Background on the Smiley Face Gang Investigators

So how did all these people investigating and/or researching drowning deaths come to work together?

Decorated former NYC police sargeant, Kevin Gannon, has been trying to resolve what caused the death of at least one college student since 1997. In fact, he made a promise to Patrick McNeill's mother that he would not allow her son's death to go unsolved. He "joined forces" with NYPD Detective Anthony Duarte in a concerted effort to solve the case.

In 2003, they traveled to Minnesota where college student Chris Jenkins was found dead in the Mississippi - thought to be a drunken accident. "It screamed homicide," said Gannon. Jenkins was found floating on his back with his arms crossed on his chest - an unusual pose for a drowned person. Jenkins' death was reclassified as a homicide, and the retired NYPD cops found the spot where Jenkins might have been thrown into the water. It was there that they discovered the first smiley face.

Since that time, Gannon has dedicated his life, his work, even his own monetary means to finding the true circumstances surrounding the deaths of McNeill, Chad Sharon, Christopher Jenkins and dozens more young men across the Midwest.

In the early months of 2003, St. Cloud State University's criminal justice professor, Dr. Lee Gilbertson, invited his students to take a closer look at drowning death patterns of male college students in the region. Five young men had all turned up drowned in a three month period starting October, 2002.

During their investigative work, the Chad Sharon case (South Bend, IN // December, 2002) was one of more than a dozen the criminal justice students reviewed, according to other students in the program.

It has not been confirmed publicly, but it appears the culmination of the Gannon/Duarte investigation with that of the St. Cloud State students lead law enforcement to change the cause of death (CoD) for Chris Jenkins from "undetermined" to "homocide". Additional information gathered from study of more than 100 drowning deaths of young males during the same time period (1997 - 2002) provided a link between at least 40 cases.

Gannon explained, "Right now really, we're out of finances and really can't do any more on the cases. In fact, we looked at 89 cases in totality. We knocked out 30 right away and there was 19 cases that we haven't even done yet -- and out of those 19, it looks like at least 10 or 15 of those could be connected."

In mid-2006, Dr. Gilbertson and St. Cloud criminal justice graduate student, Adam Carlson, are officially working with Gannon and Duarte. Here is some data on the investigators as known thus far:

Kevin Gannon
- Retired NYPD Sargeant
- 20 years service
- Highly decorated

Anthony Duarte
- Retired NYPD Detective
- BA in Criminal Justice
- 20 years of service
- Several commendations

Dr. Lee Gilbertson
- Associate Professor; St. Cloud State University
- Criminal Justice Department
- MS in Criminal Justice
- PhD in Sociology
- 16 years military service
- Certified Gang Specialist

Adam Carlson
- Criminal Justice graduate student at St. Cloud State University
- Former student of Professor Gilbertson
- Certified Gang Specialist

The investigators, who have been working unpaid on the cases for two years, met four weeks ago with Minneapolis police to present their evidence, but approached the national media after local authorities didn't act, Steve Jenkins (Christopher's father) said.

It was bloggers and the media who dubbed the reported serial killer(s) as the Smiley Face Gang or Smiley Face Murder Club.

Sources: Minnesota Daily and Nationwide Investigations

Drowning Deaths Connected To Serial Killers In 2006?

Here's an excerpt from a May, 2006 article where Minnesotans connected the dots between young male college students drowning and a serial killer -- or killers. I kinda think Clave and Gilbertson hit the nail on the head two years ago -- and only now have we a name for the killer(s) -- Smiley Face Gang.

"Could that have happened to us? Could that have happened to one of our friends? those are the things you consider," says Amanda Pressenger, are graduate student at Saint Cloud State University, near Minneapolis."No one has taken an in-depth look at it from, all these cases," Pressenger explains.

She and fellow student Jessica Clave wondered whether Brian Welzien and Glen Leadley's deaths fit a pattern. So they looked at more than twenty cases, all midwest college students last seen drinking at parties or bars, who all vanished and turned up drowned. Among them: Ryan Getz, Keith Noble, Eric Blair, Chris Jenkins, Michael Noll, Josh Guimond, Chad Sharon, Jared Dion, Scot Radel and Brian Shaffer. The deaths, all clustered along Interstate 94 from Minnesota to Ohio.

"The one city that has the most victims is Lacrosse," says St. Cloud State criminology professor D. "Lee" Gilbertson. He noticed the men almost always went missing in the first half of the month, and only during the school year. A closer look at the map revealed a routine of sorts. "There is a cycle -- a chunk in there -- that is east, west, west, east, west, east that repeats itself twice," says Dr. Gilbertson. "That doesn't sound like an accident, either."

The data led students to suggest that it might be the work of a traveling businessman. But why? All these men were found dressed, with their wallets, cash and keys; and no signs of foul play. Professor Gilbertson has a theory. "We think that something happened to the killer when he was 21, possibly when he was drinking..."

Perhaps the killer got lost, took a ride from a stranger, was molested; and now, looks for victims that remind him of himself at that age. "There's no way he's going to touch these people or do anything to them to harm them because that's what happened to him," explains Dr. Gilbertson. So in a sickening twist, a killer may be drowning young men to protect them. "In order to keep control of the situation and to release them unharmed and pristine, the only way he can be sure of that is to kill 'em," says Dr. Gilbertson.

Saint Cloud's police chief listened to the students' presentation last week. But has his doubts, as do others, who see little more than a deadly chain of coincidences, glued together by binge drinking, darkness and hypothermia. "There may be a serial killer out there, there may not. you still don't have a concrete conclusion," says student Jessica Clave.

Investigation - Smiley Face Serial Killers

Photo from KSTP.com
I hate to tease you with a great story and then not deliver. Let's just say -- time permitting -- The Sope-Bocks is on the case of the smiley face serial killers. KSTP Eyewitness 5 News publicly broke the story earlier today. I plan to take in all the documentation and blog my investigation, as well as report to you about the evidence in a case that links 40 (or more) suspicious drownings in 25 cities across 11 states -- from as long ago as 1997.

The real work has been done by two retired police detectives and one of the victims' parents. Sgt. Kevin Gannon and Detective Anthony Duarte, along with victim Chris Jenkins parents, have spent thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars trying to find out what caused the deaths of 41 or more young male college students.

As with previous cases that became high profile news stories (Maria Lauterbach, Jesse Dirkhising, among others), The Sope-Bocks is prepared to offer insight and assistance to law enforcement, amateur sleuths and the blogosphere.

My profile of Ceasar Laurean assisted other bloggers (and maybe police) in tracking down Laurean's movements in the Lauterbach murder case. The Sope-Bocks was also instrumental in exposing the mass media cover-up of Jesse Dirkhising's torture and murder a few years ago.

I hope this investigation will help lead to a fitting end for the smiley face serial killers -- and closure for the many families who are tonight in pain due to the loss of their sons.