04/27/08: William Jacobson, 19, Ithaca, NY

Nineteen-year old freshman William "Willie" Jacobson, an Ithaca College student in upstate New York, was last seen at a theme party at a house at 105 Grandview Avenue. He had been dressed as William Shakespeare at the party. His body was found three days later in a retention pond less than half a mile from the party.

Willie's Story
According to Ithaca College, Jacobson was last seen around 4 a.m. April 27 in the backyard of a home in the city of Ithaca near the Hudson Heights Apartments. It was a theme party, and he had been dressed in a William Shakespeare costume consisting of white long-sleeved dress shirt, navy blue vest, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. He was seen walking away from the home. Officials say they believed he was planning on walking back to his dorm room on campus. Jacobson would have had to walk about a half-mile from the party back to get to his dorm (the Terrace 11 residence hall). His roommate reported him missing late Monday night. According to interviews with party-goers, Jacobson had been drinking during the theme event, but witnesses say he was not drunk. There is no indication he ran into any trouble with anyone at the party.

The Search
Nearly one hundred people were involved in the search for Jacobson. Rescue workers searched briefly Monday evening before darkness set in and then conducted aerial and ground searches Tuesday. Firefighters, police and volunteers trekked through the woods.Helicopters and ATVs joined in the ground searches. Friends set up a Facebook alert and posted flyers. A state dive team also searched two ponds on campus.

Recovery
A State Police dive team found Jacobson’s body in a small 8-foot deep pond on Farm Road. Acting Ithaca Police Chief Edward Vallely said there were no visible injuries on the body. According to college spokesperson, Dave Maley, the retention pond is just down an embankment from a sidewalk that Jacobson could have been using to get home. It is conceivable that he tumbled into the pond, said Maley, but it is "too early to know exactly what happened." Jacobson still had his wallet and his cell phone with him.The pond is located on the route he likely would have taken to return to his Terrace 11 residence hall room.

A preliminary autopsy conducted on Thursday, May 1, by Dr. James Terzian of Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton indicated the death was due to an accidental drowning. Police have ruled out foul play as the cause of death.


About Willie Jacobson
A resident of St. Paul, Minnesota, Jacobson, 19, was a writing major at Ithaca College. Jacobson had been a graduate of Central High School in St. Paul, MN, where he was a member of the student group Youth Against War and Racism.

Quick Facts:Name/age: William ("Willie") Jacobson (originally from St. Paul)
College: Ithaca College, Ithaca
Major: writing
Physical Description: white male, 5’9” tall, 165 lbs., thin build, black wavy hair, goatee. Wearing Shakespeare costume consisting of white long-sleeved dress shirt, navy blue vest, black dress pants, and black dress shoes.
Last seen: 4/27/08, sometime between 3:30 and 4:00 am
Recovered: 4/30/08
Cause of death: drowning
Manner of death: accident
Injuries: no signs of foul play or trauma
Air temperature: in the 40s

Smiley Face Graffiti

According to retired NYC detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte who first investigated these cases, smiley face graffiti has been found at 25 of the 33 cities where these deaths occurred.

What we know
We know that smiley face graffiti has been found in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, Albany, Vermont and Pennsylvania.

Not all of the graffiti pictures have been made public. And of those made public, in some cases, it has only been disclosed which state the graffiti was found in and not which case it with which it can be associated. View undisclosed graffiti.

The remaining graffiti has been reported by the news media to be linked to the following cases:

12/22/07: Josh Szostak, Albany, NY
In the Josh Szostak case, a white smiley face, which was dismissed by police as being unrelated, was found on a tree.





02/05/08: Nicholas Garza, Middlebury, VTAccording to an e-mail I received from Nick's family, they knew about the Smiley Face Killer theory a few days before the story went national in April and had been working with an investigator who had been trying to make a link between these missing men for nearly 8 years. After hearing about the graffiti, the next day, they searched along the riverbank in an area where dogs had already picked up Nick's scent and found a smiley face with a three pointed crown. Local police were informed and because of immense media pressure, they erased it, saying it had been there for some time. Police do not believe it was related to Nick's disappearance. The Garza family has met with detectives Gannon and Duarte (the two former NYPD cops who first found the link with the graffiti) a number of times and they are investigating Nick's case.

