03/11/12: Colin Gillis, 18, Tupper Lake, NY

Colin Gillis
Missing since 3/11/12
Tupper Lake, NY

Colin Gillis is still missing.

Colin Gillis, 18, a pre-med student at SUNY Brockport, had been visiting his hometown of Tupper Lake in northern New York over spring break. He was excited to go out and see his old high school friends at a party at a private residence on Paskungameh Road.

"He was all pumped up about seeing his friends," his father, John, told the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

"We were just kind of laughing and having a good time, like usual with Colin," he said. "He was in a great mood - like I said, very excited to see his friends."

Colin reportedly left the party on foot in the early morning hours of Sunday, March 11, 2012, heading along a desolate stretch of State Route 3.

A passerby, concerned to see the young man walking alone so late at night without a coat, drove to the police station in Tupper Lake, two miles away. Officers arrived on scene of the sighting about ten minutes later, but Colin Gillis was nowhere to be found.

The witness who had reported seeing Colon said the college student had been walking near a stretch of Adirondack forest, heading in the direction of Piercefield, NY. According to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise:

Lake Placid News Editor Rich Rosentreter reported seeing a young man in the road on state Route 3 at about 1:45 a.m. Sunday as he was heading back from Massena to Tupper Lake with his mother, who lives in Tupper Lake.

Rosentreter said the young man was walking against traffic close to the white line on the side of the road and flailing his arms. At first it looked like the man was hitchhiking, but then it looked like he wasn't.

He wasn't wearing a jacket, only a long-sleeved shirt, and the temperature was in the teens, Rosentreter said. Rosentreter said state police went to look for the man after he reported the incident to them at the Tupper Lake village police station, but to no avail.

Some of Colin's belongings, including his ID card, were later recovered by the authorities along Route 3, but there has been no sign of the missing college student.

According to media reports, the police have been unable to rule out foul play in the disappearance. No evidence has been found to suggest that Colin was hit by a car or that he tried to walk across the frozen Raquette River.

State police are looking into a skirmish that occurred the night of the party, but details of the incident have not been released.

Colin's phone was last used at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 11, the morning he disappeared.

Anyone with information regarding the case should contact state police at (518) 897-2000.

08/14/10: Owen Rooney, 24, Grand Forks, BC, Canada

Missing - Owen Rooney

Owen Rooney is missing.
Owen Rooney, 24, an electrician from Sydney, Australia, was on a working holiday at the Big White ski resort in Kelowna, British Columbia with his sisters Bree and Kelly. When the season was over, Owen decided to stay in the area for the summer and work at a local restaurant while his sisters headed to Vancouver.

Rooney had been to the Shambhala Music Festival in Salmo, B.C. where, according to RCMP Corporal Dan Moskaluk, he ingested psilocybin mushrooms. "It was noted by his friends that this caused Owen a certain degree of paranoia and that he appeared a little confused," said Moskaluk. "He did seek medical attention at the medical tent during that festival."

While hitchhiking the 248 miles (400 km) back to Kelowna after the festival on August 13, Rooney trespassed on a Christina Lake property, repeatedly insisting that his friends were on the property. The property owner removed Rooney by force, and in the ensuing altercation, Rooney was struck in the face. (Kelowna News, 11/1/10).

It appears to have been the first time that Rooney had ever been in a fight, but the young man was badly beaten and may have become confused.

A short time later, Rooney was picked up in Christina Lake by a police officer who received a call about someone behaving oddly. The officer spotted Rooney wandering along Highway 3 with two black eyes and bleeding from his ears. He offered to take him to the hospital. When Rooney declined, the officer dropped him off at the Grand Forks bus depot, and Rooney purchased a ticket back to Kelowna. Rooney boarded the bus; he got off the bus a short time later and asked someone for directions to the hospital.

He left the bus station and did make it to Grand Forks Boundary Hospital in Grand Forks, B.C., where he was treated and spent the night, but he disappeared the following evening before he was formally discharged from the hospital.

Rooney was last seen around 8 p.m. on Oct. 14, sitting at a picnic table on the west side of the hospital. He left without his backpack which contained clothing and his cell phone. Discrepancies exist about whether Rooney's wallet was in the backpack.

"We don't know what has happened to him," Bree told the Daily Telegraph. "We're just appealing to anyone who has seen Owen or been in contact with him to get in touch with us."


The Search for Owen Rooney

Rooney's passport was left behind in his apartment in Kelowna. His bank accounts, credit cards, and Facebook page have not been accessed since he was last seen, and he has not picked up his paycheck.

Ground searches have yielded no clues.

His family has been handing out missing person leaflets and putting up posters between Grand Forks and Kelowna. They have also started a blog, http://www.find-owen.com/. At least three Facebook sites are also devoted to Owen Rooney's disappearance, and videos have been posted on You Tube, including a re-enactment video by the police.

On Nov. 26, CTV.ca reported that police on Vancouver Island had received four credible sightings of Rooney in the past month:

In three cases, the man was trying to sell homemade dream catchers door-to-door, and was accompanied by other people.

The first sighting happened in Nanaimo on Nov. 5., when a woman reported seeing said Rooney selling the homemade crafts with a man with dreadlocks and a Jamaican accent.

Four days later, Saanich police received a report of a man matching Owen's description.

The next day, a business owner in Parksville told police he sold her a dream catcher at her office.

Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Gary O'Brien said they've assigned a plainclothes unit to investigate, starting with checking cheap hotels and hostels in the area.

"A woman who insists she saw him said he looks in good health, he's polite, looks like he's staying somewhere inside. If he sells one of these crafts he could have money for a day or two, and the hostels are cheap."

Adeline Setterfield said Rooney came into her office in October trying to hawk his wares. She alerted police yesterday after seeing his picture on television.

‘When I saw his face it was like ‘bingo' – and he had an Australian accent," she told ctvbc.ca from her downtown Nanaimo office.

