Deaths of Male College Students-General Discussion #1

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SeriouslySearching said:
Detectives Gannon and Duarte said their investigation started with a disappearance in 1997. However, I'm wondering if the following story could be connected because it is the exact same type of case, in the same geographic area. A young, athletic student walking home alone after a party, found drown in the white river. I remember this because I was also a student at Ball State in 1994 when this occurred. How can Gannon and Duarte be contacted so they may be alerted to this case?MISSING STUDENT'S BODY FOUND IN WHITE RIVERSource: ASSOCIATED PRESSA body pulled yesterday from the White River is a Ball State University student missing for the past 10 days, the Delaware County coroner said. Coroner Jack Stonebraker Jr. said Grant Young's death likely was accidental, but the cause is still under investigation. Tests are being conducted to determine whether alcohol was a factor in the 19-year-old's death. Young, a freshman from Carmel, was last seen around midnight April 10, out with some friends. His parents Published on April 21, 1994, Page 5A, News-Sentinel, The (Fort Wayne, IN)
Posted by:
Trem74 Apr-29

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/comments?type=story&id=4738621

I have tried to find information on this one and have not been successful.
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FYI I don't know if anyone has posted this but here's the website http://nationwideinvestigations.us/index.html and there is a contact page with an email. I emailed them yesterday.
 
Hi everyone, I'm going to jump in on this thread. I'm a college student in Whitewater, which isn't too far from La Crosse where a lot of these drownings occured. I didn't know any victims personally, but Luke Homan was a friend of several of my friends.

I'm a journalism student and I've spent a lot of time researching these cases. I've always been convinced that these were murders. My university has a lake literally right across the street from all of our bars downtown. Obviously its more difficult to drown in a lake than a river, but we have never even had an incident of someone getting drunk and deciding to take a swim. In fact, I've never seen anyone by the water in the years that I have been here, and our reputation for binge drinking is far worse than La Crosse's. I'm sure the same goes for many other schools, so this makes it hard to believe that these deaths are just coincidences.

As for the police, I've skimmed through the 19 pages so far and I've seen a conversation where someone said we are being too hard on the police force. Wisconsin for some reason has some of the most incompetent police. In Madison, we have unsolved murders (like Kelly Nolan) and according to a writer at the AP wire who frequently speaks to the detectives, they haven't really been trying to do much to solve the case.

As for the La Crosse police, I'm so sick of the chief passing this off as alcohol related incidents. And the media is even worse. The media in La Crosse must be under the chief's spell, because they report that "most of the students in La Crosse do not believe this is a serial killer." Well that is BS. In fact, I have a large number of friends there, and from what they all tell me, nearly everyone is convinced its a serial killer. I have also been in touch with a professor there who is convinced this is a killer. So don't believe what the media from La Crosse is telling you. As for that police chief, he's an absolute moron. That's my honest opinion. If you read what he has to say, he won't even consider the possiblity that it is anything but alcohol related. They never investigated these deaths as homicides, the only reason the FBI was called in was at the request of a government official in Madison (can't remember the name right now).

Anyways, I hope we can get to the bottom of this. The police are brushing off the smiley faces but obviously these 2 detectives have a lot more to go on than those symbols, otherwise they wouldn't have come forward with this information. These guys haven't been working on these cases THAT long if they didnt have significant reason to believe these deaths were the result of a group of serial killers or gangs or whatever they believe.

Sorry for the long post!
 
Welcome Schultzan! We look forward to another "local" insight.
 
schultzan31 said:
Hi everyone, I'm going to jump in on this thread. I'm a college student in Whitewater, which isn't too far from La Crosse where a lot of these drownings occured. I didn't know any victims personally, but Luke Homan was a friend of several of my friends.

I'm a journalism student and I've spent a lot of time researching these cases. I've always been convinced that these were murders. My university has a lake literally right across the street from all of our bars downtown. Obviously its more difficult to drown in a lake than a river, but we have never even had an incident of someone getting drunk and deciding to take a swim. In fact, I've never seen anyone by the water in the years that I have been here, and our reputation for binge drinking is far worse than La Crosse's. I'm sure the same goes for many other schools, so this makes it hard to believe that these deaths are just coincidences.

As for the police, I've skimmed through the 19 pages so far and I've seen a conversation where someone said we are being too hard on the police force. Wisconsin for some reason has some of the most incompetent police. In Madison, we have unsolved murders (like Kelly Nolan) and according to a writer at the AP wire who frequently speaks to the detectives, they haven't really been trying to do much to solve the case.

As for the La Crosse police, I'm so sick of the chief passing this off as alcohol related incidents. And the media is even worse. The media in La Crosse must be under the chief's spell, because they report that "most of the students in La Crosse do not believe this is a serial killer." Well that is BS. In fact, I have a large number of friends there, and from what they all tell me, nearly everyone is convinced its a serial killer. I have also been in touch with a professor there who is convinced this is a killer. So don't believe what the media from La Crosse is telling you. As for that police chief, he's an absolute moron. That's my honest opinion. If you read what he has to say, he won't even consider the possiblity that it is anything but alcohol related. They never investigated these deaths as homicides, the only reason the FBI was called in was at the request of a government official in Madison (can't remember the name right now).

