On Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 17-year old Joey Kaiser, a junior at Cretin Derham Hall high school "took off from his home" in a manic state. According to his mother, Molly, he had a history of bipolar disorder and had been trying a new medication for roughly two weeks. Everyone hoped Joey would come home on his own.On Friday, police found a ominous sign. Joey's mountain bike-- distinctive because it was missing a pedal--had been abandoned along the banks of the Mississippi near St. Clair Avenue. It was found not far from the Kaiser home.
Joey's family and friends spent Memorial Day weekend looking for him. The search stretched into August before Joey's body was discovered in the Mississippi River near the Lock and Dam. It was spotted around 9 a.m. August 18, 2008 by the Hennepin County Sheriff's water patrol. Firefighters used a walkway extending into the river from the plant to pull it from the water, so badly decomposed that the Ramsey County medical examiner's office had to rely on DNA for identification. Foul play was not suspected.
An odd coincidence
Almost one year later on April 5, 2009, Dan Zamlen disappeared from the same area near St. Clair Avenue. His body was found near the Ford plant.
Facts of Interest
Name/age: Joey Kaiser, 17
Physical description: 6'2", 200#, brown hair, blue eyes
Last seen: 11 a.m., Tuesday, 5/20/08, St. Clair Avenue, St. Paul, MN
Recovered: 9 a.m., Tuesday 8/18/08, Missisippi River near Ford lock and dam, St. Paul, MN
Kaiser was last seen wearing a graffiti print jacket, and had a backpack and possibly a book on atheism. He had no money, no identification, no food or medication.
Sources:
http://wcco.com/local/missing.teenager.joey.2.732903.html
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/27158059.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7EaDiaMDCiUT
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/19268914.html
http://cdhnews.typepad.com/chaplains_message/2008/09/joey-kaiser.html
Posted 6/24/09.
11 comments:
Both Joey and Dan Zamlen left a home in the 2100 block of St. Claire Avenue. Joey from where he lived, Dan from a party. Joey's bike was found at St. Claire Ave and River Rd, Dan's last known location was reproted to last be at St. Claire and River Rd.
Both bodies were found near the Ford Plant. Dan on a grate and Joey near a grate.
Both men left the location upset. Joey was in a manic state, Dan was upset by an arguement.
The coincidences are errie.
It sure is odd for 2 young men to go missing from the same neighborhood in basically a year's time. Just like all the college students who have disappeared from LaCrosse, WI, & then have been found dead in the river.
I don't recall it having ever been reported that Dan Zamlen had been at a party in the 2100 block of St Clair Ave. Do you have site for that article?
With regard to Dan Zamlen, I recall the articles all saying there had been a very minor disagreement at the party. The articles never said the Dan left the party, as a result of this minor disagreement.
Moreover, I had the impression that a good deal of time had transpired from the time Dan left the party, until when his friends phoned him & said they would come pick him up at the corner of St. Clair & River Rd. & even more time until they actually realized that Dan was not there & was missing.
Joey apparently had some emotional problems. Dan did not. They can not be compared in that regard. There are some coincidences, but you can't possibly infer that Dan Zamlen jumped into the Mississippi. Again there was no evidence in the freshly fallen snow on the night in question showing that anyone had gone anywhere near the river. The street intersection, where Dan had told his friends he was, is a good 50 yards from the river itself. IF Dan had actually gone into the river on that night (whether he jumped, accidentally fell, or was pushed), there would have been footprints, etc in the freshly fallen snow. There were none.
It seems more likely that Dan Zamlen was abducted (possibly in a van) on the night in question, & he was held for a period of time thereafter, and his body was subsequently placed in the river.
When all the evidence is considered & pieces of evidence are not ignored, it creates a quite frightening picture. My heart goes out to his family & friends, & to Joey's family & friends too.
my mistake --- sorry -- there are several stories that say Dan had been at a house party earlier that evening in the 2100 block of St Clair Ave.
Anon 7:1,
Do you recall if it snowed the night Dan disappeared? while it is not unheard of for April, I do not recall. And I know when I visited the area the following week, there was no snow on the ground. View photos at: http://footprintsattheriversedge.blogspot.com/2009/04/photos-from-mississippi-river-blvd.html
However, I do recall that it was reported that the hillside had not been disturbed as though someone had slipped.
I don't think Monique777 is in any way trying to suggest that Dan jumped. I think she is trying to suggest that maybe Joey didn't jump, or that we should at least be open to that possibility.
And I think there is some validity in that. After all, we really can't assume anything one way or the other at this point. We don't know where these two men entered the water or when, so it is impossible to say whether they fell, were pushed, or were thrown in.
While it seems likely that Joey jumped while in a manic state, I can't find anything to suggest that he did or even that he might. There were no reports of previous suicide attempts in the media or anything suggesting this possibility. And by all accounts, his family expected him to come home.
So we just need to be open to every possibility.
The freshly fallen snow the night that Dan went missing was only on the grass. It did not stick to pavement, & all of it was melted the next day.
I so glad that someone acknowledged
the Joey Kaiser drowning,because the St Paul PD really isn't spending enough time on these cases of unexplainable deaths.
Although the pattern of the St Paul PD seems to be the same nationwide, not enough resources being used to determine the actual cause of these deaths. Law enforcement needs help from federal government, because they don't seem to have the time to properly investigate these cases or the dilegence!
Remember Joey Kaiser and his family
,they are in need of the community's help and support.Please if you know them reach out and offer them a kind word or a hand with something! I did not know Joey Kaiser,but I've
learned that he was a real fine young men. I just don't believe what PD determined was the cause of his death. But, it was a convienent and lazy way to determine a cause of Joe's death. How dare they do that to this fine young man's family and friends!
I didn't infer from what I wrote that Dan jumped into the Mississippi River!
I don't believe this is the case with Dan or Joey. What actually happened can only be a theory/opinion.
Dan called Sarah after he left the party. His friends didn't call him, they didn't even know he had left the party.Look at links under Dan Zamlen. You'll see his friends hadn't noticed he left the party.
Anyway, I think there is an eerie coincidence here.Joey drowned about one year before Dan. Joey was 17. Dan was 18.
I'm not sure about connections between cases although anything at this point is possible until proven otherwise.
Anonymous 7-1-09 10:01AM
"Moreover,I had the impression that a good deal of time had transpired from the time Dan left the party, until when his friends phoned him..."
No, a good deal of time had not passed. He was still on St. Claire when he phoned his friend Sarah at the party. The party on St. Claire was about 5 blocks from Mississippi River Rd.
No, Dan's friends did not call him. Dan called Sarah who was at the party. His friends at the party were unaware he had even left.
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/42498757.html?elr=KARKsD:
aDyaEP:KD:aU2EKP7K_t:aDyaEP;
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I really admire the people who have taken the time to study Josh Guidmon's and Chris Jenkin's deaths with great care. I wish the other victims could be treated with the same care especially when comparisons between 2 cases are being refuted.
Please excuse my spelling error of victim Josh Guimond in my previous post.
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