Setterfield said Rooney looked scruffy and needed a haircut, but otherwise seemed okay. She said the man told her he was travelling for "a cultural experience" and trying to save money.

Owen Rooney is 5'9", 160 pounds with very short brown hair. He has an Australian accent.  He also has two tattoos. On his right calf is an "Australian Made" logo with a kangaroo in a triangle. On his shoulder is a circle with a Celtic star around it. Click here to see photos. He was last seen wearing a dark shirt and three-quarter inch shorts.

Given the head injury Rooney suffered, it is possible that he may not know who he is.

If you have any information about Owen Rooney, please call:
Grand Forks RCMP 250-442-8288, Kelly Rooney: 778-686-3534 or Crimestoppers: 1-800-222-8477.


Facts of Interest
Name/age: Owen Rooney, 24
Last seen: 8/14/10, Grand Forks Boundary Hospital, Grand Forks, BC
Physical Description: 5'9", 160, Australian accent. Last seen wearing a dark shirt and shorts. Rooney has two tattoos. On his right calf is an "Australian Made" logo with a kangaroo in a triangle. On his shoulder is a circle with a Celtic star around it.  Click here to see photos of his tattoos.
Investigating Agency: Grand Forks Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 250-442-8288
Links:
http://www.find-owen.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=153559174657446&v=wall
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=144227432275360
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=153559174657446

02/10/08: Jeffrey Liepitz, 35, Mosinee, WI

Jeffrey Liepitz

Thirty-five year old Jeffrey M. Liepitz of Mosinee, Wisconsin was last seen on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008, at 1:30 a.m. walking out of Dinger’s Sports Bar on Main Street (Highway 153) in Mosinee. He was wearing a light brown jacket, blue jeans and a Dallas Cowboys cap.

The missing man’s mother, Marlyne Rayome, said she was concerned that her son may have an injury that could explain his disappearance (Wausau Daily Herald, 2/12/08). Rayome, who lives with her son in Mosinee, said she received a call from one of his friends telling her that people in the bar were hitting Liepitz in the head. Rayome said she went to the bar after receiving the call, but her son no longer was there.

Liepitz was going through a divorce and was upset the night he went out to Dinger's, his brother Scott Liepitz, told the Wausau Herald. According to the Herald, "At the tavern, several people made fun of Jeff for wearing a Dallas Cowboys hat, a team he had liked since childhood. Jeff Liepitz left the bar after being hit in the head by bar patrons, Scott said."

Family members contacted police at about 11 a.m. Sunday after Liepitz failed to return home.

Mosinee Police Chief Ken Muelling confirmed to the Wausau Daily Herald that police were called to the bar after a fight erupted. Liepitz was part of that fight and took off running when police arrived.

"It wasn't highly unusual for somebody to take off running from the bar as the police are arriving," siad Muelling, but what is unusual is that after this amount of time this person hasn't shown up."

Jeffrey Liepitz lived with his mother, Marlyne Rayome, in Mosinee, Wisconsin. She said he did not drink often and speculated that could have left him vulnerable in the bar or more disoriented. She could think of no reasons why her son would intentionally disappear and thought he would contact her or return home, unless he was hurt.

Rayome said it wasn't like her son to go somewhere without informing her. "If he's going to be late, he calls me," she said. (Wausau Daily Herald, 2/13/08).


The Search for Jeffrey Liepitz

Officers have retraced Liepitz's steps, contacted witnesses to learn more about the circumstances of his disappearance, searched a wooded area near the bar, and also brought in tracking dogs to help find the missing man.

But footprints showed he might have walked to the river's edge. Dogs searched along the Wisconsin River, which isn't far from the bar.

The Wausau Paper Corp. in Mosinee has begun lowering a channel in the river upstream from the dam to allow Mosinee police to search for Liepitz’ body.
 
On March 17, 2008, the clothed body of Jeffrey M. Liepitz was found in the Wisconsin River near Little Bull Falls Island and Highway 153 in Mosinee around 11:15 am. The body was found about 50 yards from the west shore of the river. The bar where Liepitz was last seen was about one block west from the site.

Marathon County Medical Examiner John Larson made a preliminary identification of the body before it was taken to Madison for an autopsy and positive identification.

A Mosinee police officer told the Wausau Daily Herald on Feb. 13 that foul play was not suspected in his disappearance despite a report that Liepitz was being hit in the head while at the bar.

Rayome told the Herald that the discovery brings relief and closure to the family. "I can bring him home at least and put him to rest," Rayome said.

Scott Liepitz told the Herald that his brother hated water. "The only reason he was out on the ice is if he was hurt," he said. "Everyone in Mosinee knows not to go in the river."


About Jeffrey Liepitz

Jeff Liepitz was known for his unique sense of humor, his natural ability to fix cars, and his love of NASCAR and collecting memorabilia, particularly of his favorite driver, Mark Martin. Liepitz had even been in contact with NASCAR about entering a training program to work on stock car bodies and motors. Jeff had shown an interest in cars since he was a young boy, often hanging out at body shops or with mechanics.

His brother, Scott, told the Herald, "He was the kind of guy if he was your friend, he was your friend for life."

Liepitz was described as being 6'1, and 180 pounds. He has brown hair, and blue eyes, and was wearing a light brown jacket, and a Dallas Cowboys baseball cap.

If you have any information on Liepitz’s whereabouts, call the Mosinee Police Department at 693-2000.

10/11/08: Dylan Koshman, 21, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Help Find Dylan Koshman
Dylan Koshman, 21, was last seen the night of Oct. 11, 2008 leaving the home near 104th Street and 33 Avenue in south Edmonton, Alberta, Canada that he shared with his cousins. He and his cousins had gotten into an alcohol-fueled argument and he was seen walking out of the backyard of the home at 2:30 a.m. He was not wearing a jacket or carrying money or his identification. The temperature was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 Celsius). He was carrying his LG chocolate flip phone. The last cell phone ping was at 3:30 a.m. in the same area.

