Found Deceased OH - Joey LaBute, 26, Columbus, 4 March 2016 #2

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Evans refutes serial killer theory for bodies found in waterways
May 23, 2017

Snipped...
,,,Between 2009 and March 2016, authorities searching Boston area waterways recovered the bodies of at least 11 people, mostly young men, who had previously been reported missing, in many cases for days.

Other US cities have had similar incidents, and authorities have said the vast majority of the deaths were accidents or suicides. Often, drugs or alcohol were involved. In some instances, weather conditions were bad.

The seemingly high number of cases, coupled with their apparent similarities, has prompted curiosity over the years, and even speculation that the deaths may somehow be connected and the work of a serial killer or killers.

But law enforcement officials working the cases have found no connection between them and have noted that the number of people rescued after falling or jumping into waterways was significantly higher than the number of such cases that resulted in death.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...d-waterways/51A35WMn4zHhOjcvJ3htXO/story.html
 
I wonder why people have preferences about this. Like why do our brains have a preference? I have a great deal of compassion for the victims and their loved ones, but I'm fascinated by the psychology at work here. It's better or easier to believe someone was killed by a serial killer than had an accident or committed suicide.
 
To me, when you are found in the water with no water in lungs (like Joey) it is obvious that foul play is probable. But, many of these guys downed. In one case, they even had video of him walking across a bridge and falling into the water. I agree, those cases are often accidents or suicide.

Joey's case needs attention, though. He didn't die and then fall in the water himself. Its very strange.
 
To me, when you are found in the water with no water in lungs (like Joey) it is obvious that foul play is probable. But, many of these guys downed. In one case, they even had video of him walking across a bridge and falling into the water. I agree, those cases are often accidents or suicide.

Joey's case needs attention, though. He didn't die and then fall in the water himself. Its very strange.

I agree.
 
The autopsy showed no water in Joey's lungs, but alcohol was found in his system. What i did find is interesting. This might provide perhaps some further insight into this. There are 2 sections.


I copied and pasted & the reference is listed below at the bottom.

It is stated,
"Quite simply if the pathologist has been asked to autopsy a body that was found in water but does not have any physical injuries or problems with heart disease then the most likely conclusion is that death was caused by drowning and is then listed as death by misadventure."

It is further stated,
"Indeed there may well be occasions when it proves difficult to establish whether or not the deceased was alive when they entered the water; this is because that even if an individual is deceased when they enter the water, providing the body remains submerged for a period of time, then the lungs will fill up anyway. Occasionally a condition called 'dry drowning' may present itself; this is where the deceased's larynx has gone into spasm as water has entered the throat, thus the passage to the lungs is blocked..."

http://www.exploreforensics.co.uk/drowning.html

Thanks for the link.

Drowning and Crime

Drowning is difficult to prove beyond the accidental death stage simply because of the nature in which it happens. Proving that an unknown assailant in some way aided the death of another by drowning is difficult to establish and can usually only be established if there are physical wounds such as cuts or bruises or indeed if an eye witness has saw the event take place.
 
But he didn't drown, right? It would be hard to prove if drowning was accidental or malicious. But not having water in the lungs would be easier, right? Cause you don't accidentally NOT drown and die in water. Even if you got hypothermia, you would still drown, I think

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But he didn't drown, right? It would be hard to prove if drowning was accidental or malicious. But not having water in the lungs would be easier, right? Cause you don't accidentally NOT drown and die in water. Even if you got hypothermia, you would still drown, I think

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That's what I'm thinking. If he did drown there would be many possibilities and no way to know for certain. But if he didn't drown - what's left?
 
That's what I'm thinking. If he did drown there would be many possibilities and no way to know for certain. But if he didn't drown - what's left?
Exactly! Foul play either by malicious intent or dumping a body that had overdosed or something. And I don't think it's number B, honey!

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This is another case that interested me after hearing about it on the True Crime Garage Podcast (I am addicted LOL). After hearing the circumstances surrounding this case, I am of the opinion that Joey LaBute attracted someone nefarious in the college town he lived. I am not sure if this was a serial stalker, or possibly a homosexual traveler in town for the body building meet. However, my gut tells me he was probably drugged and taken elsewhere before the body was dumped.

Having attended a large University myself, and doing my share of drinking, I frankly find it hard to believe that so many young college males are getting drunk and falling into rivers. I simply don't buy this notion. Boys will pee in an alley, on a tree, on a car, especially if drunk. I don't see anyone going out of their way to pee in a river, only to lose their balance and fall in before drowning.

I mention this because there seems to be a trend of young white college students turning up dead in bodies of water. This is something the smiley face detectives have looked into (though I don't buy into their theory) as well as retired detective David Paulides.

To me it seems as though there could be a serial stalker who frequents large college towns and preys on young men. I think this case along with the Brian Shaffer case fit this M.O. I think LEOs need to be more thoughtful when examining these cases of young male college students dying in water. Something does not seem right here, someone is targeting college males across the country. Perhaps a flight attendant, or trucker.
 
