Going West: True Crime - The Smiley Face Killer // 240

Episode Date: October 1, 2022

Starting back in 1997, dozens of men have been found killed under eerily similar circumstances. Almost all of them were dubbed accidents fueled by a night out drinking with friends. But when investigators started noticing a similar calling card left by each body, graffiti paint of a smiley face, they began to suspect these seemingly random deaths were connected by one or more serial killers. This is the story of the Smiley Face Killer. BONUS EPISODE patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCE 1. Fox: https://fox59.com/news/remains-found-buried-in-northeast-side-yard-belong-to-missing-muncie-woman-coroner-says/ 2. Fox: https://fox59.com/news/police-locate-vehicle-of-woman-missing-since-october/ 3. Justice for Angie Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/FindAngieB 4. Chilling Crimes: https://www.chillingcrimes.com/blogs/news/angie-barlow 5. That I Didn't Know: https://thatididntknow.com/the-unsolved-murder-of-angie-barlow/ 6. Crime Watch Daily: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR3EVnFoIkE 7. Angie's Obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/thestarpress/name/angela-barlow-obituary?id=16660381 8. ESPN: https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=2615124 9. Raven's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonnidrip/?hl=en 10. Crime Watch Daily (2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5lSxWjxkMc 11. Road Runner Roadside Assistance: https://www.incompany.info/companies/201610111161442/ 12. Maricopa County Superior Court: https://unicourt.com/case/az-mas2-raven-nicole-miller-vs-baron-eric-lorenze-mccullough-15532 13. Raven's statement on the murder via Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/JusticeForAngie/comments/ghvyyv/what_does_raven_bonni_miller_have_to_say_about/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on True Crime fans, I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody, thank you so much for tuning in. Happy Friday, happy weekend, happy whatever day it is that you're listening and also happy national podcast day to all of our listeners and to everybody who is a podcaster. We've got lots of friends who do podcasts so yeah. Yes and thank you so much to Dusty and Bridget for recommending today's case. I have known about this case for a long time but it's been a while since I've gone over the details. I have known about this case for a long time, but it's been a while since I've

gone over the details. I remember listening to a True Crime podcast on this case so many years ago before we started the show, and it's just always stuck with me. It's a good one to do as we enter October. Yeah, I mean, I've definitely heard about this case before, but I didn't know anything about the details, so I'm really excited to talk about this today. And we've got a lot of details today. All right guys, this is episode 240 of Going West, so let's get into it! Thank you. Since 1997, dozens of men have been found dead under eerily similar circumstances. Almost all of them were dubbed accidents fueled by a night out of drinking with friends. But when investigators started noticing a similar calling card left by each body, graffiti paint of a smiley face, they began to suspect these seemingly random deaths were connected

by one or more serial killers. This is the story of the Smileyface Killer. Depending on who you ask, some believe the smiley face killer or killers claimed as many as 250 lives. The creators of the theory themselves believe it's possible that it is that high, but they don't even have the evidence to prove it. So far, they've connected about 70 mysterious deaths to nearby smiley face graffiti, and remain certain that about 40 of them are definitely connected. The profile of the men who have been killed is suspiciously similar.

All are accomplished students and athletes, popular college aged men who went out for a night of drinking with friends and never made it home. About 30 of them were found with GHB or Gemma Hydroxybutyrate, more commonly referred to as the date rape drug, in their systems at the time. Most of the men went missing for a long period of time and then turned up in a body of water, although in most cases, the decomposition is not consistent with the amount of time that they were reported to be submerged.

The potentially linked cases span across multiple states in the northeast and the Midwest. And then, of course, smiley face graffiti was found in the vicinity. But is this all a coincidence? Or the work of an organized ring of criminals across multiple states? A quick note before we get into it. These are not to be confused with the victims of the happy face killer, who was a Canadian serial killer named Keith Hunter Jesperson, who was given the nickname after he became known to draw smiley faces on the letters that he would write to the media and law enforcement. Now if you're interested, there was also a film released in 2020 loosely based on the

theory aptly titled Smileyface Killers with a screenplay by Brett Easton Ellis who also wrote American Psycho. The Smileyface Killer theory also sometimes referred to as the Smileyface Killings, Smileyface Murders, or Smileyface Gang, given the likelihood that more than one person is to blame for this phenomenon, was developed by three retired NYPD detectives and a criminal justice expert. Kevin Ganon is a retired New York police department sergeant, and he worked the homicide night watch division in the Bronx, which, incidentally, is the burrow of New York City with the highest rate of crime.