Dylan was reported missing by his girlfriend on October 15, 2008 when he didn’t turn up for work. There has been no activity on his phone, bank account or Facebook page.

Dylan was seen wearing a dark t-shirt, possibly brown, jeans, and white skater shoes.
Dylan Koshman is 21 years old. 5’9 170-190 lbs. He has brown hair, hazel eyes, good teeth, and is in very good shape. He has a scar on his left cheek, that looks like a deep dimple, also a little scar on his left eyebrow. Dylan’s both ears are pierced, and he is also deaf in his right ear. If you have any information about Dylan Koshman, please call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

04/10/08: Michael Scullion, 30, Agassiz, BC, Canada

Richard MacInnes, 45, of Rosedale, B.C. has been charged with second degree murder and indignity to human remains in the death of Michael Scullion. Scullion’s body has never been found.
Police believe a fight may have occurred prior to Michael's death/disappearance.According to the Vancouver Sun, MacInnes has a prior conviction for production of a controlled substance and is known to have links in the upper Fraser Valley drug trade. 

MacInnes made his first court appearance on March 10 in the Chilliwack Provincial Court.


In the early morning hours of Thursday, April 10th, 2008, Michael Scullion, 30, of Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada was in an altercation outside the Agassiz Crossroads Hotel at 5936 Lougheed Highway near Agassiz, BC shortly after midnight. Scullion had been with friends at the hotel pub and when they came outside he was gone. He was reported missing to police that evening. He has had no contact with family or friends and has failed to show up for work or to collect his pay check, which is highly out of character for him.

A missing person's investigation began and within a few days, according to media reports, information learned by investigators suggested that Michael's disappearance was most likely the result of foul play. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team then assumed control of the investigation.

Scullion was last seen wearing a charcoal coloured hooded sweatshirt with a light grey pattern on the front, blue jeans and white runners. He is described as a Caucasian male with short brown hair, and had two days facial hair growth when last seen. Scullion is 5’11” tall and 180 lbs.

Investigators are hopeful that additional tips will continue to come in to assist in moving this investigation forward. If you have information on the whereabouts of Michael Scullion, or if you may have witnessed the altercation outside the Agassiz Crossroads Hotel shortly after midnight on Thursday, April 10, you are asked to call the IHIT TIP Line at 1-866-373-7886. The information you give will be treated as confidential. If you wish to remain anonymous please call CRIMESTOPPERS at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Quick Facts:
Name/age: Michael Scullion, 30
Residence: Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
Last seen: 04/10/08, Agassiz Crossroads Hotel, 5936 Lougheed Highway near Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada
Physical Description: Caucasian, 5’11,” 180 lbs, short brown hair. Wearing Charcoal-colored hooded sweatshirt with a light grey pattern on the front, blue jeans and white running shoes. Had two days facial hair growth when last seen.
Links: Facebook search page




Sources

(2014, March 10). Richard MacInnes charged in Michael Scullion cold case. CBS News. Retrieved April 24, 2014 from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/richard-macinnes-charged-in-michael-scullion-cold-case-1.2567088

(2014, March 10). Charges laid in 2008 Agassiz murder. Vancouver Sun. Section: The Real Scoop. Retrieved April 24, 2014 from http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2014/03/10/charges-laid-in-2008-agassiz-murder/

 

03/13/10: Greg Hart, 23, Providence, RI

On March 13, 2010, after getting a late start, Gregory Hart, 23, drove his Mustang from Dedham, MA, to the apartment of a friend in Providence, RI. There, he met up with three old college buddies--Will, Zach, and Zach's girlfriend--to celebrate his new job. By 10 p.m., the group was heading out to the Red Room Tavern at One Fox Place in Providence.

At 1:21 a.m., Hart spoke on the phone with Will, who was at the bar that night. The two spoke for 8 minutes, but it has not been reported what was said. It was the last time Hart's phone was used.

Friends say that around 1:40 p.m., Greg just got up and left the tavern without saying a word. Nothing unusual appeared to be going on, but Hart left the bar (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com, March 15, 2010).

Friends initially speculated that while they returned to their apartment, Hart may have gone to an International House of Pancakes (IHOP) on Promenade Street. But Hart's brother, JP, later told the Providence Journal that this wasn't likely. While he and his brother had indeed sometimes walked from the Red Room to the IHOP, it had been in the summer. Family members did not believe Greg would have walked to the pancake house in the rain, and there appears to be no indication that he did so. (Providence Journal).

Cell phone records indicate that, at some point, Hart's friend, Zach, tried calling Greg's phone (along with the police and local hospitals) to find out what happened to his friend.

Hart's family remained uneasy; Greg Hart's car was still parked outside the apartment building where he had left it, and his cell phone had not been answered.

By Sunday when he still hadn't returned for the St. Patrick's Day parade, they became "seriously worried" and they filed a missing person's report. (Boston.com.)


The Search for Greg Hart
Initially, police did not look for the missing University of Massachusetts-Amherst student.

When the police failed to search, family and friends of Greg Hart launched their own search effort. More than 50 people came to the aid of the Hart family, helping to look for Hart and/or post fliers around the area.

On Tuesday, March 16 at around 2:45 p.m., a family friend made a grim discovery just three-quarters of a mile from where Hart had last been seen. Hart's body was found washed up against a tree limb in the rain-swollen Woonasqatucket River in Providence, “half in and half out” of the water (ABC6.com). It was recovered by rescue crews from the Providence Fire Department.


Investigation
From the beginning, the Hart family expressed fears that foul play might be involved with Hart's death. Hart was a licensed and experienced scuba diver and very familiar with the water. There had also been reports that some type of disturbance or altercation had occurred at the bar on the night that Greg Hart disappeared.

