12/09/12: John Edwards, 36, Westminister, CO

John Luke Edwards

John Luke Edwards, 36, a resident of Arvada, Colo., vanished after leaving an office holiday party at the Westin Hotel in Westminster, Colo. on Sunday, December 9, 2012. Edwards was reported missing after he failed to show up to work at his construction job the following day.
By Wednesday, Westminster police had begun searching the several nearby lakes and ponds in the area around the hotel located at 10600 Westminster Blvd. Police noted that John Edwards's truck was still in the parking lot of the hotel, and his belongings were still in the hotel. Coworkers noted that Edwards had been intoxicated when he left the party about 3 a.m.

On Monday, December 17, his body was found below the surface of the man-made pond near the Westin Hotel about 4:30 p.m. Monday, police said. 7NEWS photojournalist Eric Goody reported that divers found the body in an area thick with 4-foot-deep reeds and partially covered by ice.

05/20/12: Nathan Bihlmaier, 31, Portland, ME



Nathan Bihlmaier

Nathan Bihlmaier, 31, traveled from Cambridge, Mass., to Portland, Me., with two classmates to celebrate their upcoming graduation from the exclusive Harvard Business School. Bihlmaier, who was to earn his MBA degree on May 24, disappeared after being asked to leave the the Ri Ra Irish Pub on the Portland waterfront on May 20.

Bihlmaier and his friends spoke several times by phone in an attempt to meet back up with each other. Bihlmaier, who was still near the bar, described the area, but friends were not able to find him. They last heard from him around 12:15 p.m. 

When Bihlmaier still hadn’t returned to the hotel by 9 a.m. the next morning, friends reported him missing.

Michael Sauschuck, Portland’s police chief, told The Boston Globe that Bihlmaier had been asked to leave the pub after a customer reported that he was acting inappropriately. The paper reports, "Scott St. Ours, the security manager at the Portland pub, offered [several times] to procure Bihlmaier a taxi from a nearby cab stand, but Bihlmaier declined because he was staying at the Hilton Garden Inn across the street."

Out of respect for Bihlmaier's family, Ri Ra officials have declined to describe in detail what actions caused Bihlmaier to be asked to leave.

Bihlmaier, described as likable and gregarious, left the bar without incident at 11:30 p.m. According to the Bangor Daily News, St. Ours witnessed him turning west on Commercial Street at that time. He noted that Bihlmaier wasn't staggering; he was walking straight, speaking clearly and his eyes were not glassy. In fact, on a scale of 1 to 10, he judged his intoxication level to be a 2.

Bihlmaier's friends were initially unaware that he had left the bar. They later spoke to him several times by phone in an attempt to find each other. In the final call around 12:15 a.m., Bihlmaier said he was in front of a large, official-looking building that he didn't recognize. Police now believe that the building may have been the US Custom House on Commercial Street, a short distance from the bar. Yet, his friends were still unable to find him.

Not long after that call, at 12:54 a.m., Bihlmaier's mobile phone stopped sending signals.


The Search for Nathan Bihlmaier

When Bihlmaier hadn’t returned to the hotel by 9 a.m. the next morning, friends reported him missing. Investigators learned that his car and belongings were untouched, and banking and cell phone records indicated no activity.

While friends and family searched for Bihlmaier and distributed fliers, investigators focused their search on the waters of Portland Harbor, where they found one of Bihlmaier's tan flip flops.



Photo Credit: John Patriquin, Press Herald
"Portland police dive teams Monday, May 21, 2012
as they search the waters near the State Pier for Nathan Bihlmaier."

On Tuesday, May 22, just before noon, police divers recovered Bihlmaier's body from the floor of Casco Bay in Portland Harbor, fairly close to the shore. Authorities identified his body by his clothing – a black windbreaker, blue pants, a gray T-shirt and a blue webbed belt – which witnesses and security cameras confirmed he was wearing when he went missing.