In his 20-year career, as a detective, Kevin apprehended over a thousand felony convictions and was awarded almost 100 medals for bravery in the line of duty. He was also awarded the Medal of Valor from the mayor twice during his career. When he retired in 2001, he was the most highly decorated officer in the history of the New York Police Department. In 1997, Detective Kevin Ganon was assigned to the case of the young man that he now believes was the first ever victim of the smiley face killer. 21-year-old Patrick McNeil.

Patrick McNeil hailed from Port Chester, New York, which is a suburb of New York City on the Long Island Sound, about an hour outside of Manhattan. Patrick was a junior accounting major at Fordham University, which is a prestigious private Catholic University with three campuses in New York City, including the one in the Bronx, which Patrick attended. Patrick's friends remember him as a ladies man, and joked about how put together he always was, saying, quote, he had to be perfect. He was sharp and a gifted student, according to his professors, and he hoped to one day work

for the FBI. He was also a talented athlete, his tall stature and muscular frame aided his high school football career, and in addition to his all-American exterior, his tongue was pierced and he had a large tattoo on his right bicep. On the frigid 23-degree evening, or negative 5-degree Celsius evening, a February 16, 1997, Patrick and some friends were at a bar on the upper east side of Manhattan about an hour train ride from the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University in the Bronx. The group had congregated at the Dapper Dog at 1768 Second Avenue, a lively local college bar known for its lax ID policy and neighborhood noise complaints.

In the early morning hours of February 17, 1997, a visibly intoxicated Patrick disappeared into the bathroom to throw up before emerging to announce that he needed to go home. A female friend offered to ride the train back to campus with him, but she needed to go to the bathroom first. Patrick told her that he would wait outside the bathroom for her, but when she emerged, he was gone. Onlooker's last reported seeing him leaving the bar and walking north up second avenue before turning right on East 90th Street.

Witnesses also reported seeing a double parked van start to follow him on Second Avenue and then turn to trail him down East 90th Street. No one ever heard from Patrick again. When he was reported missing later that day. Kevin Ganon and his fellow detective scoured the city for any trace of Patrick, but they found nothing. Over a thousand volunteers gathered in his hometown to search the city by foot and hung up tens of thousands of missing posters. But it wasn't until April 7th, 1997, when 21-year-old Patrick would be spotted again, over 12 miles or 19 kilometers down River from where he had last been seen in the East River near the

Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn. And that was what almost two months later? Yeah, it took him two months to finally find his remains. And ultimately, the death was ruled in accident, but Patrick's family and friends were dumbfounded at how a young, athletic, healthy man could have fallen into the river by accident and then not been able to get themselves out. While he had been drunk, the medical examiner remarked that he had had, quote, more than a little and less than a lot to drink.

So he wasn't very drunk at all? No. And he had no signs of physical injuries or trauma, so his death was ruled as undetermined and accidental. And this case was actually closed. And I do understand, because we've covered, I mean, in the Brian Schaefer episode that we did, I don't remember what episode number it was,

but we covered him a little while ago. And in that case, one of the theories is that he fell into the river while drunk as well. So I know that that's a common thought, especially for Patrick since he was found there. But it is good to know that he wasn't very intoxicated at that time. I'm not saying it's still not possible, even if you're sober, you can slip in. But you know, it is a good point that he more than likely would have been able to get himself out. Sure, but also we have to think about the fact that it was probably very late at night. The water was obviously very, very cold, so I don't know how quickly the body goes into

hypothermia, but it's possible that if he did fall in and he was in there for more than a minute, I mean, that stuff can happen quick. But still, this case haunted Kevin Ganon, who had his doubts about how Patrick had really died, not really feeling that this was an accident. And curiously, fly larva was found on Patrick's body, but given the below freezing temperature of the night on which Patrick disappeared, And the near freezing temperature of the water, this would have been unlikely as optimum temperature for flies to lay their eggs is around 75 degrees Fahrenheit

or about 23 degrees Celsius. Yeah, so how did that happen? Right. So skeptics also pointed out that to access the East River, flanking the island of Manhattan on its east side, he would have had to cross the Tretar flanking the island of Manhattan on its east side, he would have had to cross the Tretarus Franklin Delano Roosevelt Drive, which is a highway that runs the length of the Eastern perimeter of Manhattan.

