Starting in 1997, hundreds of college aged men have gone missing; they were found dead in a body of water weeks/months later. Are the deaths the work of a serial killer? Google defines a serial killer as “a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern” (Rader 1). However, could the deaths a coincidence? There’s possibly another theory to explain these deaths.
One individual stands out in his efforts to prove that the deaths of these young men were in fact not the deaths of a coincidence but the deaths of a serial killer. Not the serial killing of anything we have seen before, but the killings are from an organized group of people across the United States that operate through the Dark Web. Kevin Gannon is a highly respected individual of the law enforcement community. “Gannon retired as a Sergeant in the Detective Bureau from the New York City Police Department after 20 years of service” (Mcbride 1); he is the most highly decorated member of the Special Investigation Division, with almost 100 medals of bravery (1). He was also awarded two medals of valor (1). When he retired from the NYPD, he took an invested interest in theses killings called the “Smiley face killings”. Gannon is also very persistent. Over the last twelve years Gannon and his team has devoted their whole life to these cases (1). Even after going broke, being accused of sexual assault and battling cancer for eighteen months, he continues to work every day on the many cases to solve and prove that these deaths are not only related, but are the result of a organized group of people scattered across the United States (Egan 1).
Many of the deaths were very similar; for instance, in several of the cases, the men were athletic and all the victims were college aged, white males. Also, all the victims were found in a body of water, and all the deaths were ruled drownings or potential drownings. Gannon also states that the majority of the victims had GHB in their bodies (McBride 1). Dakota James was twenty-three and loved to run, swim, dance and bike (James 1). He was found in the “Ohio River on March 6, 2017, 40 days after he had disappeared” (Hayden 1). Brian Welzien was twenty-one and had dedicated his entire life to the university’s soccer team (1). His body was discovered on the beach in Gary, Indiana (1). William Hurley was twenty-four and was a Navy veteran (1). His body was discovered in the Charles River (1). Another similarity and the reason they are called the Smiley Face Killers is that in all the cases where the bodies were found an image of a smiley face was found at the scene. In one rare occurrence Todd Gieb, another victim, a smiley face sticker was later found at his grave site. Over the last twenty-two years, there is suspected to be over 300 deaths attributed to the Smiley Face Killer.
These murders were organized by a highly educated group on the dark web. The dark web is difficult to use if you don't know what you are looking for or you don’t know how to use it. The dark web is primarily used for drugs, guns and the selling of accounts such as bank cards and subscriptions. If you know what you’re looking for, you can get hit men, but something you would rarely see is the communication of serial killers. Gannon believes the Smiley Face Killers communicate through the dark web (Egan 1). He states:
Now we know they communicate with each other on the dark web. We know there is surveillance and counter-surveillance. Years ago, we were on their dark-web webpage but it was asking us to turn on a video camera so they could see who was about to type in the password and there’s no way we were doing that. And we did not even have the password. We’d just been given their URL, so went to it because we were told that’s how they communicate. (Egan 1)
Research suggests that it is in fact the work of an organized group of people that communicate over the dark web and not a coincidence. The body count remains over 300 deaths for the Smiley Face Killer victims.
A study done at College of the Mainland shows 79% of people believe the deaths were in fact an organized group or gang of people. However, 21% of people believe it was a single serial killer, but this shocking evidence showed no one believes it was a coincidence. Throughout the survey it was evident the people taking the survey did not know any of the details behind the Smiley Face Killings.
Let's explore the three theories; the first, many law enforcement agencies believe the killings were a coincidence. They believe these were coincidences because homicide by drownings are very rare. According to a study done by the homicide center of Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2010, only 907 deaths have been due to drownings in the last 21 years. (Drake et al 3). According to the FBI most drowning cases are caused from parents drowning their own kids or occasionally husbands drowning their wives (3). Never before have we had a serial killer that has had an M.O. of drowning, until now.
The smiley faces became a symbol of happiness in the early 1960’s to children, adults and even on company logos. They were first introduced by a NYC radio station; they gave away sweatshirts with a smiley face logo on it to people who called into the station (Honan 1). They are also one of the most commonly used symbols used in graffiti because it is the easiest thing to draw. Many people believe because the faces are not similar, the cases are not related.
However, this theory does not work because many of the victims were missing for days/weeks and sometimes even months. If this was a coincidence, the bodies would be found with severe decomposition. In cases like Tommy Booth he was missing for 2 weeks and his body was full of rigor mortis. Rigor mortis usually goes away within 24 to 36 hours after death. Therefore, if he was missing for 2 weeks where was he for the week and a half while he was still alive? Also, a very good swimmer, Dakota James, had been missing for 40 days but when his body was found, there was little to no trauma. That surprising because if he had really fallen off the bridge 40 days earlier he would have traveled through a dam and a heavy debris area and likely would have had cuts and possibly broken bones over his body.