Anyways, I hope we can get to the bottom of this. The police are brushing off the smiley faces but obviously these 2 detectives have a lot more to go on than those symbols, otherwise they wouldn't have come forward with this information. These guys haven't been working on these cases THAT long if they didnt have significant reason to believe these deaths were the result of a group of serial killers or gangs or whatever they believe.

Sorry for the long post!
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Glad you jumped in schultzan. My son and his roomies/friends in Madison echo your thoughts. Also, as I've mentioned, they fit the victim profile the detectives have been putting forth, so it has definitely gotten my attention as a worried parent. I know the kids I've talked with when I visit my son have told me repeatedly that the LE demonize drinking so much that any incident they can relate to drinking just gets brushed off. Almost as if because they were drinking, they deserve whatever happens to them! They have been burglarized, assaulted by other kids and because there is drinking going on (which, let's face it, usually is the case on weekends with college kids), the police don't pursue anything except, of course,to write up minor consumption tickets like they're going out of style. It's one thing when it's a car being broken into or a drunk kid starting a fight but when it's murder - well, it makes my blood boil. I think many have long suspected these cases are not accidents. Thank God people are pushing and it's finally getting some press. It's about time.

Eve
 
SuziQ said:
Thanks for posting that. For some reason, when I first read the file, I did not pick up on the fact that these were off duty LE. Interesting.
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I picked up on the off duty LE in the case of Chris..because that is who drove Ashley home and who she was introducing him to that evening.

Also in a couple different cases it is mentioned that police came up to the group and they scattered, with one of their friends never seen again. I think that someone who might be impersonating an officer is involved in some of these cases..which makes the kids take off..thus separated ..and then never seen again. Not all, but atleast a few that I've read. So in different groups/cults they may use differing means to separate and take down their prey.
 
I've got some info, I'm sure some of it has been posted, but maybe some of it is new:

*In most of the cases the person’s personal items, such as cell phone, keys or wallet, or even car, are found in another part of town basically in the opposite direction where the body was either put in the water or found.

*On multiple occasions, victims have gone missing the exact same night as another victim hundreds of miles apart, some examples:

31 DEC 1997: Ryan Getz, Student, 21, East Lansing MI (Drowned)
31 DEC 1997: Larry Andrews, 22, NYC NY (Drowned)

1 APR 2006: Wade Michael Lurk, Student, 17, Ste. Genevieve MO (Drowned)
1 APR 2006: Brian Shaffer, Student, 27, Columbus OH (Still Missing)

*Jared Dion, Josh Guimond and Luke Homan were from Waukesha County. Dion and Guimond were from Arrowhead High School and teammates on the wrestling team.

*Bloodhounds detected the scent of St. John’s student Josh Guimond and University of Minnesota student Chris Jenkins on in the vicinity of a monastery on the campus of St. John’s University. Jenkins was not a St. John’s student and was not known to have been on campus at any time. They both disappeared nine days apart in 2002

*Two people may have survived the killers. One, I won’t release his name out of respect, left a bar in LAX on 8 JAN 2006 at 0145 and blacked out until he woke up in the Mississippi a few hours later. His BAC at the hospital at 0700 was .04. The hospital estimates that his BAC was .16 at 0145...not nearly high enough to black out. An unidentified young man in Lafayette IN on 10 APR 2008 was given a laced drink at a bar and vaguely remembers being shoved into a car. He does, however, remember being thrown into the river and fighting for his life against the current.

*Victim Josh Snell, who “drowned” in Eau Clair in 2005, frantically called a friend the night he disappeared:

“22-year-old Josh Snell from Hastings, Minnesota, disappeared in Eau Claire in June of 2005. His brother says he was in town for a wedding and later went to the bars. Snell was found four days later, pulled from the Chippewa River. Jon Snell says he doesn't believe his brother wandered into the water.

In a phone call with a friend "he said he was scared, that he was hiding in a brushy area, that he was running from someone, that he didn’t know who it was or how he was going to get away. (He said) he didn’t do anything, but he was terrified and he was scared for his life,” Jon Snell says.”
http://www.weau.com/news/headlines/18353369.html
 
Eve- I'm also a worried parent of a student in Madison. Can't tell you how often I've told her to be sure to have the "buddy system" in place when she goes out. She thinks I'm a nutty mom...but I can't say it often enough. Something is going on.
 