"When a sudden death happens in an unusual place under unusual circumstances, it’s suspicious."
- Maj. Thomas F. Oates III, Providence Police Department

But an autopsy conducted by the Rhode Island Medical Examiner's office on March 17, indicated that Hart's death was a drowning and did not appear suspicious.

Yet, police said they would continue to investigate and treat the death as suspicious. "When a sudden death happens in an unusual place under unusual circumstances," said "Maj. Thomas F. Oates III, commander of the department’s investigative division, "it’s suspicious." (The Providence Journal, March 20, 2010).

On March 23, the medical examiner announced that Hart had been "highly intoxicated." The blood alcohol level was not released, but John Hart told the Providence Journal that investigators told him that his son's blood-alcohol level was more than .25. This is more than three times the legal limit of .08 for driving in Rhode Island. According to research by the paper, "most with levels between .21 and .29 would be subject to memory blackouts, staggering, double vision, loss of understanding of surroundings, poor judgment, impaired reactions and loss of balance."

Also at that time, police announced that they had found no evidence to suggest Hart had been involved in a fight. However, Hart's family said Hart's body had numerous injuries that suggested he had been in a fight, including: a broken cheekbone, jaw, eye socket, chipped tooth, cuts on his lips and knuckles, injuries to his palm and bruises on both legs in the same location. The family believes he was beaten up, possibly murdered.

Hart's father also said he believes a search should have been launched by the police after they heard about the possible disturbance at the bar.

The medical examiner addressed the family's concerns two days later, stating that any injuries found on Gregory Hart's body were caused after he drowned. His body had been in the fast- flowing Woonasquatucket River for an estimated 2-3 days. The Providence Police Department and the medical examiner maintained that there were no signs of foul play.


Private investigation by Hart family
The Hart family has hired an attorney to investigate the handling of the investigation. Police stand behind their investigation and say it was thorough, but the family has reported that the following areas are of particular concern:

Potential Conflict of Interest
Providence detective, Mark Sacco, who began investigating the case one day before Hart was found owns the property that the Red Room bar sits on. The bar itself is owned by Rebecca Caroll, the wife of Providence police detective, Shawn Carroll. The family of Greg Hart feels that this is a conflict of interest. In addition, there are no records of potential witnesses at the bar (e.g., bouncers, bartenders) ever having been interviewed by the police (ABC6.com).

Possible altercation at the bar
A police report, according to ABC6, says a disturbance of some kind (it is not known when or what type), occurred shortly before Greg disappeared. Hart's body had also suffered the type of injuries that may be indicative of a fight (broken facial bones, chipped tooth, cuts on lips and knuckles, bruising on palm and legs.) There were also two bruises in the same place on each leg, possibly caused by restraining Greg Hart.

Inconsistencies with police reports
The initial police incident report from March 14, states that police found Hart's cell phone and a house key in the bar’s parking lot. The report also states that police called his cellphone at that time and that it rang several times before going to voicemail. A police report two days later said that Hart's phone was found in the water along with Hart's partially submerged body and his driver's license.

Hart's Shattered iPhone
The police returned Hart's iPhone to the family in approximately 5 pieces. Officers told the family that even State Police experts were unable to retrieve any information from it because it had been in the water. However, technicians at AT&T told the Hart family that it had been taken apart in such a way that no information could be retrieved (ABC6.com).

Damaged indicator on iPhone

"This [phone] definitely wasn't in the water, definitely, 100 percent, this was not in the water."
- Alfred Demirjian, data recovery expert

The Hart family was able to take the phone to data recovery experts at TechFusion. The company found that the phone could not possibly have been in contact with water, as stated in the police report. The style of the Apple iPhone that Hart had is equipped with tiny indicators deep in the phone that signal whether the phone had been submerged in water or a liquid. According to Alexander Gessen, a data recovery expert at the company, Apple has installed these indicators in order to help determine whether the phone has been submerged or come into contact with a liquid that might void the warranty. Evidence indicates that the indicator on Hart's phone, something very difficult to remove, had been intentionally scratched off.

Alfred Demirjian, a data recovery expert at the company said, "This definitely wasn't in the water, definitely, 100 percent, this was not in the water." (Boston.com, 11/1/10).

Data Recovery from Cell Phone
TechFusion was also able to rebuild Hart's phone and compare the text messages and phone logs to AT&T's cell phone logs to authenticate them. The data included a log of the last 100 calls and the contents of the final 599 text messages, which indicate that the iPhone was not in the water. The family has declined to release the contents of the recovered data for fear of compromising any criminal case that may come from it.

Length of Time in Water
A white shirt returned to the family seems to be more river-stained than the shirt that Hart was wearing over it. The family has also said that the body itself was not as waterlogged as it should have been after 48 hours in the water.

About Greg Hart
Providence Police Lt. George Stamatakos described Hart as “a nice kid with a great family." Gregory Hart had just moved to Dedham, Massachusetts. He was a cum laude graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst where he had studied economics and tutored students, and had been accepted into an officer's program to be a Navy fighter pilot. Relatives attributed his success to his hard work in school after receiving below-average grades his freshman year in college. He had just landed a new job at Meditech in Westwood, MA--a job that would give him some real money for the first time, according to ABC6.com--and he was scheduled to begin work on Monday, March 15. He was not typically a late-night partier.

The news has devasted his family. "He's my heart. I can't even function. Nothing's important anymore," said his mother, Marianne Hart, told the Providence Journal. Hart’s father said his son was his “best friend.” Relatives say he was also kind and generous, spending much of last year caring for his mother during breast cancer treatment.

Greg Hart will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Facts:
Name/age: Greg Hart, 23
College: University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Last seen: 03/13/10, Red Room Tavern, One Fox Place, Providence, RI
Recovered: 03/16/10, Woonasqatucket River, Providence, RI
Residence: Dedham, MA
Physical Description: 5’8,” brown hair. He was last seen downtown Sunday morning wearing a grey leather biker jacket, a green hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes.

