Accidental Drownings or the Smiley Face Killers?

April 26, 2008

Matt Kruziki was driving east through Iowa when he and his buddy decided they should rest for the night. They stopped in Dubuque and checked into a motel. It was still early, so they went across the river to a strip club, The River Queen Lounge, in East Dubuque, Illinois. He left the bar early in the morning on Christmas Eve, 2005.

He was never seen alive again.

Matt Kruziki
Matt Kruziki

Matt’s body was found floating in the Mississippi River on March 18, 2006. The coroner’s report said there were no signs of foul play. There are three things about this case that are very interesting. One, the coroner’s report said no foul play. Two, Matt’s body was located near Sinsiniwa Street and at that location, a crude smiley face was also found.

What could possibly be interesting about those three, seemingly unimportant, factoids in this case?

Because this is one of many all-too-similar drownings in the upper Midwest, all dismissed (in the opinion of many) way too lightly. In fact, it is one of far more than 40 similar drownings nationwide, stretching from New York to Montana. Most of the drownings, but not all, seem to be along the corridors of I-90 and I-94, two vital links that connect Boston to Seattle (I-90) and Michigan to Washington (I-94.)

The death of Chris Jenkins in the Twin Cities brought suspicions to a head several years ago. His death mirrored so many others. Jenkins was attending a Halloween party at The Lone Tree Bar, wearing a Native American costume, on October 31, 2002. He left the bar about 1 AM on November 1, alone, without a wallet or identification. He was not seen again until his body was found floating in the Mississippi River on February 27, 2003. The Medical Examiner’s report said, “…the cause of death is unknown, apparent drowning and the manner of death undetermined.”

The parents of Chris Jenkins did not accept that determination. They hired a private investigator and dug for more clues. After new evidence came to light, the Minneapolis Police Department began re-investigating the case. (It was later learned that Jenkins was kidnapped, tortured and dumped in the river.)

The further investigation caught the eye of two retired New York Police Department homicide detectives, Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte. Now retired, then Sergeant Gannon had been investigating the drowning death of a young, healthy and athletic young man, Patrick McNeill. McNeill had last been seen leaving a bar in New York in 1997. His body was found 11 miles downriver almost two months later. Gannon made a promise to McNeill’s parents that he would never give up on the case.

Joined by Duarte, the detectives  uncovered an alarming number of similar deaths around the country. All of the deaths were blamed on accidental drowning, all except one.

Because after further investigation, the determination of Jenkins’ death was changed from “undetermined” to “homicide.”

The multiple mysterious cases of accidental drowning are (at the time of this writing) the target of an investigation by Kristi Piehl, Investigative Reporter with KSTP-TV, the ABC affiliate in Minneapolis. In an interview with Piehl, Duarte said, “I think it is a serial killer, but not one individual. I would just say, a group of individuals, probably located in more than one state.” He is sure that, if not stopped, they will kill again.

The detectives have visited every site of a reported drowning, searching for the location of the body entering the water, not where found. At each location, they have found a disturbing symbol, a smiley face. They have found the smiley face in Wisconsin, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and most recently in Iowa.

In Michigan, with the usual sick graffiti, they found the word, “Sinsiniwa.” It meant nothing, at least, until they arrived in East Dubuque, Illinois. Matt Kruziki went into the river at the foot of Sinsiniwa Avenue.

There is little doubt now that these accidental drownings are anything but accidental. It offers hope to the distraught families of the victims. More importantly, it means they can find closure and the victims can find peace.

# # #

Ms. Piehl’s video reports can be seen on the KSTP website. Her first report aired on Wednesday, April 23 and her follow-up report on April 25. Click on the links to see the reports. In addition, you will find links to a map of some of the drowning locations, a copy of the police reports and several other documents of interest. Other sources for this entry include America’s Most Wanted, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the Waukesha Freeman.

 UPDATE

Other Mysterious “Accidental Drowning” cases that could be related, here on HFTM:

Joshua Szostak

Tom Smith - “Found” Forum

Tom Smith - Blog Entry

There is a thread here, too: Smiley Face Killers

Written by Ghost Writer · Filed Under Cold Cases, Commentary, Smiley Face River Killers 

Comments

13 Responses to “Accidental Drownings or the Smiley Face Killers?”

  1. packy on April 28th, 2008 8:26 pm

    It’s about time this has become believable that there is a possiblity of foul play in a lot of these cases.

    Thanks for providing us another way for these cases to come to the attention of the public. People out there know something. Hope we can reach them.

  2. The Kitchen Guy on April 28th, 2008 9:59 pm

    Cynthia Kaump did a report on this on Fox 6 television in Milwaukee tonight. She reports that the police chief in La Crosse, where there have been 8 such drownings, dismisses this entire investigation and doesn’t accept any of it as fact.

    WITI-TV 6 Fox News Mississippi Drownings Story

    You will also find a link to coverage of the press conference held in New York City today, where the retired detectives presented their case.