The area where the body was found was a short distance from the Ri Ra Irish Pub where Bihlmaier was last seen, but because of the tides, it may be impossible to tell where he entered the water.

Michael Sauschuck, Portland’s police chief, told The Boston Globe that there were no signs of an altercation or foul play. The cause of death has since been determined as accidental drowning.

It remains unclear whether the phone stopped transmitting because its battery was drained or because it was underwater.

According to The Boston Herald,  Nathan Bihlmaier's wife, Nancy, who is pregnant with the couple's first child, "had come to Portland to assist police efforts to find him, including handing out fliers around the city."



Nathan and Nancy Ho Bihlmaier

The missing man's parents, Cheryl and Steven Bihlmaier, also flew in from Kansas on Sunday.

Harvard Business School spokesman Brian Kenny told David Hench of the Press Herald that the family was “very upset, stressed. I think we were all holding out hope he was alive.”


About Nathan Bihlmaier

Dennis Hoey of the Portland Press Herald reports, "Bihlmaier grew up in Osborne, a small farming community of about 1,400 people in north central Kansas." He worked at the community pool as a lifeguard, became an Eagle Scout, and excelled as a student at Osborne High School. According to the paper, "He graduated from Osborne High School in 1999. After graduating, he enrolled at Kansas University. He just completed a two-year program at Harvard Business School, where he was expected to graduate with a masters degree in business administration."
Bihlmaier was very passionate about health care, and had started work as as director of Accountable Care Solutions at Optum, a hospital and health care agency in the Greater Boston area. He had worked there for about two months. Boston is about two hours from Portland.

Kenny said Bihlmaier "was thrilled about the prospects of being a new father" and started a blog in which he wrote about what it meant to be a father for the first time. (Portland Press Herald, 5/22/12). He had planned to break the news about his wife’s pregnancy when his parents flew in for his graduation.

The paper also reports that the tight-knit community within the Harvard Business School is also reeling from the tragedy. "Bihlmaier is a popular student and some 18 to 20 fellow students drove to Portland to offer support to his wife and parents," reports the paper.

“This is a very sad day for all of us at Harvard Business School,” the school said in a statement. “There is a tremendous sense of community here, of camaraderie among students, faculty, and staff. We are all in a state of shock and grief, and our hearts and prayers go out to Nate’s family at this terrible time.”

Nathan Bihlmaier was honored at the graduation commencement ceremony on May 24.


Case Details
Name/age: Nathan Bihlmaier, 31
Hometown: Osborne, Kan.
Residence: Cambridge, Mass.
College: University of Kansas graduate, and Harvard School of Business
Last Seen: Ri Ra Irish Pub and Restaurant, 72 Commercial Street, Portland, Me.
Last Wearing: a black windbreaker, blue pants, a gray T-shirt, a blue webbed belt, tan flip flops
Recovered:  05/22/12 Portland Harbor, Portland, Me.


Sources

Byrne, John A. (n.d.). The Tragic death of a Harvard MBA. Poets and Quants Web site. Retrieved November 9, 2012 from http://poetsandquants.com/2012/05/23/the-tragic-death-of-a-harvard-mba/

Hench, David. (2012, May 23). Missing student's body headed to Augusta for autopsy. Portland Press Herald. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from http://www.pressherald.com/news/police-press-search-for-student_2012-05-22.html?pageType=mobile&id=1

Hoey, Dennis. (2012, May 22). Small town in Kansas worries after native son disappears. Portland Press Herald. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?&articleid=1061133397&format=&page=2&listingType=Loc#articleFull

Koenig, Seth. (2012, May 25). Harvard student asked to leave bar for ‘bad behavior,’ not drunkenness. Bangor Daily News. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from http://bangordailynews.com/2012/05/25/news/portland/harvard-student-asked-to-leave-bar-for-bad-behavior-not-drunkenness/

