Since early last year, the bodies of 10 men and six women have been pulled from the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, raising fears that a serial killer is terrorizing communities.
A pattern was noted as the bodies piled up, with the bodies of five men recovered in the past six months.
“Too many coincidences,” former CIA and FBI federal agent Tracy Wolder told the Post by phone.
Walder believes a serial killer may have been responsible for the “accidental” drowning, and the body’s recovery from a location far from where the victim was reported missing. , and multiple victims were found in a short period of time.
“There are a lot of similar patterns across the board in cases like this one.” [so] It’s no longer just a coincidence,” Walder said.
The last to be pulled from the sea was 26-year-old Noah Enos, June 17, five days after disappearing after a rock concert at the Salt Shed, a local music hall about a block away from where he was found. collected on the day. .
Authorities have yet to release his cause and cause of death, and his family is working with a private investigator “to find justice for Noah,” his father Stephen Michael Enos wrote on his GoFundMe page. rice field.
“I know Noah is not the first missing person to be found in the river. I certainly hope he is the last.”
Nicole Weiss, Noah Enos’ girlfriend
Enos’ girlfriend Nicole Weiss said at a wake on Friday, holding back tears. ”
Names of people recovered from Chicago area waters:
- Noah Enos, found in June 2023.Cause/Method: Pending
- Unidentified woman, discovered in May 2023 Cause/Method: Unknown
- Richard Garcia, found April 2023.Cause/Method: Pending
- Seamus Gray, Found April 2023 Cause/Condition: Drowning, Circumstances: Unknown
- Joel Oduno, found March 2023.Cause: Drowning, Status: Unknown
- Anthony Rucker, Found February Cause: Drowning, Situation: Suicide
- Krzysztof Zubert, found on December 22nd.Cause: Drowning, Situation: Accident
- Peter Salvino, found December 22nd.Cause: Drowning, Situation: Accident
- Hayward Brown, June 2022 Cause: Drowning, Situation: Accident
- Daniel Sotero, Found May 2022 Cause: Drowning, Circumstances: Unknown
- Natalie Brookson, found May 2022.Cause/Method: Unknown
- Carina Pena Aranis, found April 2022.Cause: Drowning, Method: Suicide
- Yuet Tsang, Found April 2022: Cause: Drowning, Circumstances: Unknown
- Unidentified woman, discovered in April 2022 Cause/Method: Unknown
- Unidentified man, discovered in April 2022 Cause/Method: Unknown
- Kathleen Martin, found March 2022.Cause: Drowning, Status: Unknown
Chicago police did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the spate of fatalities.
The paper has so far counted 16 bodies pulled from the water in 2022 and 2023, but not all of them were suspicious.
Walder points out how serial killers tend to follow patterns, and that submerging bodies means “little forensic evidence exists,” making it an ideal crime. do.
At the end of December 2022, local media reported that the FBI, working with the Chicago Police Department, Solve a series of drowning cases.
Among the most suspected cases is that of Richard Garcia, 46, who was recovered from the Chicago River near the Columbus Drive Bridge on April 13. His loved ones said he was still wearing his FedEx uniform when his body was found.
Garcia was reported missing from his Southside home in March. The Cook County Coroner’s Office told the Post that his death and cause of death are still pending.
The body of Navy sailor Seamus Gray was found six days later in Lake Michigan, in the Chicago suburb of Waukegan.
The 21-year-old was last seen leaving his local Ibiza bar a few weeks ago. He drowned and showed no obvious signs of trauma, but his manner of death was “unknown.” FOX32 reported.
Joel Oudno’s body was recovered from the Chicago River on March 16 after he disappeared in February and was last seen at his home. He also drowned, but the cause of death was “unknown,” a coroner’s office spokeswoman said.
Anthony Rucker’s body was also found in the Chicago River on February 16 after being reported missing three days earlier. The ME office ruled his death a suicide by drowning. Additional details were not immediately available.
Walder said forensic evidence is often “non-existent”, making drowning investigations more difficult.
She also pointed out what she called “clusters” of deaths — multiple cases reported in the same time frame.
Clusters, she said, often indicate that “something more is going on.”
In Chicago alone, records show that two bodies were pulled from local waters in April 2023, two bodies were recovered from waterways last December, and four bodies were recovered in April 2022. discovered (sometimes just a few days apart).
The bodies of Krzysztof Zubert, 21, and Peter Salvino, 25, were found days apart in the December incident. The cause of death for both men was found to be “drowning due in part to ethanol poisoning” and the cause of death was ruled “accident”.
According to NBC Chicago, the two were spotted on surveillance footage entering Lake Michigan alone. report.
Elsewhere in the country, five bodies have been found in Austin’s Lady Bird Lake so far this year, KXAN reported Tuesday — hours after the fifth body was reported.
“Unfortunately, some people go to bars and make the wrong choices, and unfortunately that happened where people accidentally fall or fall into the water,” Walder continued. rice field. “But you don’t see it at this scale.”
But Joseph Giaccarone, a former New York City police officer and John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor, is skeptical of the serial killer speculation, but stressed the importance of a thorough investigation.
“Social media seems to fuel many of these conspiracy theories, but investigators should ignore all that and just do what they have to do,” he told the Post.
“I come from a school that treats all deaths as if they were murders until proven otherwise, because you’re never given a second chance at murder.”