  3. kronman on April 29th, 2008 4:40 pm

    sinsiniwa - take it apart and re-arrange it a litte it becomes

    in sin I was

    or

    I was in sin

    the answer to those both is “born”
    you find that phrase in Steven Kings Storm of the Century where the character says Born in sin - come on in
    and also there is a song by Matthew Sweet which has Born in Sin as its refrain and a disturbing admission where he uses the word snuff as in to kill and admits to being a thrill killer within the context of the song. The geography of where the body is placed in the river practically gaurantees the body would have floated across state line and been discovered on the other side of the river - probably a kind of taunt to the FBI. The Smiley face picture shown on a news site has an X on the forehead - look up smiley and X and you get the blog short hand of X-( which is listed as a translation of user dead a kind of double reference. I wish they could catch these guys. There is a K-8 school in that neighborhood - I think he knew the area and probably got started being a killer of young people right there at that school - I bet if they look they can find one of the students of that school was a drowning victim in the timeframe of before the first killing they know about.

  4. J on May 2nd, 2008 12:01 pm

    Has anyone ever wrestled, fought back, or escaped these killers attempts? Nobody has crossed these crazed lunatics and actually escaped them with some kind of story to tell? Some of these so called victims are described as being strong and athletic. Nobody has overpowered the killer (s) yet? At least has someone been attacked by them without being successfully abducted or murdered? Are these guys that good at what they do? Why don’t they investigate police reports of reported assualts against young college aged men in the areas to gain some clues such as: specifics (someone jumping out of a vehicle at them), a face, number of people attacking them, or any description of attackers. In ten plus years across the country? Has there has been no kind of suspicion or possible identification of who may be behind all this, if it is real???? That seems odd to me. No disrespect to the deceased, may they rest in peace…..

  5. Dustin Bessire on October 3rd, 2008 2:14 pm

    I was looking into this case for three weeks straight as of July. I had dropped it and gotten a little behind. I’m looking for someone to theorize and compare evidence with. If interested, email me to the address dustin_bessire@yahoo.com

  6. Anon. on March 29th, 2009 2:25 pm

    I heard that there was one guy who got away, he woke up and was in the river and managed to save himself but he said he couldn’t remember anything really about how he got there suggesting GHB or some other drug that would affect memory ensuring that no matter what happened it couldn’t be traced back to them.It’s so creepy. I can’t remember where I read that though. Pretty sure it was on a news site though.

  7. Amanda on April 9th, 2009 8:18 am

    A student just went missing at our school coming back from a party early sunday morning at 3am in St. Paul. Scent dogs log his disappearance to the middle of the street. Seems very coincidental.

  8. liz on July 8th, 2009 10:49 am

    From http://www.todaystmj4.com

    “Missing UWM Student Found Dead in River
    MILWAUKEE - The body of a missing University of Wisconsin Milwaukee student was found in the Milwaukee River Monday. Bryan Barker, 21, hadn’t been seen since July 4.

    Police said no foul play is suspected.

    Barker was a business major from New London, Wisconsin.

    He was last seen leaving Sullivan’s, a Water Street bar, about 1 a.m. on Saturday. Barker was out celebrating a friend’s birthday and left the bar to walk to home.

    The medical examiner’s report says friends described Barker as intoxicated at the time.

    His family reported him missing later Saturday after Barker’s girlfriend could not reach him on his cell phone.

    Barker’s body was recovered from the river about two blocks north of the bar.”

    The same thing happened almost exaclty 2 years ago at this same location.

  9. Karl Forston on October 5th, 2009 4:10 pm

    recently came into contact with one of these sickos I believe. His name is Christopher Paul Fredericks. He let me stay in his garage when I needed a place to stay.He has a smiley face tatoo on his side. He spent time in Leavenworth. He lived near the Mississippi river during his youth. He bugged me to get a tattoo on my arm. He was a bartender at a bar right on the ocean in Imperial Beach Ca. He told me he had someone killed and two people he knew drowned when he was younger. My last name Forston is the same as a policeman who arressted an Indian protester in Indiana. Apparently I have ancestors who wronged the indians. He is native american. He placed a bottle of muriatic acid next to a water heater where I was sleeping. I was slowly being poisoned by the acid. This a doctor confirmed. I have tried to contact Gannon and Duarte but so far have not been contacted. I believe I could help crack this case. My email address is karlforston@yahoo.com If any interested party would like to contact me please feel free to. I have even more information than this that might help.

  10. Rather not say on February 3rd, 2010 6:35 pm

    This is alot bigger than most people know or what they would like to believe.

