Deaths of Young Men Fuel Chicago Serial Killer Fears

• The Smiley Face Killer theory has gained new impetus after a string of deaths in the Chicago area.
• Police have said that the deaths are unconnected and most have been ruled as "undetermined."
• Citizen sleuths in the online groups devoted to the cases are not convinced by the official version of events, with one retired detective telling Newsweek: "That just doesn't add up."

Fears of a serial killer have been reignited following a spate of deaths of mostly young men in the Chicago area over the past year that some claim are connected.

Such fears have been exacerbated on social media, where true crime enthusiasts discuss alleged patterns between the deaths. These "citizen sleuths" have even given the theory a name: the Smiley Face Killer.

The latest alleged developments regarding the Smiley Face Killer theory, whose name originates from graffiti said to be found near the crime scenes, are regularly discussed on Reddit threads that look into unsolved murders and crime mysteries. There is also a subreddit devoted to the issue, as well as Facebook groups delving into the details of the cases.

The activities of citizen sleuths have fueled growing interest in the theory. Use of the search term "smiley face killer" has increased by over 200 percent in the past 12 months, according to data from Google Trends.

Those looking into the theory say they are trying to help solve the cases by uncovering information the police or medical examiners may have missed. However, critics say they may be hindering investigations, or giving the victims' families false hope of a resolution. The police say there is no evidence the deaths are connected—but that does not seem to have deterred those who say they are searching for the truth.

A Spate of Deaths

In 2022, a total of 11 bodies, mostly men, were found and removed from the Chicago River and Lake Michigan's shoreline, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

The tragedies have continued in 2023. In late April, a body found along Lake Michigan was identified as that of missing Navy sailor 21-year-old Seamus Gray.

In mid-April, the body of 46-year-old Richard Garcia was found in the Chicago River.

And, in early March, the body of 41-year-old Daniel Elkinton was discovered in the Kishwaukee River, a tributary of the Rock River in Illinois.

In all the cases, the police did not indicate that there was evidence to suggest foul play.

Preliminary results from an autopsy conducted for Gray, for example, suggested that his death was due to drowning, with no evidence of significant injury that contributed to it.

Of the 11 deaths in 2022, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office previously told Newsweek that three of the cases were ruled an accident, one was ruled a suicide and the other seven were ruled as "undetermined."

The Chicago Police Department did not respond to Newsweek's email requesting comment on this story. In a previous statement in March earlier this year, following concerned social media posts, city and county officials said there is no evidence to support that the recent deaths are related, NBC Chicago reported at the time.

The Smiley Face Killer 'Connection'

The conclusions reached by police and medical examiners have not satisfied everyone. Some continue to insist that the deaths may be connected.

Typically, the victims were last seen in nightlife areas of the city, their bodies were found near water, and their cause of death is either unknown, under investigation or ruled a suicide.

Nor are deaths in such circumstances—or speculation surrounding them—confined to Illinois. The Austin Police Department has repeatedly had to dismiss rumors of a serial killer in its city due to bodies being discovered by the Lady Bird Lake.

The Smiley Face Serial Killer theory itself is not new, either. It is thought to have originated in around 2017 as attention focused on evidence surrounding deaths as far back as two decades.

The theory has been prominently advanced by two retired New York City detectives, Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, as well as gang expert Lee Gilbertson, a criminal justice professor at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

The trio believes that a string of deaths of young men found in bodies of water across several Midwestern states from the late 1990s to the 2010s was the work of a serial killer or group of serial killers.

Gannon has previously told Newsweek the "smiley face" comes from graffiti depicting a smiley face, along with 13 other distinct symbols, found near the locations where they believe the killers dumped the bodies.

"The group is actually leaving symbols behind letting you know, 'Yes this was us, come and catch us," he said.

As a result, multiple Facebook groups have popped up showing graffitied smiley faces in their city or in areas close to where bodies have been found, adding impetus to the theory.

Among these is a Facebook group called the Lady Bird Lake Serial Killer/ Rainey Street Killer, which has amassed over 88,000 members, including criminal experts.

While the page most regularly holds conversations surrounding the deaths in the Austin, Texas, area connected to the Lady Bird Lake, members also discuss other mysterious deaths and possible serial killers in the U.S.

In 2019, docuseries Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt For Justice was aired from January 19 to February 23 on television network Oxygen, diving deeper into the theory, and the theory also loosely inspired the 2020 film Smiley Face Killers.

Why the Theory Has Spread

Gannon said that the authorities' denials have only deepened the mystery.

"The reason the Smiley Face Killer(s) has persisted for so long is the enormous amount of young men and women (specifically men), who over the past 26 years have gone missing from bars, suspiciously separated from their friends, only to wind up deceased in a body of water," he told Newsweek.

"What makes this even more suspicious is the fact that most of these deaths occur during the fall and winter months when it is very rare and unlikely for them to be near the water. If these were truly alcohol related deaths, then why aren't there more of them in the summer time when young people are near bodies of water and drinking."

Gannon also highlighted some of the physical clues that would counter the official view of the deaths.

"The evidence suggesting there is a serial killer or killers beyond the circumstantial is the physical evidence of the victims and the amount of decomposition or lack of decomposition on the victims body at the time of recovery compared to the amount of time the decedent was missing," he said.

"We have victims who were missing for 6 weeks who have 6 days of decomposition or missing for 3 weeks with 3 days of decomposition. That just doesn't add up."

He also suggested that medical examiners may not want to admit they made mistakes during their investigations and would therefore be reluctant to change the manner of death from "undetermined" to "homicide."

"Undetermined is the 'Catch 22,'" he said.

"We don't have enough evidence to prove one or the other, so it's Undetermined. It could be an Accident, or it could be a Homicide but we just don't know. In the NYPD we call this a CUPPI (Case Undetermined Pending Police Investigation).

"We say pending police investigation because we mean further investigation, because you can't close the case without taking a closer look at it and that requires further investigation."

Gannon pointed to a possible lack of staff to conduct the further and in-depth investigations he says are necessary.

It exemplified the "deep problems that exist in handling any type of suspicious death in the country," he added.