McShane, Larry. (2012, May 22). Body of Nathan Bihlmaier, missing Harvard Business School student, discovered. New York Daily News. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/desperate-search-nathan-bihlmaier-missing-harvard-business-school-student-turns-leads-article-1.1082518

Schworm, Peter. (2012, May 22) Body of missing Cambridge man found in water. Boston Globe. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/05/22/body-missing-cambridge-man-found-water/0iezRvtiAuAYA36gJ6fUMK/story.html?p1=News_links

02/20/10: Eugene Losik, 25, Boston, MA

Eugene Losik

 Update 11/29/10: It is with deep sadness that I must report that a body found earlier this month in Boston Harbor was been identified as Gene Losik. The medical examiner was not able to determine a cause and manner of death.

Gene's body was recovered from Rowe's Wharf on Nov. 8.

According to the family's official Web site, a "Celebration of Life service will be held December 3, 2010, from 4-7 pm, at the Indian Ridge Country Club, 73 Lovejoy Road, Andover, MA." A virtual memorial has also been created for Gene.

I will continue updating you with more information, if it becomes known, but please keep Gene and his loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.

Gene's Story
Eugene "Gene" Losik, 25, of Lawrence, was last seen in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 20 near the Marriot Long Wharf at 296 State St. in Boston. At 2:24 a.m., Losik was spotted on camera stepping out through the back door of the hotel. He has not been seen since.

Gene Losik had gone to the city to celebrate a friend's birthday at Sissy K's Bar in Faneuil Hall. They spent the evening drinking and dancing. At around midnight, Losik, his girlfriend of four years, Caitlin McGovern, and some friends went back to the Marriot Long Wharf where they were staying. McGovern turned in for the night, while Losik decided to stay up with friends. McGovern said that Losik did not seem overly intoxicated when she went to bed at midnight. Keilty, who saw him two hours later, agreed. He reported that he was in quite alert, speaking clearly, and in good spirits. "There was nothing out of the ordinary. If he had been too intoxicated I wouldn't have left him."

One friend, Rick Keilty, told police that the two men went for a walk. The family's website indicates that Losik and Keilty were seen on surveillance cameras returning to the hotel at about 1:15 a.m. They then played cards in another friend's room. It has been reported that Losik had his wallet, cell phone and keys. At about 2:10 a.m., Keilty left to take a cab home.

At 2:24 a.m., Losik was seen on camera leaving the hotel through the back entrance without his coat or hat. See map. Friends believe he may have been stepping outside for a cigarette when he wandered off.  "The back entrance puts you into Christopher Columbus Park," McGovern said, "near Tia's restaurant. But there are tons of people going in and out of the hotel until 4 a.m. If something had happened there, someone would have seen him."

McGovern said that her boyfriend's cell phone had run out of charge and he only had about $20 in his wallet. He was also not familiar with the area.

Losik's girlfriend noticed he had not returned when she woke up at 6 a.m. Saturday and filed a missing persons report at about 11:30 a.m. Phone calls to his cellphone have gone unanswered, she told police. She is hoping that he simply got locked out of the hotel or maybe took the train back to Lawrence. A friend is staying in the couple's apartment in case Losik shows up."I don't know what happened," said a teary and emotional McGovern in an interview with The Eagle-Tribune last night. She said she sort of hopes he is in an area hospital, perhaps suffering from memory loss or lying unconscious in a hospital bed, where staff may not know his identity.  

About Gene Losik
Losik is described as "extremely bright, very rational and very resourceful" and "had no enemies at all." He is a graduate of UMass-Amherst works as an electrical engineer at Raytheon in Andover and was up for a promotion. He is a 2003 graduate of North Andover High School. He lives with Catlin McGovern, his girlfriend of four years, in the Washington Mills apartment complex on Canal Street in Lawrence. Losik had told his father he planned to marry McGovern in the next year.

The Search for Gene Losik

While the police are treating it as a missing persons' case, a Boston police dive team initially searched the waters around the hotel. They found no indication he might be there.