  11. Rather not say on March 4th, 2010 8:13 pm

    I grew up on sinsinawa. It was a shady area even then. I had my fair share of creeps try to mess with me when I was little. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if a killer came from this area. The school is about a mile from the end of sinsinawa, which ends in the bar district with all the strippers. The other end (south) heads towards Galena. We used to run around by the river in the “flats” and hop trains. Man was I ever stupid to be in such dangerous situations. Had one guy chase me and a friend with a knife and another flash me and masterbate when I was 11

  12. JOHN on March 19th, 2010 11:38 pm

    Dead man’s family seeks information about his dissappearance

    01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, March 18, 2010

    By Richard C. Dujardin and amanda milkovits

    Journal Staff Writers

    PROVIDENCE — The grandfather of the 23-year-old Dedham, Mass., man whose body was discovered by friends, partly submerged, in a secluded section of the fast-moving Woonasquatucket River Tuesday said the police told him Wednesday that they are treating Gregory Hart’s death as a homicide.

    But Maj. Thomas F. Oates III, head of the investigative division, said that without more test results and a final determination by the state medical examiner, police can treat Hart’s death only as suspicious.

    “His hands were cut up pretty good,” said Hart’s grandfather, Robert Corkery of Canton, Mass., as he offered a reward of $5,000 “or more” for anyone providing information that could lead to the conviction of whoever was involved in his grandson’s death.

    Hart, a dean’s list student at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with a major in economics when he graduated in June, was reportedly last seen alive at the Red Room nightclub early Sunday morning. He had gone there with a young Providence couple and a male friend from Milford, Mass., partly to celebrate his landing a “dream job” at Meditech, where he was to start Monday working on medical software.

    His younger sister, Victoria, said that when her brother failed to return home on Sunday, she went to Providence police to report him missing, only to be told he needed to be missing 24 hours before they could file a missing person report. The family’s calls for help intensified when he did not show up for his first day of work.

    Hart’s distraught parents, cousins, siblings and friends became actively involved in the search, with more than 40 friends coming from Massachusetts on Tuesday to look for the missing man. John Hart, his father, said that, during that period, the police did absolutely nothing. He said that when he visited the Police Public Safety Complex on Tuesday with a flier seeking information about his son, an officer said, “Why are you handing out those fliers? We don’t have anyone missing.”

    Lt. George Stamatakos of the Providence police, the head of the youth services bureau which handles missing persons investigations, disputes the family’s assessment, saying that the police visited hospitals, cab companies, buses, downtown hotels and even jails at local police departments, in their three-day search. He said the police and AT&T also repeatedly tried pinging his cell phone in hopes of picking up a signal.

    Stamatakos said he sympathized with the family.

    “When I saw the flier, I thought the kid looks a lot like my son, with the same bushy eyebrows,” Stamatakos said. “I told [Hart’s family], ‘Everyone wants to find your son.’ You can understand their anger and desperation and ‘Can’t you do more?’ ”

    The first officers involved later told a lieutenant that they had a bad feeling about Hart’s disappearance, Stamatakos said. They said he wasn’t the kind of person to just vanish.

    It fell to friends of Hart, his sister’s boyfriend, Corey McColgan, of Dedham, and Ryan Gearty, of Norton, to find his body. They found him in a portion of Woonasquatucket in front of 430 Kinsley Ave, about midway between Eagle Square and Acorn Street. He was found partially submerged, behind a fenced area, along with his wallet, license and iPhone.

    Hart was close to his family who said he was a smart, responsible and loving man. Last year, he stayed home and cared for his mother when she was being treated for breast cancer.

    “He’s my heart. I can’t even function. Nothing’s important anymore. He was the light of my life,” his mother, Marianne Hart, said by phone Wednesday. “Somebody did something to him,” she said. “I know him too well. You’d almost call him a ‘mama’s boy.’ I was very close to my son.”

    On Wednesday, both the police and family said they had heard conflicting stories about what went on the night of Hart’s disappearance, and what occurred at the Red Room, whose president is Rebecca Carroll, the wife of Providence police Detective Sean Carroll.

    Family members said that the friends who were with Hart that night have offered vague and conflicting stories as to what happened.

    “Everybody has different stories,” said Lauren Allen, 20, a cousin. “Some say he left by the bar himself. But he wouldn’t do that, especially in the pouring rain.”

    Michael Allen, another cousin, said two men who had been with Hart that night said there had been a fight that evening, but that the fight was between them and that Hart was not involved.

    One of the friends said he went to the International House of Pancakes at 45 Pleasant Valley Parkway after leaving the night spot, thinking he would find Hart there. The other two friends, the couple, said they got a ride with a pizza delivery man back to her apartment on Eaton Street. That is also where Hart’s Mustang was parked.

    Hart’s grandfather told The Journal that he is looking for anyone who may have seen any fights or saw the Mustang driving around in the vicinity of the Red Room at 1 Fox Place late Saturday or early Sunday morning.

    rdujardi@projo.com

  13. schijtbnc on March 31st, 2010 2:14 pm

    I didn’t understand the concluding part of your article, could you please explain it more?

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