Nick disappeared less than a month after Tommy Booth from Woodlyn, PA. A smiley face with a three pointed crown was also found near where he disappeared.


01/19/08: Tommy Booth, Woodlyn, PA
After watching a 5 Eyewitness News investigation about the Smiley Face Killer Theory on Good Morning America, Ridley Township Det. Scott Willoughby, who worked the Tommy Booth case, asked his detectives to take another look behind Bootlegger's Bar, where Booth had last been seen. "When they went down into the area where we thought he went into the water, they noticed the graffiti and they noticed this smiley face painted on the wall," said Willoughby. The smiley face, which had slash marks for eyes and a 3-pointed crown on it's head, was on the wall of the bar under the party deck, just 30 feet from the creek. Police said they had never seen this kind of graffiti in Ridley Township before. Detective Willoughby has sent photos of the Ridley Creek graffiti to retired detectives Gannon and Duarte (who discovered the smiley face link). He also contacted the FBI, even though they've looked at the other cases and dismissed the possibility of a link.

Bloggers have also posted photos online of other graffiti found in the area, including these two smiley faces found behind the bar. These unofficial photographs were taken by Megan.Kelley51 on Flickr.








Smiley Faces with HornsThe words "evil smiley faced man" was found at one crime scene. (It has not been disclosed which one). Detective Gannon reported to the New York Post that "nine of the 22 faces were drawn with horns - like an "evil, happy, smiley man."




Sources:
SFKillersNew York Post

Examining alcohol usage in the Great Lakes Cases

• In almost all of the Great Lakes cases, alcohol use was reported by those who had last seen the young man.
• If the young man died, alcohol use was confirmed at autopsy. In the cases of Ohmi, Ross and Nordby, I have not found any reports confirming they either had or had not been drinking. (Autopsy information is not always made public.) In the Nordby case, it seems especially unlikely because he was last seen at his work as a bicycle messenger.
• In the Great Lakes case, 23 had last been seen at a bar, 15 had attended a party, and 1 was unknown (Morgan White).
• Of the 23 who had gone to a bar, no clear pattern is noticeable. The list of bars includes: Bar One, Brother's (3 reports in various cities), City Limits Tavern, Club Millenium, Decoy's, Dick's Last Resort, Happenings, Sneakers, Irish Eyes, John's Bar, Lizzie McNeil's, Lone Tree Bar & Grill, McRudy's Pub, Press Bar, Nasty Habit Saloon, The River Queen, The Vibe, Ugly Tuna Saloona, North Shore Tavern.
• In the cases of Blue, Melancon, Herr, Fortney and Burrows, the name of the bar where they were last seen was not reported.

The Car Accident Connection

Four people are reported to have car accidents the night they disappeared:

• Brandon Swanson, 19, Marshall, MN. Brandon called his father to say he had accidentally driven into a ditch.
• Nick Rossini, 21, White Bear Lake, MN. Nick had been involved in a drunk driving accident in his mother's car. He was taken to the police station then was picked up and driven home by his parents. He apparently went out for a run later that night and disappeared.
• Ryan Katcher, 19, Oakwood, IL. Ryan had been driven home by his friends after a party. He apparently went out again later that night. His body was found inside his truck in a retention pond a Kickapoo State Park.
• Nathan Edberg, 21 from White Bear Lake, MN could also have had an accident or been run off the road. His truck was found at the junction between two interstates.

The MySpace.com Connection

I am currently gathering information on which young men had myspace.com or facebook.com pages that were in already in existence before they disappeared.

