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Based in part on a 2003 case in Minneapolis, in which University of Minnesota student Chris Jenkins’ death
was originally ruled an accidental drowning and later changed by police to homicide, retired detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte are raising the possibility that as many as 40 drowning deaths around the country could be murders.
Among the things they cite is the presence of crude “smiley face” drawings found near the scenes of death. La Crosse police say they found no such drawings in the cases of eight river drownings here between 1997 and 2006.
La Crosse Police Chief Ed Kondracki notes that the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation and the FBI both conducted in-depth reviews of the drownings.
We urge the FBI to make public its findings, and made a formal records request to the agency on Sept. 10, 2007. Having the FBI go public with what it found in the La Crosse investigation could help lay to rest the persistent rumors of “serial killers.” That request is still pending.
What we do know about all eight La Crosse drownings is that each young man had been drinking heavily — with blood alcohol levels ranging from 0.20 to 0.44 percent.
At those levels, people are vulnerable and can easily be hurt, in falls, vehicle accidents or, with the proximity of the river, by drowning.
Focusing attention on theories about serial killers also has another bad impact: It lets people off the hook for drinking way too much. At .20 percent, someone is clearly impaired. Wandering off alone with that level of intoxication is a recipe for tragedy.
There have been many examples of how severe alcohol abuse hurts this community — and there are several measures under way to combat this area’s culture of drinking. Those should continue.
Concentrating on untested theories about serial killers takes us off the track of dealing with binge drinking — and that could be deadly.
