Smiley Face Gang

UPDATED: 3:13pm EDT

The Smiley Face Gang seems to have hit the news pretty big two days ago -- and dropped yesterday. Personally, I wonder why more isn't being said about the fact that more than 100 young men have died in supposed drowning accidents -- almost all in similar circumstances -- and the FBI, state agencies and attorneys general are not raising red flags about the situation.

I hate to say it, but if 100 young college girls went missing or supposedly drowned under similar circumstances, everyone in the media and half the federal law enforcement agencies would be crawling every inch of the banks of the Mississippi River -- and several lakes. If these guys were all gay, GLAAD, the NEA, HRC and every other liberal group with an agenda would be all over the story. Instead, these are mostly middle-class white guys -- so who cares?!?

Nonetheless, I'm still trying to find everything I can in order to assist LE and the blogosphere in solving the case. One thing -- I'm currently looking for a list of the 40 names that former detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte have associated to the Smiley Face Gang. I have the list of 19 names from Wisconsin and Minnesota. Add to that number, Patrick McNeill (NY) and Chad Sharon (IN). I need information (hopefully name & location of disappearance) on the other 19 young men.

I also know that victims died in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. Gannon and Duarte claim to have linked cases in eleven states. What other three states are involved? [I have read about a case in Tennessee (Jessiah Jameson), but am not sure if it is "officially" connected or not.]

If YOU have any additional information, please post a comment here. I would appreciate names, locations, dates and links to news or law enforcement documentation of the story.

Smiley Face Gang - Serial Killers?

Detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte have been tracking the suspicious drowning deaths of young men across the country ever since they investigated the death of fellow New Yorker (and college student) Patrick McNeill, who drowned in 1997. Gannon made a promise to McNeill's parents that he would never give up on his case.

The Sope-Bocks has already uncovered a couple more names that may or may not be on detectives Gannon and Duarte's list: Robert Barrington Leigh (University of Toronto) and Scott Javins (University of Indiana). Both young men drowned under what some might consider suspicious circumstances -- their deaths attributed to drunken student accidents.

In fact, most of the cause of death reports have been officially ruled "undetermined" or "drowning". A few similarities may link all 40 deaths:

• Male
• Late teens or early 20's in age
• College student
• Good grades
• Ventured out alone
• Almost all are white
• Most were athletic
• Alcohol served to victim or at location where last seen
• And last, but not least, all were close to a body of water

One more apparent link is a strange "smiley face" painted or markered at or very near the sight where several victims died. The detectives found the smiley faces in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.

I have also learned that Gannon & Duarte suspect the serial killers are either a gang or trying to manipulate evidence in order to look like a gang. Nicknames of gang members and at least once street name (Sinsiniwa) have also been found at multiple "drowning" sites.

While some folks are already writing the story off as mere speculation, I'm not prepared to do so just yet. There is one thing (thus far) that leads me to wonder whether any connection between the deaths exists -- serial killers are not gangs. If the cases are linked, there is at least one instance of two young men meeting their doom on the same night, in different cities. That would require at least two people -- maybe a minimum of four.

We're investigating and will continue to report as we learn more.