The second theory is one that suggests that there is only a single killer. Many believe this because there are many similarities. In these cases, the most compelling similarity is that all the victims were drowned. Though there has never been a recorded serial killer with an M.O. of only drowning, there is compelling evidence that this could be our first. Another compelling argument is, all the victims were young, white, athletic males. Most all serial killers have a particular victim type and time they hunt. Finally, they all had a smiley face near where they were taken or found.
There are strong arguments supporting a single serial killer theory. However, there are just as many arguments that suggest otherwise. For example, there has never been a serial killer that had a modus operandi (M.O.) of only drownings. Also, 48.6% of the victim types are males therefore, it could be said that this is a common victim type among serial killers (Crockett 1). Finally, all the cases had smiley faces associated with the victims, yet all the faces were very different in appearance and the faces were not always found with the bodies suggesting the deaths were from different serial killers.
For the final theory it is suggested that the deaths are from an organized group of people across the country that communicate through the dark web. This is a plausible theory because it’s hard to fathom that a single person could be responsible for over 300 deaths in 22 years across the United States. Also, Kevin Gannon has spoken to people he believed to be associated with the smiley face killings on the dark web. Another argument is the M.O. varies between the cases. Some cases the victims were found with their bodies staged, others were not. Chris Jenkins was found in the Mississippi river, four weeks after going missing. He was discovered floating on his back with his arms crossed over his chest (Hayden 1). Some victims were held for days while others were held for months. Even though our knowledge on serial killers is relativity new, research suggests that serial killers use the same M.O. for all their victims. Lastly, because the smiley faces that were associated with these victims; all appear very different, it suggests the deaths were from several different people.
This theory lacks in popularity among law enforcement authorities because never before in history has there ever been an organization of serial killers. Although there is much speculation there is not enough evidence that would support this theory. The agencies investigating these cases have a hard time believing this theory because of the lack of evidence. In fact, they believe the cases are not even related, they are just coincidental. Although Gannon has said he has spoken to people that are part of the dark web, there is no proof that the people he was talking to really are part of a criminal organization known as the smiley face killers.
Starting in 1997, many college aged men have gone missing. There are three theories surrounding the deaths: a coincidence, a single serial killer, or an organized group/gang of serial killers. Today there is suspected to be over 300 connected cases attributed to the Smiley Face Killer(s). Who do you think the killer is?
Works Cited
Crockett, Zachary. "What Data on 3,000 Murderers and 10,000 Victims Tells Us About Serial Killers." Vox, 2 Dec. 2016, www.vox.com/2016/12/2/13803158/serial-killers-victims-data
Drake, Dallas S., et al. The Center for Homicide Research | A Unique, Volunteer-driven, Nonprofit Organization Addressing the Issue of Homicide in Our Communities, homicidecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Research-Brief-on-Smiley-Face-Murder-Theory-FINAL.pdf.
Egan, Nicole W. "Is a Serial-Killer Gang Murdering Young Men Across the U.S.?" The Daily Beast, 20 Mar. 2019, www.thedailybeast.com/is-a-serial-killer-gang-murdering-young-men-across-the-us?ref=scroll.
Hayden, Aly V. "5 Chilling Details That Will Make You Believe In The 'Smiley Face Killings?" Oxygen Official Site, 4 Feb. 2019, www.oxygen.com/crime-time/chilling-details-make-you-believe-smiley-face-killings
Hayden, Aly V. "Here Are 6 Of The Alleged Victims Of The 'Smiley Face Killings?" Oxygen Official Site, 5 Feb. 2019, www.oxygen.com/crime-time/six-alleged-victims-smiley-face-killings.
Honan, William H. "H. R. Ball, 79, Ad Executive Credited With Smiley Face." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia, 14 Apr. 2001, www.nytimes.com/2001/04/14/us/h-r-ball-79-ad-executive-credited-with-smiley-face.html.
James, Pam, and Jeff James. "OUR STORY." Dljfoundation, www.dakotajamesfoundation.com/about.
McBride, Jessica. "Kevin Gannon: 5 Fast Facts You Need To Know." Heavy.com, 19 Jan. 2019, heavy.com/news/2019/01/kevin-gannon/.
McBride, Jessica. "Who Are the Smiley Face Killers? Does the Gang Exist?" Heavy.com, 26 Jan. 2019, heavy.com/news/2019/01/smiley-face-killers-killer-deaths-gang/.
Rader, Dennis L. "Dennis Lynn Rader – Serial Killers: Unmasked." Sites at Penn State - WordPress | Powered by WordPress, 19 Jan. 2017, sites.psu.edu/hzigenfuspassion/2017/01/19/dennis-lynn-rader/.
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