07/03/09: Bryan Barker, 21, Milwaukee, WI

On Friday, July 3, Bryan Barker, 21, from New London, Wisconsin went to Sullivan's Bar on 1227 North Water Street in Milwaukee to celebrate a friend's birthday. He left the bar between 1 and 1:30 a.m. and was planning to walk home. He disappeared.

His body was spotted by a passerby in the Milwaukee River on 7/6 and was recovered by divers near the 1400 block of Water Street, about two blocks north of the bar.

05/26/09: Mason MacPhail, 16, Toronto, ON, Canada

On Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 16-year old Mason MacPhail, a shy teen with Asberger Syndrome, a form of autism, accompanied three friends to an all ages concert for the band Disturbed at the Sound Academy bar on Polson Street in Ontario, Canada.

At some point during the night, he got into an altercation at the club with another concert goer during the concert and Mason was escorted out. He became separated from his friends. Video surveillance shows him stepping outside of the club and in, according to The Star, "an isolated stretch of derelict portlands on the waterfront" at 8 p.m. (also reported in the media as 9:30 p.m.). He was supposed to meet up with his friends in the parking lot at 11:30 p.m., but he never showed up. His body was found two days later in the channel of the Toronto Harbor.

12/23/05: Matt Kruziki, 24, East Dubuque, IL

On December 23, 2005, Matthew Kruziki and his neighbor, Curtis stopped at The River Queen Lounge, an exotic dancing club in East Dubuque, Illinois. At around midnight, Matt was asked to leave the bar after a dispute over his bill. Neither police or bar staff would permit him back into the bar to retreive his belongings. He was last seen going out into 20-degree weather without his coat, wallet or cell phone. It was the last time he was seen alive.

Timeline

A Broken Down Car
Shortly before Christmas 2005, Matt's father, Bill Kruziki, received a letter saying Matt needed a ride to pick up his car, an older model Saturn, which had broken down earlier in the month and had been impounded. Matt, who was from Hartland, Wisconsin, had been working in several communities in Iowa for several weeks, recruiting temporary workers to do fundraising canvassing for his job at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). Bill Kruziki wasn't able to drive him, so he asked Matt's older brother Chris to do it. According to their father, “They argued about politics. Chris blew him off. Chris was a Republican and Matt had jokingly thrown his brother’s book on President Bush into the fireplace." When Chris wouldn't take him, he convinced his neighbor, 19-year old Curtis Lesniewski, who he didn't know very well to drive him. Curtis has a minor criminal record in Waukesha County for marijuana possession and petty offenses.

Road Trip
On December 23, 2005, Matthew and Curtis embarked on the 160-mile road trip to DesMoines, Iowa. According to Lesniewski's police statement, Matt said he knew people in Dubuque, so they decided to stay the night before heading on to Des Moines. The hotel they picked, the Julien Inn (once an Al Capone hideout), was at 200 Main Street. They headed to the Julien Inn’s bar after 9 p.m. Lesniewski had no money. Matt had $600 and started buying drinks for patrons, including the bouncer from the River Queen across the river. “You can hitch a cab ride with me to this place, because you guys don’t know where anything is,” Curtis recalled the bouncer saying. And so they made the trip across the Mississippi to downtown East Dubuque, Illinois, a working-class town of 2,000 people, formerly known as "sin city."

The River Queen
According to Milwaukee Magazine, "The River Queen is an uninviting building of smudged white brick with peeling black paint – basically a dive with a stripper’s pole." Lesniewski says Matt put $100 on the dance floor to get the strippers’ attention. Matt was getting $25 private lap dances, largely from a stripper named Diamond. She was 5 foot 9, almost 200 pounds, had a petty criminal record from Milwaukee, and, according to club employees, could pack a mean punch. "

Bar room scuffle
An argument arose at the bar. “All of a sudden, there’s like a scuffle going on, and it’s Matt in the middle of it and like the two doormen pushing him out,” Lesniewski says. The doormen said they were calling the cops because Matt owed money for $300 worth of lap dances. Diamond would tell police Matt owed her for three dances. The bouncer gave Lesniewski Matt’s empty wallet and flannel coat. “He [the bouncer] kind of just pushed me out of the way, told me to stay out of it, and they drug him [Matt] outside.” At around 1:10 a.m., Matt tried to re-enter the River Queen because he had left his jacket and wallet behind. Matt ran back inside the bar, but because of the earlier argument over the bill, the doorman kicked him back out.

Matt reportedly lingered in front of the bar until bouncers from a bar across the street, also owned by Meyer, called police saying that Matt was staring at their bouncers. An officer showed up and ID’d Kruziki, but didn’t think Matt seemed drunk. “We called the police to get him [Kruziki] to move on,” says Meyer. The officer told the coatless, walletless Matt to get a cab, and he is said to have walked away without a problem. The cop was the last person to see Matt alive.

Lesniewski heads home
Lesniewski says he and Matt got separated after Matt was kicked out of the bar. Lesniewski caught a ride back to the Julien Inn from a regular. Lesniewski told police he didn’t know where Matt was, so he waited until morning. Matt didn’t turn up, so needing to get home for Christmas, Lesniewski headed back to Wisconsin. His cell phone was dead, he had no money, and the car had only a half a tank of gas. Lesniewski ran out of gas heading toward Hartland and, ironically, called Chris Kruziki to come get him.

Recovery
On Saturday, March 18, 2006, a water plane pilot flying low over the Mississippi River in Illinois noticed Matt's body floating in the water. Investigators are still trying to determine how Matt got into the water. An autopsy conducted by a Rockford, IL medical examiner found alcohol and marijuana in his system, however police chief Steve O'Connell said, "The alcohol level [.09] is in the area of what we thought it might be because of the fact that officers did have contact with him that night. He didn't appear to be inebriated beyond where he wouldn't have been able to make conscious decisions."