A large scale search was conducted on March 2 that included over 50 divers, search boats, sonar equipment, underwater cameras, and helicopters. The search turned up no trace of Gene or any evidence that he was ever in the water.
On March 4, it was reported to the media that Losik's sent was found near the water. According to the dog handler, "Clothing belonging to Gene were given to the handler. Scent pads were made from gauze pads placed inside of Gene's clothing, which later were used as Gene's scent articles for my K9. Later, at the door where Gene exited the hotel, the K9 was given Gene's scent article. The K9 immediately took trail and went from the back door of the hotel, onto the large docks and to one small dock, where the K9 indicated that the person had gone into the water. After this LIVE SCENT trail ended, the K9 was changed to work 'cadaver' and an alert was given right there, as well as multiple places leading outward towards the bay. This entire process was repeated multiple times (7 times), with the exact same results, even when the K9 worked the entire trailing and cadaver process(es) off lead."

The family has created a website, http://www.findgenelosik.com/ which will be posting updates on the search effort and had offered a $12,000 reward in his disappearance.


Quick Facts
Name/age: Eugene Losik, 25
Physical description: white male, 5 feet 11 inches tall with a muscular build, close-shaved blond hair, and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a grey T-shirt, blue jeans, and black dress shoes. Very early reports also mentioned that he was wearing a black mid-length jacket, but this seems to have been ruled out by surveillance tapes and witness statements.
Residence: Washington Mills apartment complex, Canal Street in Lawrence, MA.
Last seen: 2/20/10, Marriot Long Wharf at 296 State St. in Boston at 2:24 a.m.
Recovered: 11/8/10, Boston Harbor near Rowe's Wharf
Investigating Agency: 1-617-343-4248
Family Web site: http://www.findgenelosik.com/
Originally posted 02/20/10. Updated 11/29/10.

01/17/10: Sylvester McCurry Jr., 18, Superior, WI

Slyvester McCurry Jr.,18, was last seen at the Stargate Night Club in Superior, Wisc., on January 17, 2010. According to the Duluth News Tribune, McCurry was kicked out of the no-alcohol club for being intoxicated.

McCurry, a senior at Duluth East High School, had been living with his best friend Keegan Couillard and his parents in the Chester Park neighborhood of Duluth, Minn., since August. The two buddies told Couillard's parents Paul and Jennifer they were going to a birthday party. They instead went to the Stargate Night Club in Superior, Wisconsin, just across the river.

Because Monday was a school holiday, they had plans to stay at the Superior Inn after going to the club. Keegan Couillard said he arrived at the Superior Inn at noon, and McCurry was dropped off at 3 p.m. They had planned to have friends come to their room, but it fell through. McCurry couldn’t swim because he had sustained a severe cut to his finger that day at his job as a line cook, and his finger was bandaged and in a splint. Yet, Couillard says, "He was in a good mood, Couillard said, but was tired and napped for a while. They walked to Stargate around 10 p.m. and separated inside." (Duluth News Tribune, 1/30/10.)

The Stargate was packed that night with 16- to 20-year olds. McCurry, who was called "Sly" by friends and family, had bumped into friends at the club. He last spoke to Keegan Couillard around 10:45 pm Sunday. That was his last contact with anyone. He apparently then left the club without telling anyone he was leaving or mentioning where he was going. Friends and family say this is unusual behavior for McCurry.

Surveillance video from the club shows McCurry leaving alone through the back door about 11 p.m. Authorities told WDIO News that he was likely "very intoxicated." The Duluth News Tribune later reported that McCurry did not have any alcohol at the Stargate, but had been drinking it at the hotel. Police have not said where it came from. Wisconsin Public Radio reported that McCurry had ejected from the club out of the back door and was left alone in the alley. Neither the police nor his family were called.

