Fourteen Dead Men: Link or No Link?

Source: CRC Press

I was at a forensics conference, scanning the offerings from the book merchants. I spotted Case Studies in Drowning Forensics, by Kevin Gannon and D. Lee Gilbertson. I’d done some writing on underwater forensics, so I ordered the text for my university library. I fully expected to acquire a book with the protocols for investigating drowning incidents. I was in for a surprise.

First, Drowning Forensics does contain plenty of investigative protocols. It would stand alone as a text just for this purpose. Submerged bodies call on special teams who not only have specific diving skills but knowledge about how to carefully collect evidence under water, handle a water-logged body, and stabilize a crime scene. While many people think that water washes away all evidence, water can also have a preservative effect.

Investigative teams should include divers trained in forensic recovery, as well as line tenders familiar with the underwater environment who can establish solid communication via the diver’s tether. It’s important that team members trust each other, as underwater work, especially in murky “black water,” can be treacherous.

The potential crime scene will include a “surface” and a “submerged” area. At the surface, investigators should look for the point of entry into the water, searching for potential evidence – clothing, footprints, or indications of a struggle. If a body is found, divers must map, diagram, and document its location and position. If possible, photos should be taken of remains in situ, or as soon as conditions permit.

Remains in poor condition present special problems for handling, and thus need extensive documentation. Divers must make a thorough search of the area for additional evidence i.e., jewelry and clothing, prior to moving any body part. The victim (or part) is placed inside a body bag while underwater, to prevent losing evidence as it is taken to the surface. In addition, divers must take precautions against contamination.

So, Case Studies in Drowning Forensics involves all of this, but related to a specific context: the so-called “Smiley Face” murders, which have occurred in eleven different states. The authors seek to prove that each of the cases is a homicide, not an accident or suicide, and then to examine possible links. The details are comprehensive.

I’ve heard things through the years about this alleged series. Some people have seen connections, others have not. But that smiley face image has been associated with at least a dozen scenes. Some could be random graffiti, or there might be copycats, especially as the legends gained media coverage. But there’s more to it, apparently, than some loosely related tales.

Gannon, a former police detective, and Gilbertson, a criminal justice professor, most definitely see the links. They argue via 14 cases (basing each chapter on an undergraduate course schedule) that one can’t easily dismiss some of the startling aspects of these incidents (although other investigators, including the FBI, do).

After reading this book, I’d agree, but I’m not sure I’d take the extra step and accept their theory about a cabal of killers – “numerous small groups of 8-10 people.” Even so, their argument is intriguing. Even disturbing.

Here’s an overview:

In 2008, retired New York police detectives Frank Gannon and Anthony Duarte claimed that starting around 1997, more than three-dozen corpses that had been pulled from rivers and lakes shared many striking similarities. The victims were white, twenty-something, athletic males with potential for successful futures until they went drinking one night near bodies of water. Somehow, all of them fell in and drowned.

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This fact alone makes these incidents worth examination, especially in the dozen in which smiley faces had been drawn near where the men had gone into the water.

Some were definitely victims of homicide. Patrick McNeil, for example, was drinking with friends at Manhattan’s Dapper Dog bar in February 1997. He disappeared that night and two months later, his corpse was dragged out of the East River. But he hadn’t just wandered away and fallen in. An autopsy revealed ligature marks around his neck, and other evidence indicated he’d been held indoors for some time; he hadn’t been in the water very long.

Yet, since some of the disappearances occurred on the same night in different states, the detectives have concluded that a “well-structured” organization of killers was responsible.

In 2008, the FBI countered this notion with a statement: “We have not developed any evidence to support links between these tragic deaths or any evidence substantiating the theory that these deaths are the work of a serial killer or killers. The vast majority of these instances appear to be alcohol-related drownings.”

Even so, there’s so much information in the book worth considering, whether you’re interested in the mechanics of drowning investigations or just want to see the full details of the Smiley Face story.