Contradictions and Unanswered Questions

The bar bill
Mike Meyer, owner of the River Queen, told Milwaukee Magazine that Matt was only in the bar for 30 minutes. Matt was thrown out of the bar for not paying a $300 tab for lap dances, but at $25 a piece, this would have amounted to 12 lap dances in only 30 minutes. The stripper, named Diamond, however, told police she was owed for only 3 dances ($75).

The wallet
We know Matt Kruziki was ejected for not paying his tab, and his empty wallet indicates that perhaps he had spent all of his money. But if he was only in the River Queen for 30 minutes and had never paid the disputed $300, that would mean he must have spent most of his money at the Julien Inn before going over to the River Queen to plunk down his last $100 to impress a stripper. It seems unlikely.

Blood Alcohol Level
According to the coronor, Matt only had a blood alcohol level of .09 and the cop who ID'd him at roughly 1:30 a.m said he did not seem very drunk. Both Diamond and Lesniewski both described Matt as very drunk the night he disappeared, which is not in agreement with the coronor's findings of a .09 blood alcohol level.

A walk in the wrong direction

Matt was last seen in 20-degree weather without his coat, wallet or cell phone. He was two hours from his hometown with no money or means of transportation, and his hotel was more than a mile away via a walking bridge over the ice-covered Mississippi River. As it was, it would have been a freezing walk across the wide Mississippi to get back to his hotel in Dubuque. Yet Matt "went way past the bridge,” Bill Kruziki says, “a mile out of the way.” Why? It’s a central mystery in the case.

Smiley Face Killer Connection?
Matt Kruziki was last seen on Siniswa Avenue. The word "Sinsiniwa" was found scrawled at the scene of a similiar disappearance in East Lansing, Michigan. Investigators have not specified which case it was.

The Kruziki Family
Source: Milwaukee Magazine

Matt's father, Bill Kruziki was raised on Milwaukee’s near North Side in a blue-collar family that was “lower middle class,” but “always paid the bills,” as he recalls. One day, a motorcycle officer spoke at Custer High School. Kruziki decided to be a police aide. At 18, he started calling police departments. “I called every one of them.” The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department responded. “I didn’t know where Waukesha was. I had never been across 124th Street.” In Waukesha, he graduated to correctional officer and later to captain of the drug unit. Chris was born in 1979 and Matt in 1981 to Bill and Debbie, a nurse. In 1994, Kruziki upset the incumbent Waukesha County sheriff in a bitter Republican primary. He served as sheriff for eight years. President George W. Bush nominated him as federal marshal and he served in that position from 2002 to 2007, when he retired. He still conducts federal background investigations. The Kruziki boys attended Hartland Arrowhead High School. Matt’s time there revolved around athletics – soccer, wrestling and football. “He enjoyed socializing,” his father says. Sometimes too much. His teachers would say, “He’s a great kid, but man he talks too much,” his dad adds.

After graduation, Matt settled into an apartment on Milwaukee’s East Side and a somewhat nomadic life. “A bit of a hippie,” his father would later tell police. Matt played guitar at open mic sessions and worked at a sandwich shop. In high school, he had covered his school binder with Jimi Hendrix lyrics. “He thought he could play guitar, but, well, he really couldn’t,” his father says. He wrote songs and got a dog – Gracie, named after Grace Slick – but gave her to his mother because he couldn’t keep her in his apartment.

Matt was convicted of possessing drug paraphernalia in Waukesha County in 2002 and marijuana possession in 2003, both misdemeanors. But he began to focus his life after some environmental activists handed him literature at the Bastille Days festival. “He was looking for a new direction,” says David Dorn, who worked with Matt on the New Voters Project, a voter registration drive in Milwaukee. “He was interested in progressive politics, helping the disadvantaged. He planned to start a nonprofit.”

“Both Matt and Chris lived in a fishbowl their whole lives,” Debbie Kruziki says, noting their father’s political profile, and Matt may have gotten his interest in public service from watching his father. Dorn recalls their work registering voters at a rainy Fourth of July fireworks celebration. “He was the only one who stayed out. He stayed out sopping wet,” Dorn says. “He was like the mayor of Milwaukee,” Dorn says he used to joke. “He knew every single person.”

“He loved it,” Kruziki says. “He could really carry off a conversation.” Like his father, he ended up liking politics, with one difference. “He was a liberal Democrat,” says his Republican father with a smile.

“He really admired his dad,” says Dorn. “He was visibly excited when he had an opportunity to go to lunch with his dad. They were politically different, but two sides of the same coin.”

Matt worked for Citizen Action of Wisconsin and with ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). The trip to Dubuque seemed anything but dangerous compared to Matt’s work for ACORN. “He went into inner cities at night pounding on people’s doors,” his father says. “I never, ever thought something would happen to him in Dubuque.”

Strange coincidence
In a strange coincidence, Matt was the second Arrowhead graduate to go missing near the Mississippi River. For a time, Matt and drowning victim, Jared Dion, were varsity wrestling teammates.

Aftermath
In light of what later happened to Matt, Chris was distraught that he didn’t drive his brother to Dubuque. “He blamed himself,” says his dad. “I blamed myself.” Last year, Chris Kruziki committed suicide at the age of 28. He had never gotten over Matt’s death.

“I spent Father’s Day in the cemetery,” Kruziki volunteers at Panera, his tone cop-like and matter-of-fact. “He keeps everything inside, I think,” says Kruziki’s first wife, Debbie, the mother of Chris and Matt. “It’s hard to see other parents at cookouts with their children,” Bill admits, but he’s still dry-eyed. “Sometimes it still seems like a dream, like they [Matt and Chris] are going to call me.”