This would have been a feat even while sober, but it's almost unimaginable to consider attempting it while intoxicated as Patrick would have been. In his words, Kevin insists that Patrick was, quote, stocked, abducted, held for an extended period of time, murdered and disposed. And so Kevin promised Patrick's family that he would do whatever he could to get answers for them. And to this day, he has kept that promise. After retiring from the police force in 2001, Kevin decided that he wanted to devote the

rest of his life to finding answers where questions remained, starting with Patrick McNeil's case. But what started as a case of one single death under suspicious circumstances, became a full-fledged conspiracy theory. And that's when another former NYPD detective got involved. When Kevin Ganon started noticing what he thought was a pattern of mysterious deaths involving victims sharing the same profile and disposed of in the same way, he brought it to two of his former partners from the NYPD, Anthony Tony Dwarte and Mike Donovan.

Tony, like Kevin, spent 20 years in law enforcement and also specialized in gang-related and organized crime. In 2008, he even received the Frederick Milton Thrasher Award for his work investigating gang crimes. In addition to his time on the NYPD force, he was also working with the US Department of Homeland Security. Quote, I'm devoting my retirement to working on the smiley face cases.

Tony said now retired from both. Quote, Kevin wanted to get justice for the families and to show also to the authorities that these are not just drunk kids falling into the river while they have to go to the bathroom that they're actually being targeted. In addition to working alongside Kevin and Tony for two decades, Mike Donovan was a first responder on September 11th. He also ran a special task force called the Anti-Crack Unit of the organized crime control

bureau, an attempt to cut down on the widespread drug use in New York City in the 90s. Mike specializes in interrogation and is known as an expert interviewer, and in reading the body language and character of whomever he's seated opposite. As the three began compiling their research and talking to families of the potential victims, they started noticing patterns, one being the timelines of the decomposition of the bodies. Kevin explains, quote, the lack of decomposition on the bodies

is inconsistent with the period of time that the victims are missing. Dakota James, who is thought to be the most recent victim, went missing in 2017 and was gone for 40 days. But found in a body of water with decomposition consistent with only about three days. In 2005, Todd Guib was missing for three weeks, but showed decomposition of only about two and a half days I remember that case. I believe it was one where He was at a party and then decided that he was gonna walk home and they found him in a body of water

Right still very consistent in every single way that you're saying yeah, yeah, but yeah But the you know the craziest part about that is like what you were saying is that It didn't seem like he had been in that water for very long. Yeah, I mean missing three weeks But decomposition says two and a half days like yeah all of these you know gone for multiple weeks or even over a month And then it's only a few days show of showing decomposition like those are pretty significant Yeah, and the team points to this being an indication that the men died on land and were then dumped in water instead of actually dying in the water and What makes this more suspicious is that as we said earlier in many of these cases the date rape drug is present While Kevin, Tony and Mike work to put these pieces together

More and more potential victims were added to the list. One was 21-year-old Scott Redell, a junior at St. Cloud University, who disappeared on February 2, 2006. A professor at his university took a particular interest in his missing persons case, and his name was Douglas Lee Gilbertson or Doc. Doc holds a Masters of Science in Criminal Justice, a PhD in Sociology, and served in the

military for 16 years. He works with both the National Gang Crime Research Center and the International Gang Specialist Training Conference, and like Tony, received the Frederick Milton Thrasher Award for his work in educating against gang violence. He is now a professor of Criminal Justice at St. Cloud University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where Scott was a student. Scott's disappearance hit home for doc,

because upon discussing it with his students, he came across the work of Kevin, Tony, and Mike, and thus, the team was born. Together, the four formed global death investigations, their elite group of private investigators, servicing the families of victims in open or closed cases for both missing persons and deaths under mysterious circumstances. According to the description on their website, Global Death Investigations quote, seek to bring closure to traumatic events for all concerned parties through the discovery