The stranger danger theory is tempting. Especially on those hookup apps. But having talked to Joey on there, I'm not sure. Something about that whole night seems off leading up to the disappearance. I'll also add I was disappointed not to see more publicity for Joey at Columbus pride recently. He's slowly been forgotten.
 
The stranger danger theory is tempting. Especially on those hookup apps. But having talked to Joey on there, I'm not sure. Something about that whole night seems off leading up to the disappearance. I'll also add I was disappointed not to see more publicity for Joey at Columbus pride recently. He's slowly been forgotten.


I so agree and took a lot of heat for my believing then and now that Grindr had much to do with this sad story.
 
Even with a "dry drowning", would water not be in the lungs, or could the ME just not see it?
I can't begin to imagine what Joey's family is dealing with.
 
I don't understand why anyone would take heat for suggesting this could be a gay Grindr encounter gone wrong. People use that app to meet with strangers, that is really all it is for. So it is possible he tried to have a random encounter, under the influence, and was lured away from the bar by someone on Grindr. Let's also not forget, there was a massive body building event that weekend, so lots of people were visiting the city. Perhaps one of them had a profile that interested Joey, or it was a fake profile for the purposes of attracting people like Joey. Unfortunately, so much time has passed, and college towns have a large turn over of residents every few years, but I wonder if police went spoke to the gay community shortly after his disappearance and asked if anyone had any peculiar interaction on Grinder or other hookup apps.
 
This caught my eye..
Some people may willingly ingest this drug, others may have had their drink spiked.
If it is an intentional murder, maybe they take a drugged and disoriented individual near water and either push them or they fall in on their own.
Or, if it is an accidental death maybe they panic and simply dump the body in water.
Either way, maybe they think of it somehow as cleansing or even returning the person to the womb.
Complete speculation, imo.
http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/14/dramatic-rise-in-deaths-linked-to-chemsex-drug-ghb-6381680/
Jan. 2017
[h=1]Dramatic rise in deaths linked to chemsex drug GHB[/h]

London is being hit by a GHB death epidemic – and postmortem drug screenings aren’t even picking it up.

According to a disturbing new study, the number of people dying after taking GHB in the capital rose by 119% in just a year. In fact, someone was dying from GHB or GBL every 12 days in London in 2015.

GHB, along with mephedrone and crystal meth, is one of the three main drugs associated with chemsex – the practice of men having sex with men under the influence of drugs.



Researchers also found that all but one of the 61 people who died from causes related to GHB or GBL were men. Most of the deaths occurred in inner London, and in 77% of cases the deaths happened in private homes.
Shockingly, GHB is not included in the general toxicology screening that they do when someone suddenly dies and drug use is suspected.

Joanna Hockenhull, the scientist behind the study, told Buzzfeed that the screenings pick up ‘over 300 drugs – but not GHB’.
‘In London we have become aware of chemsex over the last five years, but a lot of people aren’t aware of it,’ she added. ‘Especially toxicologists.’

 
http://www.columbusalive.com/entertainment/20170222/what-happened-to-joey-labute
Feb 23, 2017
The place was packed. Union Cafe is a popular nightlife spot any weekend, but the first weekend in March also coincides with the Arnold Sports Festival, which brings 18,000 athletes and around 100,000 out-of-town spectators to Columbus each year. Many of the Arnold events take place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center and the Hilton Columbus Downtown, both of which are about a 15-minute walk down High Street from the Union.

At 12:19 a.m., LaBute texted Holly. “To help so goo5,” the text read, which Holly interpreted as LaBute saying it felt good to help Kyle celebrate with a fun night out. At 1:22 a.m., LaBute sent his last known text to another friend, but it looked like gibberish: “Jnhstioj.”

Based on interviews with LaBute’s friends, Sgt. Sicilian said LaBute may have been using a dating app at the bar, and Detective Wooten said he has looked into that possibility. Renner also said it wouldn’t be entirely unusual for someone to casually use a dating app like Grindr or Tinder throughout the night, and then duck out to meet up with somebody.

The Franklin County Coroner’s office told police that LaBute was likely already dead when he entered the water, but the full autopsy report offers few clues as to what happened to LaBute before he wound up in the river. There were no signs of physical trauma. No unusual chemicals came up in the toxicology report, just ethanol and caffeine. Given the decomposition process and the fact that LaBute had consumed alcoholic drinks the night he went missing, the presence and levels of ethanol in the blood were not particularly noteworthy or surprising.

There’s really only one option left,” said Detective Wooten, who brought up the possibility of certain drugs that dissipate in the body after a period of time. “GHB is a drug that could possibly be used in date rape scenarios,” Franklin County Coroner Chief Toxicologist Dan Baker said. “The human body already has low levels of GHB. After death and during decomposition, those normal GHB levels become elevated in everybody. So it would be impossible to tell if someone had exposure to GHB in a decomposed state.

We don’t know what was in his mind,” said Sgt. Sicilian, who mentioned that LaBute’s death could have been the result of an accident, after which whoever was with him panicked
 
I don't believe it was an accident. If ghb is a date rape drug and it killed him, then that's murder. I don't like that it's treated like something he chose to do. His death has always been understated, as a crime. It's not right.

And what happened with video dude? Why was he on radar? And was he found?

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