Facts of Interest in This Case
Name/age: Matthew Kruziki, 24, Dubuque, IA (from Hartland, WI)
College: unknown
Physical description: 6'2," 200#, brown hair, blue eyes
Last seen: 12/24/05, 1 a.m., The River Queen (31 Sinsinawa Ave, East Dubuque, IL)
Recovered: 03/18/06, Mississippi River near Deadman's Slough
Cause of death: drowning
Manner of death: undetermined
Injuries: no signs of foul play
Blood Alcohol Content: .09 blood alcohol content, marijuana in system
(Lesniewski said Matt was smoking it on the drive down to Iowa).
Matt's father, Bill Kruziki, is a former Wisconsin sheriff and the current US Marshal for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, has called for a federal investigation.

The Julien Inn, Matt's Hotel

10/31/02: Chris Jenkins, 21, Minneapolis, MN

"I wish everyday I could go back to that naive place in the world where life was so simple. Where people were inherently good, where the sun shined just a bit brighter. It's not simple. There are really bad people out there and they do really bad things."

- Sara Jenkins, sister of Chris Jenkins

When University of Minnesota student Christopher Jenkins disappeared and his body was found in the Mississippi River, his parents, Jan and Steve Jenkins, embarked on a journey of remarkable courage to seek answers and justice. Through their perseverance, the family was able to uncover clues indicating that Chris may have been abducted and murdered. His official cause of death has been reclassified from accidental drowning to homicide. Charges have yet to be filed in his death.

After a 6 p.m. keg party at his home, Chris Jenkins, his girlfriend, Ashley Rice, and a few friends headed over to the Lone Tree Bar & Grill at 528 Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. The group arrived at the bar between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m. and parked the car just south of the bar. Sometime around midnight, Chris Jenkins was reportedly kicked out of the the bar. Witnesses said the head of Lone Tree security instructed staff not to allow Chris back into the bar, despite the 20-degree weather outside. Wearing only his American Indian costume--a brown nylon shirt and pants, slip-shoes, and a headband with a red feather--he was put out on the street. He did not have a coat, and his wallet, cell phone, and keys were inside with his friends.

It was the last time he was seen alive.

After little progress was made by local authorities in finding their son, Jan and Steve Jenkins decided to take matters into their own hands. A possible tip indicated that Chris may have been spotted walking north across the Hennepin Avenue bridge over the Mississippi River. The Jenkinses were able to find surveillance footage of the bridge and have it reviewed.

 "There were two surveillance cameras on the Federal Reserve Bank pointing to the Hennepin Avenue Bridge," says Jan. "This was post 9-11, clearly good equipment. We have written documentation from the supervisor that more than one person viewed the tapes from both cameras late on the 31st and early on November 1. Chris was not seen on the tape. We do not believe Chris walked across that bridge. The supervisor told the FBI that it would be almost impossible for a person to sprint across that bridge and not be seen."

They also hired a private investigator, Chuck Loesch. Loesch found witnesses who reported that a gang of at least 10 men had attacked a man in front of Times Square Pizza (across the street from the bar), in what was thought to be a gang initiation. Although, the time of the incident has not been confirmed--it could have been around the time Chris left the bar.

Two bloodhounds with different handlers were also brought in by the Jenkins family on two separate occasions. Both dogs picked up Chris's scent on the sidewalk in front of the pizza joint where witnesses reported seeing the fight. Both dogs followed the scent into the parking garage next to the pizza joint. And both dogs followed the scent right to the same parking stall. Later, blood drops and a red feather, possibly from Chris's Native American costume, were reportedly found inside the garage.

Recovery and Investigation

Almost four months later, Chris’s body was found snagged on some tree branches in the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis. The body was on the east side of the river near the spillway of the St. Anthony Falls Hydroelectrical Laboratory at 30 SE 3rd Street. (See Map.) It could be seen from the 3rd Avenue bridge, floating on its back with its arms in front.

Police initially believed Chris either committed suicide or died accidentally after falling into water. But all those who knew Chris felt differently. Chris was a star athlete--a two-time team captain of his lacrosse team. He was set to graduate with stellar grades from the university's prestigious Carlson School of Management, and had job interviews lined up. He was happy, easy going, very responsible, and he had plans for the future.

The Jenkins family consulted with numerous experts, including global experts in water rescue and recovery, renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, and even reviewed their own son's autopsy photos. They learned that the appearance of Chris's body did not fit with the suicide or accident theories held by the police. Most drowning victims are found face down with their arms out toward their sides, their clothing disheveled, and one or both of their shoes missing. This is because one's natural reaction when drowning is to vigorously paddle the feet and arms and swim. Chris's body was found on it's back, arms crossed in front, his shirt tucked in to his drawstring pants and still wearing both over sized slip-on shoes. He also still had on a necklace, a ring on the left index finger and a ring on the right ring finger.

Case reopened, death reclassified as homicide

When a new police chief, Tim Dolan, was hired for the city of Minneapolis, the Jenkins family brought him the leads uncovered by their private investigator and the new evidence they had found. The chief agreed that the case had not been thoroughly investigated. In 2006, Dolan reopened the case.

That same year, an eyewitness to crime (someone in jail and reportedly facing felony charges for another crime) stepped forward to claim he was present when Chris was thrown off a bridge. The inmate told investigators that his acquaintance, after robbing Chris and finding nothing of value, became angry and threw him off the Hennepin Avenue bridge. It is not known whether the eyewitness was involved in the crime, or only providing information to bargain for leniency, but the claim had other problems.

Photo credit: MN Department of Transportation

If a bridge was involved, Chuck Loesch believed, it could not have been the Hennepin Avenue bridge. The physical layout, which includes a steel beam and suspension cables, would have made it nearly impossible to throw someone over without injury. Jenkins was not found to have any broken bones, meaning that the killer would have had to lift a grown man over the high safety railing and throw him 4- to 5-feet out over the support beam, avoiding the vertical cables in the process. The bridge is brightly lit and has heavy traffic, and no one reported seeing anything unusual on the bridge that night. Cameras with a view of the bridge also did not capture anything suspicious, including Chris walking across the bridge.