RR0004 said:
Eve- I'm also a worried parent of a student in Madison. Can't tell you how often I've told her to be sure to have the "buddy system" in place when she goes out. She thinks I'm a nutty mom...but I can't say it often enough. Something is going on.
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Even if she doesn't say it, I'm sure your daughter listens to you. I graduate in a few weeks, and for the last 4 years I have never gone out alone without at least one friend thanks to the constant warnings from my mom :)
 
RR and Schultz,

Thanks! I hope my son listens. I also think he thinks I'm a real pain when I bring these things up. My worst nightmare is getting a call that he's missing or floating in the Lake Mendota. Every time I read about these drownings, my heart just breaks. These fine young men are being murdered, I just know it.

Eve
 
shadowraiths said:
KSTP
April 29, 2008
Quote:
A scenic New York college campus has become the center of an air and ground search after the disappearance of one of their students from St. Paul.

William Jacobson, 19, is a freshman at Ithaca College. He was last seen leaving a costume party off-campus early Sunday morning.

Full article: click here
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We discussed this case last night. Looks like he's been found. :( I added this info to the NY thread. Another victim? Possibly...........

fran

http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=4437ca0f-0f4f-4bb7-9669-acf344f0aff9&rss=112

Missing Ithaca College student found dead

Ithaca, New York (WSYR-TV) - The Ithaca College student who had been missing since Sunday has been found dead in a pond on campus.

The college public safety office said divers found the body at 9:30 Wednesday morning.

The office said freshman William Jacobson, 19, of St. Paul, Minnesota, had been last seen in the city of Ithaca between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m., Sunday April 27.

He was in a backyard on Grandview Ave., below Hudson Heights Apartments, leaving a party and was believed to be returning to his room.
 
laini said:
I notice almost all of these drownings are during the school year. Not in the summer, when I would think an accidental drowning while drunk would be most common. Does anyone know - are these bars around college towns pretty slow in the summer when college isn't going on? Or are they still pretty busy?
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nevermind
 
fran said:
We discussed this case last night. Looks like he's been found. :( I added this info to the NY thread. Another victim? Possibly...........

fran

http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=4437ca0f-0f4f-4bb7-9669-acf344f0aff9&rss=112

Missing Ithaca College student found dead

Ithaca, New York (WSYR-TV) - The Ithaca College student who had been missing since Sunday has been found dead in a pond on campus.

The college public safety office said divers found the body at 9:30 Wednesday morning.

The office said freshman William Jacobson, 19, of St. Paul, Minnesota, had been last seen in the city of Ithaca between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m., Sunday April 27.

He was in a backyard on Grandview Ave., below Hudson Heights Apartments, leaving a party and was believed to be returning to his room.
Click to expand...

In a pond:( and wearing a costume just like Chris Jenkins was. OMG. I am sick.

Eve
 
fran said:
We discussed this case last night. Looks like he's been found. :( I added this info to the NY thread. Another victim? Possibly...........

fran

http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=4437ca0f-0f4f-4bb7-9669-acf344f0aff9&rss=112

Missing Ithaca College student found dead

Ithaca, New York (WSYR-TV) - The Ithaca College student who had been missing since Sunday has been found dead in a pond on campus.

The college public safety office said divers found the body at 9:30 Wednesday morning.

The office said freshman William Jacobson, 19, of St. Paul, Minnesota, had been last seen in the city of Ithaca between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m., Sunday April 27.

He was in a backyard on Grandview Ave., below Hudson Heights Apartments, leaving a party and was believed to be returning to his room.
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Not trying to be super cynical, but I'm not surprised. Seems to be the trend lately. :( RIP, William.
 
Hi there.... New to this forum with much interest as I have a son in college.

In many of the articles I have read, they mentioned that Pennsylvania was one of the sites where a smiley face was found. Does anyone have any idea WHERE in PA? I am in PA and very curious.

Do these detectives have a blog or any type of website?

Thanks!
 
eve said:
In a pond:( and wearing a costume just like Chris Jenkins was. OMG. I am sick.

Eve
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Yes, here is a copy of my post from the possible vics thread, NY, where his name/case was submitted by SS. Here is my post from 12:50PM today to update the record..

He was leaving a COSTUME PARTY?? Remind you of anyone?
Chris Jenkins was found in his Indian costume.

The weekend the detectives breaking their hypothesis on these similar cases are in NY, using the Chris Jenkins case as their case study, who went missing the eve of Halloween dressed in costume- wtf??
This guy was from St. Paul???
 
RR0004 said:
Oh...I hope I haven't offende any LE (or family) out there. JMO
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I don't think so RR. I am often frustrated with LE investigational shortcomings and I'm married to a very dedicated police officer!

I see a problem with first responders who tend to pre-judge a situation to be something less than it is. This attitude of "same old same old, seen it a hundred times" leads to investigators having to try to retreive evidence which should have been collected in the beginning or track down witnesses who weren't properly interviewed.

Sloppy police-work can be all a defense attorney needs to get a criminal back on the streets in no time flat.

It is my opinion that police academies fail to seek out creative thinkers when qualifying candidates. They seem to look for leadership qualities, time management skills, physical fitness and communication skills but if a person can't think "out of the box", they are crippled when a crime takes an unexpected turn.

Susan
 
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