same reason why it's also become standard practice in these bogus "drowning" events for authorities to declare they found "no signs of foul play" involved. Even when the plot surrounding a young man's disappearance is thick enough to cut with a knife, and the perp in charge of guarding the pub door the night in question was seen returning from a quick trip to the river with bruised knuckles and damp trousers.

 

Initially, the Manchester police did try to convince Mr. Pal that there was no foul play involved in his own son's disappearance and drowning, but the distraught father showed he wasn't buying into the absurd theory. He insists his son was an excellent swimmer and, moreover, was hardly even drinking the night he went missing.

 

That assertion appears to have been officially confirmed by autopsy, the results of which compelled the medical examiner to list the cause and manner of Souvik Pal's premature death as "inconclusive." More detailed toxicology tests for drugs will have to be performed now, but these usually take weeks to be returned from the lab.

 

Likely those too will come back negative.

 

10 tips for eluding the Smiley Face killers

The unexplained disappearance and *drowning* of 26-year-old David Gerken, after he was mysteriously evicted from the Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park New York en route to the bathroom, is the classic 'Smiley Face Killer' motif.

Because there have now been hundreds of similar deaths, beginning with young Patrick McNeill's in 1997, and since there doesn't seem to be any end in sight to the carnage, it's time for those who match the standard victim profile in these cases to learn how to avoid falling prey. Study the following fact sheet and tips carefully, and be safe.

SMILEY VICTIMOLOGY: Are you a popular, clean-cut, slim and athletic, college-age male, between 17 and 30, planning an evening out with your friends? Then pay close attention to the details of Gerken's disappearance and drowning, because your description--like his--is identical with approximately 95% of the Smiley Face victims:

David Gerken, 26, was just named 'Employee of the Month' at his workplace where he had risen to the rank of foreman. Responsible and well-liked, he was attending a Bills' game with his brother and a friend last Thursday. They report he drank only two beers while there, and hadn't been in any altercations with anyone, prior to being intercepted on his way to the men's room and ordered to leave the stadium.

Additionally, Gerken expected to go to work the very next day and under those circumstances he customarily wouldn't have engaged in heavy *drinking. This is important to note since, in nearly all of these cases, alcohol is ruled a major factor leading to "accidental drowning" whether or not any had been consumed. (*Toxicology tests will always show the presence of alcohol in dead bodies because it is a byproduct of decay, and is often accelerated in corpses that have been submersed for a period of time.)

Once Gerken had gone outdoors, he immediately called his brother to inform him he'd been forced to leave the premises and said he didn't know why. He then calmly arranged for the three to meet up again at the nearby Tailgaters bar after the game had ended.

That was the last anybody heard from him. The final GPS tracking signal on his cell phone was for a location two miles from the sports arena, and his body was ultimately discovered by family searchers floating face down in Smokes Creek--the opposite direction of Tailgaters and a destination that required scaling numerous obstacles to get at, as well as a tall fence. Police have tentatively ruled Gerken's death an accident.

SMLEY'S MODUS OPERANDI: A young man is separated from his friends somehow--usually asked to leave an establishment by management personnel, although he is not outwardly intoxicated. Once he's gone outside, typically he will cell-phone one or more from his party to explain the odd incident to them and to arrange for a meeting place. He then goes missing instead and is found drowned in a nearby river, lake, pond or stream, some days, weeks or months later. On occasion, as with 18-year-old pre-med student Colin Gillis from Tupper Lake NY last March, he is never seen or heard from again.

Police almost always determine NSOFP (no signs of foul play), sometimes well in advance of finding a body. In a few extreme cases, say when  a corpse was actually recovered weighted down with a chain and cinder block (e.g. Jonathan Dailey/October 2012), or showed other indications that the deceased didn't "fall" into the water naturally, then investigators will pursue a theory of suicide. It is also not uncommon for parents to be told by the authorities that their sons died as a result of auto-assassination (reckless behavior symptomatic of a death wish). 

KILLING SEASON: Annually, from the months of September to April. Once in awhile it may extend without interruption into late spring.

KILL ZONE: Maine to the Dakotas and all parts in between; now also reaching across the border into Canada as well as a few more southerly districts of the United States. Some metropolitan hotspots in the US kill zone include but are not limited to Boston, New York, Lacrosse, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee, but essentially any town or city in a state traversed by the east/west interstate highways of 90 and 94 is in the high risk area.

