Yay...I'm in! Cheers to the webmaster!
Maybe this theory has already been ruled unlikely, but now that I can post a response, I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in...
I went to school at U of WI-Eau Claire in the 90's. Moved away about the time this all got started. Unless it was a minority fraternity/sorority from a much larger school that came in to town to do the deed, it wasn't a sorority/frat at UWEC doing this. I think it has become a bit more diverse in the last few years, but at the time I was there, you could count the number of African-American students attending on one hand. There were more Asian and Asian-American students than anything else, but many were ESL, so I doubt there was a highly organized minority fraternity/sorority operating there. Besides, the Greek system at UWEC barely had a pulse--they could barely get enough members to keep going. I was in one of the sororities, so I know.
The only 'gang' in Eau Claire that may have had an axe to grind with white males might be the semi-oppressed Laotian population in Eau Claire. But there wasn't normally violence associated with that population, so it's hard to imagine that someone there is the perp.
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Ok, on to Michael Noll. I read a post not long ago dismissing Noll's drowning in Eau Claire as accidental because he was so drunk that he walked into some old lady's house by accident. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss. His house was right on the Chippewa River, but he was found on Half Moon Lake in Carson Park in Eau Claire. I found this mapped data online, so I don't know if this is exactly where Noll was found on Half Moon, but at the nearest part of the lake, it's a half mile from his house. To the point were the map indicates, it's over a mile.
A couple hours before he was spotted in the neighborhood of his house, he was at the bars on Water Sreet, which is right where that Josh Snell pin is. If he was as drunk as it sounds, he probably got a ride home (upper green pin) from Water Street (no one living in that neighborhood walks to the bars--too far). And honestly, no one would have a reason to go to Carson Park (lake area) early in the morning. Not even for a walk. Anyone that would go to the park at that time (mostly high school kids go to smoke weed or make out) would go in their cars. It's not an inherently dangerous place, there's just not much to see except a bunch of trees. Frankly, I would find it a spooky place to be walking at night without a few other people around. But that's just me--I'm easily creeped out by dark solitude.
From the UWEC newspaper:
http://media.www.spectatornews.com/...ews/Noll-Found.In.Half.Moon.Lake-400974.shtml
{snip}
Senior Kim Lucas, a friend of Noll, said the discovery was a relief. Lucas said, however, she was surprised that Noll's body was in the lake, because most of the search had focused on the Chippewa River.
"I am absolutely just shocked," Lucas said. "Half Moon Lake was just out of the question."
{snip}
Authorities have not suspected foul play to this point.
Preliminary autopsy results released Wednesday list the cause of death as "probable fresh water drowning." Noll's body showed no sign of trauma, according to the report.
Lucas, however, isn't so sure.
"I honestly doubted (foul play) up until yesterday," she said. "(Now) I'm definitely questioning it."
Finding Noll's body there doesn't make sense, she said, because Half Moon Lake is so far from both his house and the Water Street bar area.
{snip}