and disclosure of facts that may not have been previously brought to light via traditional law enforcement techniques and procedures. Their mission statement claims that their quote, guiding principles are integrity, compassion, fairness, and professionalism. But while they may have other cases, the Smileyface Killer Theory is still the group's claim to fame. The four men and six of the potential victims they believe were most likely to be connected to the theory were even the center of an investigative series on oxygen, called Smileyface Killers, the Hunt for Justice. So how were these cases linked to Smileyface's? The name was coined when police began noticing that graffiti Smileyface's had been found

near at least a dozen of the cases thought to be connected to the theory. So weird, this is just a random comment, but I remember back when I was listening to this podcast, it's so weird when I was living in LA at the time as well, like we are now. But I was driving and legit, I remember I was like stopped at a stoplight and I look over and I see one of those, oh god, like electric boxes or whatever on the side of the road and there was a smiley face graffiti on That box while I was listening to this case. That's so crazy. I always think about that, but yeah I wonder like I wonder how those are out there already, but sure yeah, and I wonder how common like

Like graffiti a smiley face really is is I'm sure it's like pretty calm it's like up there for what what you graffiti if you don't know what to do yeah if you don't know what to do right yeah but it's interesting that you know these police officers are connecting those to these cases oh absolutely but the men think that police dropped the ball when most of these deaths were written off as accidents or suicides and according to Mike Donovan quote law enforcement never investigated these cases as criminal cases.

So, the four are also in agreement that this is not just one person, but like we've said, an organization. And Kevin said, quote, we realized it wasn't just a single lone killer because they couldn't be doing it on the same night in different cities unless they were some type of group or organization or gang. He also added quote, the smiley face killers are a group of well-structured and organized individuals that have cells throughout the United States in which they're targeting specific young men. Very intelligent, athletic, they drug them, abduct them, hold them for long periods

of time before they murder them, and then dispose of them in bodies of water and leave graffiti behind. Most importantly, a smiley face, to tell us that these deaths are not accidents, but are clearly homicides. And to this, Tony adds quote, it's so widespread, we have so many different victims in so many different areas. And in one interview, Doc points out that strangely, many of the victims are from other cities where there have also been drowning clusters. Doc and Kevin have actually published their findings in a book called Case Studies in Drowning Forensics, focusing on 13 specific instances where authorities assumed a death was an accident or suicide without training the recovery site as a crime scene or investigating further.

Doc now uses it as one of the textbooks in his class at St. Cloud University, and there are six cases that Kevin, Tony, Mike, and Doc say most indicate the relevance of their theory, so finally, let's dive into those. One of the earliest potential victims after Patrick McNeill was Brian Wellesian. Brian was born on May 16, 1978, the only child of Stephanie and Richard Wellesian in Elgin, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago. Sadly, when Brian was just 19 years old, his father, just 52 at the time, passed away suddenly of a heart attack.

It took a toll on the small family. Stephanie said, quote, we never said love to each other much. But we started right away after Rick died. It was just something that we started. It felt nice. The pair spent Christmas 1999 together, visiting with family in Arizona. Brian got a repair of ear protectors that she wanted while she did woodworking as a hobby, and it also brought home an A in his most difficult class at Northern Illinois University in nearby DeCob

where he was a junior at the time. Stephanie last saw her son on December 29th before he headed into the city with some friends to celebrate the new millennium. She was leaving for the day and he said, quote, Mom, I love ya, I'm gonna sleep longer. His friends recall him not being much of a drinker, especially because he played for

his school soccer team. But on New Year's Eve, 1999, out with his friends in downtown Chicago, he decided to have a few. Nothing wrong with that. So his friends remember him having no more than four drinks, but as they drove back to the hotel from the bars together around 4 a.m., Brian started throwing up. The friends he was driving was said that they dropped him off in front of the hotel to

park the car, and various witnesses remember seeing him throwing up in the street. But by the time his friends got back to the hotel, Brian was nowhere to be found. They reported him missing later that day, which was Monday, January 1, 2000, but police found no trace of him. His mom, who was devastated, remembered quote, It was almost like a daily prayer. Don't let anything happen to Brian. This is the last person I have. After an exhaustive