• Christopher Melancon, 24, Milwaukee, WI
• Brad Olsen, 26, DeKalb, IL
• Wade Steffey, 19, West Lafayette, IN academic
• Nick Rossini, 21, White Bear Lake, MN
• Jesse Ross, 20, Chicago, IL

The Frat Connection

Three students were reported to have had a connection to a fraternity. If you can add to this list, please e-mail me at footprints.blogmail@yahoo.com.

• Wade Steffey, 19, West Lafayette, IN
• Patrick Kycia, 19, Moorhead, MN
• Ken Christiansen, 19, Duluth, MN

The DJ Connection

A few of the young men were radio djs or had a dj connection:

• Nick Garza worked as a dj on the college radio airwave.
• Josh Szostak was the lead radio jockey at Plattsburg. Nicknamed ‘the Stag,’ he was popular and easily recognized by people on campus.
• Jesse Ross, or "Opie" reportedly loved his job as an intern at the radio station 95.7 The Vibe and became a popular radio personality on the "Shorty and the Boyz" morning show.
• Brian Welzien had driven to Chicago to attend a private New Year's Eve party where a former NIU student, Reid Cain, was the disc jockey. He disappeared after returning to his hotel later that night.
• Nathan Kapfer had dj'd a local party the night he disappeared.

Locations in Common

• Josh Guimond attended St. John's University. Nick Rossini also attended St. John's University before going to West Point.
• Anthony Skifton's body was found south of the Cass Street Bridge; Christopher Melancon fell from the Cass Street bridge.
• Jesse Ross and Matt Soumakis disappeared from the same area, possibly the same hotel almost a year apart. Both had been staying at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers.
• Nathan Edberg and Nick Rossini both disappeared from White Bear Lake. The Rossini home is not too far from Decoy's Bar where Nathan Edberg was last seen. The Edbergs and Rossinis live within a few miles of each other.
• Willie Jacobson was originally from St. Paul, Minnesota and moved to New York. (Danny Clune, http://finddanny.org/, who will be listed soon), had recently moved to Sandpoint, Idaho from New York.
• Also see the post on the Lincoln Connection.
  
  

Wearing costumes at the time of disappearance

• Willie Jacobson was dressed as William Shakespeare at a costume party on the night he disappeared.
  
• At the time of his disappearance, it was Chris Jenkins was wearing a Native American costume for Halloween. The costume consisted of suede pants, suede shirt, moccasin boots and a headband with a red feather.

The Smiley Face Killer Theory

KSTP.com just broke this story about a potential link between the disappearances of these college students.

----------------------

from KSTP.com - 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS
Posted at: 04/23/2008 10:28:47 AM
Updated at: 04/25/2008 08:34:38 AM
By: Kristi Piehl, Investigative Reporter; Justin Piehowski, Web Manager; Nicole Muehlhausen, Web Producer

DETECTIVES: Chris Jenkins murder connects dozens around country

Could there be a calculated, cross-country plot to kill young college men, including some in Minnesota? It seems a little hard to believe, but two New York detectives say, they can prove it. Now, they are revealing years of their evidence for the first time to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS...

University of Minnesota college student Chris Jenkins was found in the Mississippi River in February of 2003. Minneapolis Police began investigating the case, which also caught the attention of two retired NYPD detectives. Turns out, Jenkins' death was the missing part of the puzzle for Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte. They think Jenkins connects dozens of other deaths around the country over the last decade.

The stories are the same all over the country--an athletic, intelligent, well-liked college student goes missing. Family and friends launch a massive search. Weeks or months later, the young man is discovered drowned. In more than 40 cases, the deaths are blamed on a drunken accident--except for one. The death of Chris Jenkins in Minneapolis is the only one where the cause of death was changed from 'undetermined' or 'drowning' to 'homicide.' "I can honestly tell you that I've walked every step of the way and it is hard for me to believe," Chris' mother Jan Jenkins told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. "The level of evil we are dealing with here is rampant, it's deep and it's widespread." Because of extensive investigation by Duarte and Gannon, Jan Jenkins now says she knows exactly what happened to her son on the night he disappeared, Oct. 31, 2002. "Chris was abducted in a cargo van," she said. "He was driven around Minneapolis for hours and tortured. He was taken down to the Mississippi River and he was murdered. And after that, his body was positioned and taken to a different spot and then to a different point in the Mississippi River." Gannon and Duarte say they've discovered a link between Jenkins' death and the drownings of at least 40 other men in 25 cities in 11 different states.