Loesch, in fact, believes it unlikely that Chris was thrown from a bridge at all. Given the fall and the river's current, Chris's shoes would not have stayed on his feet.

But where Chris entered the water may be significant: If it was further upstream, it would point to a vehicle being involved in the crime. And Chris's family has said they have various reasons to believe Chris was "thrown in the back of a van - abducted, tortured, and eventually murdered."

In 2006, Chris's death was reclassified as a homicide. During a press conference, Chief Dolan offered the Jenkins family a public apology. But in July 2007, Hennepin County declined to press any charges in the case, citing lack of evidence. The case remains unsolved.

Chris's mother, Jan Jenkins, has written a book about the family's struggle for justice. For more information, check out http://www.legacyofcourage.com/.

Case Facts:
Name/age: Christopher Mark Jenkins, 21
Hometown: Eden Prairie, MN
Residence: Minneapolis, MN
College: University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management
Major: Marketing and entrepreneurial management
Physical description: athletic (goalie and co-captain of lacrosse team)
Recovered: 02/27/03 at 1650 hours in the Mississippi River near the Horseshoe Dam south of the Third Ave. Bridge just above St. Anthony Falls. Cause of death: Drowning.
Manner of death: reclassified as a homicide
Injuries: none visible
Blood Alcohol Content: 0.07 in deep tissue, .12 in heart
Water temperature: 33 F when found
Air temperature: 35 F when found

03/03/02: Brendan McNelis, 20, Binghamton, NY

Brendan McNelis, 20, a Queensborough Community College student in Queens, NY traveled by bus to Binghamton, New York on February 28, 2002 to visit his long-time friend, Fiorella Ramirez, a student at Binghamton University whom he had dated 18 months before.

McNelis spent both Thursday night (2/28) and Friday night (3/1) at Ramirez's dorm on the Vestal campus. On Saturday, March 2, the pair boarded a shuttle bus and headed to the east side of Binghamton to attend a fraternity party hosted by Phi Iota Alpha at the American Legion Post 1645 on Robinson Street.

When they arrived at the party, McNelis stayed at the bar while Ramirez danced with some of her friends. When she returned from the dance floor, McNelis complained he wanted to leave because he didn't like the music. Ramirez agreed and after having one last dance and saying goodbye to her friends, she returned 5 minutes later to find McNelis gone. It was the last time Ramirez would see her good friend.

On May 15, McNelis' body was found in the Susquehanna River, not far from where he was last seen.

12/31/97: Ryan Getz, 21, East Lansing, MI

Ryan Getz, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering student at Kettering University in Michigan, was devoted to family and mature beyond his years. He disappeared December 31, 1997 after celebrating New Year’s Eve with friends. Michael Getz, Ryan's father, said his son was "planning on meeting his girlfriend later that night, but he decided to leave his friends and drop by his girlfriend's apartment to see if she had left yet," Michael Getz said. "She was not home and (Ryan) went to see some guys upstairs to call her apartment from there. They were the last ones to see Ryan." According to various reports, Getz was very drunk when he left to pick up his girlfriend.

He was reported missing New Year’s Day after he failed to show up for a family dinner. His body was later found in the Red Cedar River.

Recovery
His body was found three and a half months later snared on a fallen tree in the Red Cedar River behind the Riverside Apartments, in the 1300 block of East Grand River Avenue, by East Lansing. A pathologist told Ryan's parents that between the temperature of the water and the estimated amount of alcohol he drank, he was probably dead within 90 seconds." There is some indication he may have been involved in a fight.

Facts of Interest in this Case
Name/age: Ryan Getz, 21 (from Flint, Michigan)
College: Kettering University (former Michigan State University student)
Physical description: unknown
Last seen: 12/31/97, 10:00 pm, East Lansing, MI
Recovered: 04/18/98, Red Cedar River
Cause of death ruling: drowning and hypothermia
Injuries: possible injuries from a fight
Blood Alcohol Content: unknown, but very high BAC

07/11/97: Richard Hlavaty, 19, La Crosse, WI

After drinking at a bar in the Pearl & Third Street area, 19-year old Richard Hlavaty and his brother, James, were chased by a group of men after a fight. Outnumbered, the Hlavaty brothers jumped into the river to escape, and the group threw hand-size rocks at them. During the assault, Richard Hlavaty drowned.

"I take extreme issue with anyone who tries to connect evidence in the Hlavaty case to these other four deaths. The Hlavaty case is not remotely related. He was chased into the river."

- Captain James Schleifer,
La Crosse Police Department.

James Hlavaty was unable to identify the individuals who chased him. However, Captain James Schleifer, chief of the La Crosse Police Department's detective bureau, said foul play was involved in the death, and if the men had been identified, they would have faced charges, such as reckless homicide or manslaughter. The case was suspended by police but will be opened if they receive additional information. Schleifer has said, "I take extreme issue with anyone who tries to connect evidence in the Hlavaty case to these other four deaths. The Hlavaty case is not remotely related. He was chased into the river.''

The injuries caused by rocks were not severe enough to cause death, a medical examiner's report said. An autopsy determined that Richard Hlavaty's blood alcohol content was 0.271 at the time of death—nearly three times the legal limit. The cause of death was ruled drowning, but the manner of death was ruled undetermined.

Facts of Interest in this Case
Name/age: Richard Hlavaty, 19 (from Western Springs, IL)
Physical description: unknown
Location last seen: bar on Pearl & Third Street in La Crosse, WI then Mississippi River
Date & time last seen: 07/11/97, time unknown
Date and location recovered: 07/13/97 (main channel of river, south of Cass Street bridge)
Cause of death ruling: drowning
Manner of death ruling: undetermined, but foul play involved (potential reckless homicide or manslaughter)
Injuries: numerous non life-threatening injuries
Blood Alcohol Content: 0.271