search, Brian's body was found floating in Lake Michigan 77 days later on March 17, 2000. It had washed up on a beach in Gary, Indiana about 30 miles or 48 kilometers southeast of where Brian had been in Chicago that night. Police ruled it as an accidental drowning and surmised that he had walked down to the water about a five minute walk from his hotel and fallen in. But strangely, his blood alcohol content was only 0.08%. The exact legal limit considered to be impaired, but certainly not super drunk. Police have not stated publicly whether or not

there was a smiley face near where his body was found by the way, so can't confirm that aspect of this. Now, let's go back and talk about Todd Douglas Guib, who was born on August 20, 1982 in Muskegon County, Michigan, outside of Grand Rapids to Kathy and Doug Guyb. And he also had three sisters named Jennifer, Haley, and April. Todd was described by friends and family as smart, gregarious, and athletic, and he loved the outdoors. He was a devoted uncle to multiple nieces and nephews and beloved by all those who

knew him. At 22 years old, he had a good job with a distribution company and had recently moved into an apartment with his cousin. On Saturday, June 11, 2005, Todd headed out for the night around 7.30pm. He met up with some of his friends at the nearby Half Moon bar in Grille and then left with them around 9.30pm to head to a local keg party at an apple orchard just a short drive from where Todd lived. Around 12.45am, a fight between some of the party attendees broke out, although the exact circumstances surrounding

the fight are pretty unknown. But it was enough to scare Todd off. Apparently he decided that he could walk home. Todd left by himself on foot. And on the way home, he called a friend and left a message, letting them know that he was headed home. But then, his calls got stranger. One friend reports him calling and saying, quote, I've had enough.

He called another and said that he was in a field, but then the call dropped. When she called him back, she heard only heavy breathing and rustling on the other line. And that was the last time anyone would hear from Todd. So, Erie. So, three weeks later, Todd's body was discovered in a small nearby lake, an area that had already been thoroughly searched. But what's most Erie about this discovery is that he was found standing up. So, his head and his shoulders were sticking out from the water as if he had been like waiting into it

and consistent with the others, Todd's remains showed little sign of decomposition for a body that was supposed to have been submerged for 21 days. And I mean, also, how weird is that? Like they had already searched this area and he's sticking out of the water, like just out there in the open, easy to see

and they didn't see him there before. Yeah, and also what's really interesting is a lot of people talk about the way his body was positioned, the fact that he was upright instead of like, you know, on his stomach or on his back. And that's very, very strange. And I don't know if the ever came up with the conclusion of why his body was like that.

It's really bizarre. Well, let's talk about his cause of death. So, a toxicology report believed that he had both alcohol and antidepressants in his bloodstream at the time, although his family had been unaware of him taking any medications. But ultimately, the death was ruled an undetermined drowning. Dr. M. Eric Benbow, who is a forensic biologist who examined Todd's body, said of his findings, quote, there should have been more biofilm, more slime build up. The other thing, it looks like part of his head was exposed. There should be insects in the clothing, even in the mouth, in and out of the ears, in the folds of the

skin. That's where these flies will typically lay their eggs. They've evolved to be attracted to dead things within minutes to hours to a day. We saw none of this in Todd's shirt. Carcasses are consumed pretty quickly and dramatically. If a body was here, it could be colonized with some type of aquatic insect. Given our experiment, I find it very surprising that Todd's body had no reported insect activity, and the clothing had no algal development.

Based on our study, it is unlikely that his clothing and his body had been in there for 21 days. On a tree near where Todd's body was recovered, you guessed it, there was a spray painted smiley face, and later a smiley face sticker was found on his grave, which is very creepy. On the Facebook group created by Todd's mom, Kathy, urging law enforcement to reopen his case, she wrote, quote,

at this point, we still have very few answers. We know he didn't drown. We know he was placed in the water a day or two before he was found. We know he had been drugged, and we have no idea where he was for three weeks. I am also pretty certain that some of you that follow this page know what happened to our son. If this had been you, would you have wanted your loved ones to live with no answers to your death?

I'm sure you wouldn't. Lucas Gerard Homan or Luke was born on January 22, 1985, the only child of parents Jerry and Patty Homan in Brookfield, Wisconsin, which is a suburb of Milwaukee. According to his obituary, Lucas remembered as an all-star athlete on and off the court. His dad Jerry said quote, he didn't back away from the big moment or anything like that. He always loved playing. An honor student with a sharp wit and a quote zest for life, Luke was full of promise. While coaching a kid's soccer team, Luke fronted the fees for a little boy who desperately wanted to be a part of the team but couldn't afford the membership.

