Have you ever heard of the college kids in La Crosse who left a bar, disappeared, and were later found floating in the Mississippi River? Their deaths have been attributed to drowning, either accidental or suicides. The families have never accepted that but all their protests have fallen on deaf ears.

On Halloween 2002, Chris Jenkins of Burlington, Wisconsin, while attending school in Minneapolis, left a party in a bar and disappeared. His body was found floating in the Mississippi River 4 months later. His death was dismissed lightly as a drunk kid who jumped off a bridge. His parents did not buy the story and hired a PI. His investigation was hampered by people covering their own asses and other roadblocks, but he was able to piece together that Chris was abducted, tortured and tossed in the river. Presented with new evidence, the police had little choice but to reclassify his death as a homicide.

This, in turn, attracted the attention of two retired homicide detectives from New York, Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte. Since 1997, they have been investigating the case of Patrick McNeill, who left a bar in NYC, disappeared, and was found five months later, 11 miles downriver from where he had last been seen.

These detectives have investigated over FORTY of these mysterious “accidental drownings” including that of Matt Kruziki. Matt’s body was found floating in the Mississippi River, near East Dubuque, Illinois on March 18, 2006. The coroner’s report said there were no signs of foul play. There are three things about this case that are very interesting. One, the coroner’s report said no foul play. Two, Matt’s body was located near Sinsiniwa Avenue and at that location, a crude smiley face was also found. Matt’s father, Bill Kruziki, is a US Marshall and used to be the Waukesha County Sheriff. Bill Kruziki never accepted that his son accidentally drowned in the Mississippi River.

Well, he didn’t. All of these drowings are homicides, all performed by a serial killer or a syndicate of serial killers. All of the drownings are similar - college age men leave a bar, alone, in the wee hours. They disappear. Their bodies turn up floating days, weeks or months later. The coroner’s report always says accidental drowning, no signs of foul play. Almost all of the drownings have occurred in the corridors of I-90 and I-94.

At the scene of almost every drowning, a crude smiley face has been painted. In Michigan, the word “Sinsiniwa” was painted with the smiley face. The word is meaningless until you recall that Matt Kruziki went into the river at the foot of Sinsiniwa Avenue in East Dubuque.

This is not an urban legend. The story was broken last week by Kristi Piehl, an investigative reporter from Minneapolis on KSTP television. You can read more about the case in the blog area of Help Find The Missing which includes links to the KSTP website. That website has some fascinating reports and links to the police report of the Jenkins case, and to a map that has some of the drownings listed.

Keep an eye on this developing case. There are reports that the story is being developed for ABC News’ 20/20 and for People Magazine. If you have college age men in your family, be sure to tell them about this developing story and to be aware at all times.