It began in New York
The investigation started 11 years ago in New York when then-Sgt. Gannon made a promise to the parents of Patrick McNeill. Patrick McNeill was last seen at a New York City bar in 1997. His body was found 50 days later, 11 miles downriver.
We knew it wasn't suicide," said Patrick McNeill's mother Jackie McNeill. "It was one of those things where he walked out and was never seen again."One of the only things comforting the McNeill's is Gannon, a decorated officer with a long history in the New York City Police Department. "I told them I would never give up on the case," Gannon told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. When Gannon retired, he devoted his life to keeping his promise to the McNeill's. "We've been doing this on our own, our own finances" Gannon explained. "We've never taken a penny from any of the families. I personally have mortgaged my own home to investigate this." According to Gannon's ally, Duarte, this is almost 'a perfect crime' because the water washes away any physical evidence and there are never any witnesses. Almost all of the men are last seen by friends leaving a bar or college party.

Local police have investigated the deaths and the FBI has even taken a look at the cases. In every case except for the Jenkins case, local law enforcement has ruled the death an accident. "I think it is a serial killer, but not one individual," Duarte said."I would just say, a group of individuals, probably located in more than one state," Duarte said, adding that he thinks they may kill again.

'Sick Signature'
Gannon and Duarte have done something that no other law enforcement agency has ever done in this case--they looked at the big picture and visited each site where the young man disappeared. While most local investigations focused on where a body was recovered, Gannon and Duarte tried to figure out where the body went into the river.
City after city, when they'd find the spot where the body went in, they would find something else: The symbol of a smiley face. "It's very disturbing," Duarte said. The paint color and size of the face varies, but the detectives are convinced that it's a sick signature the killers leave behind. They found one eight years ago in Wisconsin and then others in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. Then most recently, they believe they've found one in Iowa. In Michigan, they found something strange among the groups graffiti, the word 'Sinsiniwa.' They couldn't figure out what it meant until a few months later when they arrived in Dubuque, Iowa to investigate the death of Matt Kruziki. His body was found on Sinsiniwa Avenue. Plus, they've discovered the nicknames of people in the group at more than one location.

Two years ago, already entrenched in their investigation, Gannon and Duarte came to Minnesota. They connected with St. Cloud State College Professor Lee Gilbertson. Gilbertson had challenged his criminology students to search for patterns in the 11 disappearances of Minnesota and Wisconsin college students.Why go public?Gannon and Duarte are now confident they've discovered a nationwide criminal enterprise. The detectives say they have to go public to 'protect the innocent and prosecute the guilty.' "If nothing else, we have to warn the families and the young individuals so that no one else becomes a victim," Gannon said. Added Duarte: "Other kids are at risk, yes, it's very frustrating."

Gannon and Duarte want their investigation to prompt changes in the way drownings are investigated. They say medical examiners frequently don't even consider murder when looking at the body of a drowning victim. The detectives requested that 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS hold back some key details of the murders such as motive and the identities of the informants. They hope that information will someday be used to file criminal charges. They have already taken all of this evidence in the Jenkins case to Minneapolis Police and Hennepin County prosecutors--so why haven't they taken action? We will ask them.

Watch 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS tomorrow at 10:00 to find out how Minneapolis Police and Hennepin County prosecutors responded.

The Lincoln Connection

What started out as just a strange coincidence--quite a few connections to the word Lincoln throughout these cases--has morphed into quite a long list. With that said, America is full of streets, schools and parks named after presidents (Lincoln seems to be a particular favorite), so please take this with a grain of salt.