Drowning of young Wisconsin men not work of serial killer, FBI says

[Canuckistan]

Story here.

There is no serial killer, investigators insist, no boogeyman lurking in college-area bars, waiting to drown good-looking young men.

Since 1997, eight college-aged men have drunk heavily at local taverns, then turned up dead in one of the area's rivers.

Each death rekindled the killer talk, but FBI profilers and other investigators have all reached the same conclusion: The deaths were accidents.

And not everyone believes the FBI.

Viterbo junior Tina Kothbauer, 20, of Durand, said she thinks police are squelching the serial killer theory to avoid publicity, and she doesn't think the safe drinking campaign will do anything.

[glass papaya]

Not nearly enough people around here realize that the increase in drinking-related drowning deaths in LaCrosse just happens to coincide with the redoing of Riverside Park. They dredged the river so boats can pull up to the park, and there's a nice concrete wall in front of 10 feet of water where there used to be some rocks and a gentle grade to the bottom of the river. If you fall off the wall, you can't get back out.

There have always been drunken college students in LaCrosse. They used to die falling off Granddad Bluff.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Ten years. Eight drowning deaths. We got that many in Boulder in the same time span from:

a) tubing in the creek

b) Running their cars into canyon walls.

Drunk people die. It sucks. But it isn't often a serial killer

[AliBaba]

I think if someone I loved had died, I'd much rather believe it was the result of a serial killer, someone I could blame and hopefully see punished, rather than as a result of the loved one's own intoxication.

I can absolutely understand why there are those who cling to the belief that there is a murderer on the loose. What they probably need to understand is that there would be no benefit to hushing up the existence of a serial killer. I can't access the article here at work, but will read it when I get home to see if there is some reason they're giving for thinking law enforcement agencies would hush it up.

I mean think about it; let's keep the fact that a killer is on the loose quiet, and that way more people can get killed and when it finally comes out that there was a cover up, we can be sued. Doesn't make much sense from my chair.

AliBaba

Originally Posted by Ryda Wong, EBfCo.

Drunk people die. It sucks. But it isn't often a serial killer

Isn't most alcohol made from cereals? Wouldn't that make alcohol a "cereal killer"?

[Arriah]

So, the conclusion of the FBI is that
1) college aged guys get drunk
2) sometimes the drunk guys decide to play around near the river
3) sometimes they fall in the water

and people think this is silly? I'm missing the conspiracy here.

[inkrose115]

Originally Posted by Doug4.7

Isn't most alcohol made from cereals? Wouldn't that make alcohol a "cereal killer"?

I was timing how long before someone made that joke.

[my2pence]

I taught at UW-La Crosse from 2001 - 2006, and I had students who were absolutely convinced it was a serial killer. One of their favorite reasons the drownings couldn't be accidental was that it was only young men who died. The logic was that if the drownings were accidental there should be young women drowning as well. I offered them the possibility that young women who go to bars are aware of other dangers and often watch out for one another more than college-age guys do. Most of the students dismissed that as a possibility and went right back to the serial killer theory.

[glass papaya]

Originally Posted by AliBaba

I think if someone I loved had died, I'd much rather believe it was the result of a serial killer, someone I could blame and hopefully see punished, rather than as a result of the loved one's own intoxication.

I can absolutely understand why there are those who cling to the belief that there is a murderer on the loose. What they probably need to understand is that there would be no benefit to hushing up the existence of a serial killer. I can't access the article here at work, but will read it when I get home to see if there is some reason they're giving for thinking law enforcement agencies would hush it up.

I mean think about it; let's keep the fact that a killer is on the loose quiet, and that way more people can get killed and when it finally comes out that there was a cover up, we can be sued. Doesn't make much sense from my chair.

AliBaba

I think people need someone to blame. It's hard to blame a young person for irresponsible behavior when the young person in question paid with his life.

Despite police figures showing that six college-aged men drowned in area rivers from 1974-79, eight more drowned between 1980-89 and seven have drowned since 1997, several people insisted some sinister reason is to blame for college-aged men drowning today.

It isn't new. Alcohol is a factor. The young men who drowned were all intoxicated, with BAC's between .22 and .42. Cite, cite, cite.

[Judecat]

Originally Posted by my2pence

I taught at UW-La Crosse from 2001 - 2006, and I had students who were absolutely convinced it was a serial killer. One of their favorite reasons the drownings couldn't be accidental was that it was only young men who died. The logic was that if the drownings were accidental there should be young women drowning as well. I offered them the possibility that young women who go to bars are aware of other dangers and often watch out for one another more than college-age guys do. Most of the students dismissed that as a possibility and went right back to the serial killer theory.

Been a long time since I was college aged so things may have changed a whole lot -- but back in my younger days we females traveled in groups/, unless we were out on a date -- so if we fell in the river there would be someone there to either help us or call for help. Young men were more likely to wander off alone.

[StoneMaven]

There's a pattern...

http://marksuppelsa.typepad.com/clos...g_drowned.html

This makes for some pretty convincing evidence on the serial killer theory.

[Beldaran]

I'm missing the convincing evidence. Colleges are in more populated towns, there are more populated towns along major interstates, such as I-94 and along major rivers, such as the Mississippi. The drownings only happen when school is in session because a lot of students go home for the summer, and there are less students left in town to get drunk over the summer.

The most drownings happened in La Crosse most likely because of the layout of the town and the proximity of the bars to the river. I went to school in Winona, MN which is just across the border from La Crosse and I heard about drownings in La Crosse, but there didn't seem to be the same stigma attached to Winona. Probably because it was a smaller town and IME, people tended to get drunk at house parties that were away from the river rather than at the few bars in town. Better yet, a lot of people I knew went to La Crosse to drink/party because back then the bars were open later on the WI side of the river.

Were any of the deaths in Winona? I only find an article on a foreign exchange student's accidental drowning when looking it up. Interesting that the "serial killer" would haunt La Crosse but leave Winona untouched.

[Dropbear]

Originally Posted by StoneMaven

This makes for some pretty convincing evidence on the serial killer theory.

Actually it makes for pretty standard conspiracy theorist thinking. Look at a jumbled collection of information - find the inevitable patterns that appear whenever you look at lots of data, then think of an explanation that fits your own prejudices.

Using the same system I could theorise that they were all self-sacrifices to the River Goddess organised by a pagan cult "Fill yourself with the fermented fruits of the field and then give yourself to the Goddess!"

Dropbear

[diddy]

Originally Posted by Dropbear

Using the same system I could theorise that they were all self-sacrifices to the River Goddess organised by a pagan cult "Fill yourself with the fermented fruits of the field and then give yourself to the Goddess!"

Dropbear

Hey!! Don’t bring us up. We only target female virgins for out sacrifice to the River Goddesses. Didn’t you get the memo?!?!?!

Seriously - I agree 100%

[Darth Credence]

Some of the evidence is that in the list of murders, there is a chunk that follows a pattern of E, W, W, E, W, E - not once, but twice! Clearly, there is no way that such a pattern could be found at random.