2008 Woodie Awards
River drownings: It's your call on two detectives' investigation
Miranda Helbling
Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Opinion
Many arguments have come up concerning the college river drownings in La Crosse. Were they drunken accidents or murder? Two retired NYPD detectives, Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, are now convinced that it is the latter.
We've all heard the common things that connect all the cases-how each victim was an athletic, intelligent and well-liked college-aged male. But the detectives think they have found even more evidence to connect the cases.
Gannon and Duarte's investigation started in New York with the drowning of Patrick McNeill. But the case that really drew their attention was the case of University of Minnesota student Chris Jenkins, the only case that was changed to "homicide." In their extensive investigation, they found out that Jenkins was driven around Minneapolis in a cargo van and then taken to the Mississippi River, where he was murdered. The killer or killers then moved his body to another part of the river.
The detectives think they can link at least 40 other drownings across the U.S. to Jenkins' drowning, including the following from Wisconsin: Charles Blatz, Anthony Skifton, Nathan Kapfer, Jeffrey Geesey, Craig Burrows, Michael Noll, Nathan Herr, Jared Dion, Joshua Snell, Kenji Ohnri and Lucas Homan. They feel they can do this because their investigation did not only focus on where the bodies were found, but also where they think they went in. In many cities across the country where they believe the bodies went in, there was a smiley-face symbol, which they believe is the killer's signature. In Michigan, they found the word "Sinsiniwa" near a sight, which they didn't understand until they found out where Matt Kruziki's body was found in Dubuque, Iowa: Sinsiniwa Avenue. Also, graffiti at various locations includes the same nicknames of killers.
Could this really be the truth? Could there really be a network of killers looking for victims? The detectives already have a list of suspects they think are responsible. They think that the reason the bodies were dumped into rivers was because water washes away a lot of evidence. And, they also point out that the river drownings would probably have been treated differently if the victims had been females.
Until the detectives release more information, the drownings still remain somewhat of a mystery. It's up to you. What do you think happened?
We've all heard the common things that connect all the cases-how each victim was an athletic, intelligent and well-liked college-aged male. But the detectives think they have found even more evidence to connect the cases.
Gannon and Duarte's investigation started in New York with the drowning of Patrick McNeill. But the case that really drew their attention was the case of University of Minnesota student Chris Jenkins, the only case that was changed to "homicide." In their extensive investigation, they found out that Jenkins was driven around Minneapolis in a cargo van and then taken to the Mississippi River, where he was murdered. The killer or killers then moved his body to another part of the river.
The detectives think they can link at least 40 other drownings across the U.S. to Jenkins' drowning, including the following from Wisconsin: Charles Blatz, Anthony Skifton, Nathan Kapfer, Jeffrey Geesey, Craig Burrows, Michael Noll, Nathan Herr, Jared Dion, Joshua Snell, Kenji Ohnri and Lucas Homan. They feel they can do this because their investigation did not only focus on where the bodies were found, but also where they think they went in. In many cities across the country where they believe the bodies went in, there was a smiley-face symbol, which they believe is the killer's signature. In Michigan, they found the word "Sinsiniwa" near a sight, which they didn't understand until they found out where Matt Kruziki's body was found in Dubuque, Iowa: Sinsiniwa Avenue. Also, graffiti at various locations includes the same nicknames of killers.
Could this really be the truth? Could there really be a network of killers looking for victims? The detectives already have a list of suspects they think are responsible. They think that the reason the bodies were dumped into rivers was because water washes away a lot of evidence. And, they also point out that the river drownings would probably have been treated differently if the victims had been females.
Until the detectives release more information, the drownings still remain somewhat of a mystery. It's up to you. What do you think happened?
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Bob
posted 5/01/08 @ 5:03 PM CST
It seems obvious that 1 death is an accident, 2 or 3 maybe, but by the time there are more than 40 young men of similar description who are dead its not a coincidence. (Continued…)
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