RUIN SMILEY'S DAY: Follow these tips to minimize the danger of vanishing into thin air one night and ending up another unsolved "drowned" statistic:

1. Buddy up at all times. Safety in numbers is the name of the game, before, during and after a night out on the town.

2. Scrap the hoodie attire. Too many people think it makes young men look like...well...hoods, quite frankly. And, considering the percentage of Smiley Face victims who were wearing this particular piece of apparel when they went missing, a hooded sweatshirt should be regarded as a significant liability. (Ditto for flip-flops, and any other type of shoe not suitable for running in.)

3. Watch what you're drinking--never drink from someone else's bottle or glass, especially if you don't know them. This includes any liquid whatsoever (or substance) being offered by a female you might've just met.

4. If you are asked to leave an establishment ... get all 10 TIPS IN ALL, PLUS SMILEY CASE SPOTLIGHTS, UPDATES & MORE HERE OR HERE & find a full forensic analysis of the famous 'Smiley Face Serial Murder Theory' in:THE CASE OF THE DROWNING MEN, illustrated or plain text eBook editions.

Because you really can't see what you're not looking for.

Drowning Forensics

Anatomy of a Drowning

(From THE CASE OF THE DROWNING MEN)

For those who think that drowning is a pleasant way to go, think again. Drowning is a violent assault on the body during which the frightened victim fiercely, albeit briefly, battles to survive. Death follows exhaustion within only two or three minutes.

Technically, it is true that a person can drown in as little as a cup of water. A cup, a puddle, a ditch, a bathtub—anytime liquid enters the air passages and lungs, even if someone doesn’t die immediately, it can still turn fatal because there are a host of medical complications which arise that are always life-threatening, such as pneumonia and renal failure. These type of delayed fatalities are known as “secondary drownings” and, although their symptoms may develop over the course of several days, or even longer for some patients, they’re usually triggered within only a few hours of the initial incident.

But most victims drown fully submerged in water when the nose and mouth inadvertently become covered. Sometimes, when there is an instantaneous glottal spasm blocking off oxygen, or a preexisting medical condition, death can be automatic without any signs of a struggle. In the majority of drownings, however, this is not the case. Struggling is one of the key stages leading to unconsciousness and death. In fact, so intense can this final fight for life be that, in more than ten percent of drowning fatalities, an autopsy will actually reveal bruised and ruptured muscles, particularly in the shoulders, chest and neck. Evidence of injuries of this nature suggest to a medical examiner the strong likelihood that a victim was alive in the water at the time of their demise and not placed there already dead.

The stages of a full-immersion drowning event are fairly quick and, because the victim’s airways are being blocked, either by water and/or the epiglottis, it’s often completely soundless. There will be panicked thrashing as the victim desperately attempts to get air and to grab onto nearby objects for security, and then, when they can no longer hold their breath, they’ll begin to inhale water in large quantities, gulping it into their stomach as well. This action also rapidly circulates water throughout their other systems and bloodstream with differing biochemical reactions depending on whether they’re in saltwater or in fresh. This last stage of drowning ends with coughing, vomiting, convulsions, loss of consciousness, death, and rigormortis.

Very shortly after the victim dies their body will start to sink. If retrieved soon thereafter, their arms and hands may display cadaveric spasm, a posture in death borne out of extreme mental anguish and which reveals the person’s final thoughts and movements as they frantically fought to stay alive.

If a victim is not promptly retrieved at death, then, without exception and no matter how deep or how swift the water may be, their corpse will continue to drift downward until it reaches the bottom. This is where it will remain in a somewhat fetal position until gases from putrefaction cause it to rise to the surface once more.

A semi-fetal posture is the norm for all drown victims, so if divers do locate such a body before it ascends, but it isn’t in this pose and/or the head is seen to be tilted to one side, they must include these observations in their police recovery report, as it reveals the victim died on land and was put in the water post-rigormortis.

Typically, once the body does emerge on its own, it will surface in the general vicinity of where the victim originally went under. From this location the water may then carry the corpse along for quite a distance, depending on the strength of the currents or if it becomes ensnared and is thereby prevented.

Refloat largely varies on the water’s depth and temperature, taking only a matter of hours to occur if extremely warm and up to two weeks or longer if at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less. The timetable, therefore, is not fixed but is loosely as follows: at 40 degrees Fahrenheit it takes approximately fourteen to twenty days for a drown victim’s corpse to resurface; at 50 degrees ten to fourteen days; at 60 degrees seven to...read the rest for FREE here