A classmate of his remembers how Luke, popular and good-looking, always made a point of talking to her, the shy quiet girl, and how much it meant to her. Luke played both basketball and football for his high school Brookfield Central. In the fall of 2006, Luke was just beginning his senior year at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse. In La Crosse is basically this picturesque college town situated alongside the Mississippi River in western Wisconsin right across the river from Minnesota. Some believe La Crosse is the epicenter of the smiley face killer because between 1997

and this year, about a dozen young men have drowned in lacrosse after a night out, prompting some to believe that they are all Smiley Face murder victims. On September 29, 2006, 21-year-old Luke Holman and some friends went out to celebrate October Fest. Around 10 p.m., Luke and a friend decided to call it a night and left the bar together. But somehow, the two were separated, and Luke's friend wound up in the emergency room, while Luke wound up missing. When no one had heard from Luke the

next day, his mom Patti reported him missing. Police attempted to question the friend that he left the bar with, who by all accounts, was the last person to see Luke alive. But this friend had apparently struck his head on his walk home somehow and told investigators that he couldn't remember anything about that evening, which is pretty not suspicious of him, but that something happened to him as well. Yeah, I mean yeah. So there were rumors that Luke had potentially been involved in an altercation with another person at the bar, but these were unsubstantiated and the account of the person who gave this

information to police changed over time. So much so in fact that he was charged with obstruction of justice in the case, so cannot trust this person. But after being missing for three days, Luke was found at the bottom of the Mississippi River. His autopsy ruled his death in accidental drowning with alcohol being a major factor. However, he had also sustained multiple injuries to his head, hands, and arms, one of which looked like a footprint that may have been used to hold him down. Florescent orange flecks were found on his clothing, which, guess what, matched the nearby

smiley face that was spray painted on the asphalt, close to where his body was found. Like the fact that that was found on his clothes is such a connection. Oh, yeah. I mean, like, what else could that possibly be? I mean, it's orange flex from spray paint, and there's a smiley face right there. So creepy, totally connected. So while Paddy and Jerry were, of course, devastated to lose their only son, they claimed that he lives on through his friendships.

His mom said, quote, they're very special, really special. After he died, they all clung to me. All be your son, that kind of stuff. It's been very admirable of them. They've supported us through thick and thin. Thomas James Booth III was born on August 18, 1983 in Wilmington, Delaware to Thomas Booth II and Barbara McKay. Tommy worked as a drywaller, but his true passion was art.

His mom Barbara said, quote, he was very artistic. That's why I think he did drywalling, because to get it perfect was artistic to him. On January 19th, 2008, 24-year-old Tommy and a group of eight friends went out to celebrate a friend's 21st birthday. They headed to bootleggers, a dive bar and live music venue in Woodland, Pennsylvania, which is a census designated place about a 20-minute drive southwest of downtown Philadelphia. Surveillance footage captured Tommy entering the bar, but not leaving. Just like Brian Shaeve.

Right, I was going to say where have we heard this before. When the friend who was supposed to give Tommy a ride home left without him, claiming they quote couldn't find Tommy, he was left to fend for himself. Tommy had been missing for two weeks when he was found face down in the creek directly behind the bar. The autopsy found that there were no signs of physical trauma and ruled that it was a probable drowning. Law enforcement alleged that the creek had been frozen with Tommy under it for the two

weeks that he had been missing. However, his mom argued, quote, I know Tommy wasn't there for more than 24 hours because his coworker had walked up and down that creek the day before. And of course, investigators found a smiley face painted under the deck of bootleggers near where Tommy's body was found. And what a weird place to put it under a deck? Yeah, it almost seems like they were trying to hide it.

So William, David, Hurley II, is the next person that we're going to talk about. He goes by Will and he was born on January 14, 1985 in Rocky, Mount North Carolina. His father is not listed in his obituary, so it seems that maybe he was raised by his mother and stepfather, Lynn and Jean Martin. William also had a sister named Amanda and a brother named Mason, and his mom remembers that quote, Will was quiet until you got to know him. Then you would discover his infectious personality and his ability to make you laugh, even if you were having the worst kind of day.

