Are Serial Evil Smiley Face Killers Destroying Young College Student's Lives and Dreams? ~ Tommy G.

Are serial killer smiley face killers on the loose? Christopher Jenkins, 21, was a University of Minnesota senior with a bright future in business. On Halloween in 2002, Christopher vanished after last being seen in a bar. Four months later, his body turned up in the Mississippi River still wearing his Halloween costume. Four years later, police changed the cause of his death from accidental to probable homicide. His parents, Steve and Jan Jenkins, have always suspected foul play.

Patrick McNeill was a Fordham University Student whose body washed up in the East River two months after he left a bar in New York. His death, too, was initially ruled an accidental drowning.

In 2006, a tip from a man in jail, caused police to change Jenkins' cause of death from "unexplained drowning" to homicide. Retired NYPD detective Kevin Gannon and NYPD officer, Anthony Duarte, are helping to investigate these deaths. They hypothesizes that there has been many student drowning deaths, many of them involving young men who attended colleges along the Interstate 94 in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. Nine of the students attended the University of LaCrosse, in Wisconsin. Three attended colleges in New York state.
Potentially, as many as 40 college age men have died in bizarre drowning deaths across the country. The two detectives opine that in each case, the men may have been drugged and then thrown into the water to make it appear as if they'd drowned.

Water often washes away key pieces of evidence such as fingerprints, fibers, and DNA. Some of the deaths may also be connected in a bizarre fashion. Near the water's edge, a smiley face has been painted on trees and other surfaces. The smiley faces may have been left by the killers. They varied in size, shape and design. In Iowa, one had devils horns and a caption which read, "Evil Happy Smiley Face Man." Some of the other sites contained symbols similar to gang graffiti. Minneapolis police are not convinced that Jenkins' death was the work of a serial killer or killers. The FBI has not jumped on the bandwagon either. The FBI believes that the vast majority of these instances are "alcohol-related drowning."

Gannon and Duarte are none the less pressing onward. Scott Javin and Brad Henley were two college age students who apparently drowned in their vehicles. Wonder if there were ever any smiley faces left behind? Did any one think to check? In the interim, be on the lookout for any Evil Avatar Killers (some in the comments hypothesize it may be part of a gang or illegal organization's initiation.) Others speculate that it is just an isolated occurrence or two...