Will loved the outdoors and was very athletic and active, especially on a skateboard, or a snowboard, or a wakeboard. According to his mom, Lin, Will was quote, never a big fan of school, so after finishing high school and working a string of jobs to decide what he wanted to do, he settled on entering into the Navy. While serving overseas in Iraq, Will was awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on on terrorism service medal among others. In December of 2008, he was honorably discharged, and while visiting home that year, he met

Claire Mahoney, who quickly became his girlfriend. Lynn said, quote, I believe it was love at first sight. He never stopped talking about her. Even when his ship was out to sea, his emails were not about his travel, but about Claire. In January of 2009, so about a month later, he moved to Boston to be with Claire, and he got a job at a country club as a groundskeeper,

which was the perfect position to fill his love of physical activity and the outdoors. And then that same year, Will and Claire became engaged. Lynn last spoke with her son the day before he went missing. And she said, quote, Will wanted to make sure dinner was ready before Claire got home from work. He said, Mom, I cannot believe how domesticated I've become

and that I like it. On October 8, 2009, Will went to a Bruins hockey game along with two friends. About halfway through the game, Will called Claire and told her that he wanted to leave, asking if she could come pick him up. When she pulled up to the stadium and couldn't see him, she called him and asked where he was waiting. She heard him ask somebody near what address he was outside of, to which the person responded, 99 Nashwa Street, and then his phone went dead. When Claire arrived to that address,

she still couldn't find Will, and his phone's battery again was still dead. So after driving around for an hour looking for him, Claire returned home just hoping that he had gotten a ride with somebody else. But when he wasn't at home, she reported him missing. Six days later, Will was found floating in the Charles River, which intersects the city of Boston, floating near where he had asked Claire to pick him up. After the discovery of the body, Claire's sister reported, quote, she's not doing well.

The love of her life is gone. Will's autopsy revealed that he had suffered blunt force trauma to his head, eye socket, and left leg. GHB, or the date rape drug, was found in his system as well as alcohol, and smiley face graffiti was found near the river. Now the next case that we want to talk about is Dakota Leo James, who was born on June 21st, 1993 in Frederick, Maryland, which is a Northwest suburb of Washington, DC, to parents Pamela and Jeffrey James, and he also had a brother named Shane.

His obituary reads, quote, Everyone will remember Dakota for his unique personality, his ability to make friends of all ages, his smile, and his love for his family and friends. He's remembered as smart and outgoing and was a competitive swimmer. His mom remembers his tight-knit group of friends who are still friends today. Dakota graduated from Brunswick High School in June of 2011 and then attended West Virginia University, pursuing a bachelor's degree in economics. After graduating college in May of 2015, he started attending Decay University in Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania, pursuing his MBA. He hoped to attend law school in the future, but on January 25, 2017, 23-year-old Dakota went out in downtown Pittsburgh with some friends. The last known footage of him was captured on a surveillance camera in the cultural district, heading down in Alley toward Fort Dacane Boulevard. When Dakota was first reported missing, Dakota's parents moved to the city to aid in the investigation. After being missing for 40 days, Dakota's body was found 10 miles or 16 kilometers down the river. Police formulated an assumption that he had crossed Fort Dacane Boulevard to the Roberto Clemente Bridge, walking down to the Ohio River to urinate into the water, but that he had lost his footing and fallen in.

And one investigator reporting on the case said, quote, that time of year with the water temperatures, you only have a couple minutes. It's probably a long shot, but you don't have much time before you go into shock, and that's the end of that. Once again, the decomposition of Dakota's body was not consistent with that of a body submerged in water for over a month. The autopsy also revealed suspicious ligature marks on his neck and as Kevin, Tony, Mike, and Doc pointed out, would have had to travel through a concrete and steel dam to reach where it was found. The damage that his body sustained was nowhere near what it should have been had the body gone through the dam. Suspiciously, someone used Dakota's PayPal account for a transaction of $11.99

just two days after his disappearance, although neither police nor his family were ever able to trace where it came from. Before he disappeared, family and friends remember him coming home from a night out claiming that he had almost been kidnapped, but was so shaken up that he wouldn't give many details. And then just over a month later, he went missing. And a smiley face was visible on an underpass near where Dakota's body was pulled from the Ohio River. Because we want you to have all the pertinent facts and information, there are many critics

of this theory, including the FBI themselves. A statement that they issued on the theory reads, quote, over the past several years, law enforcement and the FBI have received information about young, college-aged men who are found deceased in rivers in the Midwest. The FBI has reviewed the information about the victims provided by two retired police detectives who have dubbed these incidents the smiley face murders, and interviewed an individual who provided information to the detectives. To date,

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. The FBI will continue to work with the local police in the affected areas to provide support as requested. Now the police force in La Crosse was conceded, agreed with this conclusion, claiming to have stopped around 65 intoxicated people from entering the Mississippi River late at night between 2006 and 2010.

So, I mean, that's kind of crazy that they're stopping, you know, these people from entering the river late at night. It seems like a lie, I mean, 65. Right, that seems like a lie. Over four years. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty crazy. So LaCrosse police also claimed that there were another 20 who did enter the water and almost drown, most of which were accidents.

Many other experts in the field have been vocal critics of the theory as well, including Canadian criminologist Michael Artfield, who said quote, saying graffiti was found near the scene is dubious at best. In most of these cases, we don't know where the men went into the water or where they actually died. You can find in any city a smiley face graffiti tag somewhere along the water. And I mean, I do agree with that, like I said, I have seen that before as well, weirdly enough when I was listening to this very case. But then I just think about Luke,

who had the orange spray paint found on his clothing, and that's the smiley face graffiti that was nearby. And, you know, I don't know. I know that that is a popular graffiti, but for that to be found near all of these bodies, when there's other similarities as well, that they were all young men who had been out drinking with their friends and who had gotten separated and were alone and then were found in a river or a body of water, but the, you know, amount of time that they had been dead according

to their autopsy did not line up with how long they had been missing. Right, and then we also have to think about the fact that the drug, the date rape drug, was found in their systems as well. Yeah, so there are a lot of those cases. Right, and then some of them include blunt-forced trauma, so it looks like maybe somebody was trying to impair them with the drug or with the beating and then they died. So I think, yeah, I think this is one of those cases where without definitive evidence or details that someone or a group is doing this to young men, it's just too hard to determine.

I mean, really, yes, do I think that there's a lot of strange circumstances in these cases? Absolutely. But can I definitively say that these smiley faces are truly connected to all these young men's deaths? I don't know. I think the weirdest part to me is the thought that this is like an organization or an organized crime

group, you know what I mean? Like that is a weird thought to me. I do understand that they are saying, oh well, some of these happened on the same night, you know, not the cases we talked about, but just since we said earlier, there's like hundreds thought to be connected to this. So I think it makes sense for there to be more

if that's the case of these are all a part of the same string of murders, or if they're murders. But I don't know. It's just weird to think that that would be a thing, that there would be these people targeting these young men and trying to kill them in this really inconspicuous way. Yeah, and that's the only way I think that you would be able to explain how men are being killed in multiple different states all across the country, you know? Right. And I completely agree. It's a really weird case in that way because it's hard.

I do understand what this team is saying. This is really bizarre. Yeah, and too many inconsistencies, for sure. Yeah, and I think it's awesome that they are working to piece these together because if this is true, this is a real thing, they should absolutely be brought to justice. And the team really is holding to their convictions, because Kevin said, quote, when we put out who's doing this and why, I don't think the FBI will have any option but to get involved. We have to do something to bring the individuals responsible for this to justice.

And I'm telling you, we won't stop until we do. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode, and on Tuesday, we'll have an all-new case for you guys to dive into. What a crazy story. I mean, I've always thought this case is just so weird and being able to dive into the details again I just feel the exact same way. Yeah and I know a lot of you guys know about this theory, the smiley face killer theory,

so I would love to know what you guys think about this case because it really, I really am torn and I think a lot of people are too. Someone I believe that this is truly happening and that it's all connected and others just think it's simply a conspiracy. Yeah, well we'd love to know what you guys think. We're all across social media. He then I love jumping in and we're applying to you guys

and just talking about the cases that we cover. You can find us on Instagram at GoingWestPodcast, Twitter at GoingWestPod, and then we have two Facebook groups. One of them is a private group that you can join. Heathen are always jumping into those conversations. So get involved, let's know what you think.

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everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger Thank you. you