Keegan Couillard was unaware McCurry had left but then later assumed he would see him back at the hotel room. Couillard heard from a friend that night that McCurry's injured finger had begun to bleed through the bandages. When McCurry didn't show up to the hotel room, Couillard thought perhaps his girlfriend or other friends had picked him up, maybe even taken him to the hospital. Couillard told his parents about McCurry's disappearance on Monday night (1/18) and they filed a report Tuesday morning (1/19).

The Search for Slyvester McCurry
According to the Duluth News Tribune, poli
ce dogs tracked McCurry’s scent to an outer door of the Superior Inn, then the trail ended. Police said early on that they didn't suspect foul play and that they did not believe McCurry ran away, but they also admitted they didn't have a lot to go on. On January 21, just four days after his disappearance and two days after police were notified, the official search was called off. The family, hoping that he would be found, posted a $50,000 reward for information. Friends also started a Facebook page.

 On Saturday, May 22, workers at the Midwest Energy Coal Dock in Superior spotted the body in Lake Superior. McCurry's family has told the media that Sly was found in the same clothing he was wearing when he disappeared, and that his wallet was in his pocket. The family has reported in being in "complete shock" over the location where McCurry was found and the many unanswered questions that remained.

An autopsy was conducted on May 24 by the Douglas County Medical Examiner's Office. Police said there are no signs of traumatic injury or assault that would indicate foul play.

On August 13, 2010, the Superior Police Department announced that the death of Sylvester McCurry had been ruled an accident resulting from cold-water immersion and drowning. Police said that during the investigation conducted by the Superior and Duluth Police Departments, with the assistance of numerous other agencies, there was no evidence of foul play being involved in the death of McCurry. McCurry's blood alcohol content (BAC) was reported as approximately .08. However, due to the amount of time that McCurry's body was in the water and the fact that ethanol is a natural by-product of decomposition, McCurry's BAC at the time of his death cannot be readily determined.

The Forensic Pathologist's summary in the final autopsy report noted the following: 

• "No significant antemortem traumatic injuries were identified."
• "No deep tissue, bony, or internal traumatic injuries were identified."
• "The death could be attributed to probable cold water immersion and drowning."
• "If thorough investigation of the events surrounding death shows no indication of foul play or suicidal ideation, the manner could be listed as accident."
• The only drugs detected in toxicology screening was Hydrozyzine (a prescription antihistamine). 

According to the Duluth News Tribune, a Superior police report said "information received from the beginning of the case indicated that McCurry was intoxicated on the night he disappeared. As a result, investigators have considered the possibility that McCurry attempted to cross the St. Louis River or harbor in an attempt to get back to Duluth."

About Slyvester McCurry

Friends and family say it was out of character for McCurry to be missing and not using his cell phone. He spoke regularly with his family and talked to his girlfriend, Grace Buck, at least twice a day on the phone. “He’s not the kind of person to take off,” Jennifer Couillard said. According to cell phone records, his phone was not been used since the night of his disappearance.

McCurry has also been described by friends and family as an intelligent, outgoing, positive man. McCurry’s half-sister, Ana Gamber, 22, said McCurry had some previous troubles with school and his family, but had been getting it together. According to the Duluth News Tribune, McCurry "works at Fitger’s Brewhouse, made the B honor roll in the fall, and recently played Harry in the Duluth Gospel Tabernacle’s production of It’s a Wonderful Life. He enjoys attending church services, Jennifer Couillard said, and is an avid snowboarder with a Spirit Mountain season pass." Gamber who saw him at Christmas said he seemed happy.

Couillard agrees, “He is one of the few teenagers who will wake up in the morning smiling and happy,” she said. “He’s been such a good friend to my son and us. Anything he can to do to help, he wants to help.”

A funeral for Slyvester McCurry was held on June 1 at the Duluth Gospel Tabernacle at 11 a.m. at 1515 Superior Street, Duluth, MN. Friends of the family are collecting donations to help defray funeral expenses. Donations will be accepted at any US Bank in the name of the "Tammy Jo Carter Fund" or by e-mailing sylvestersmemorialfund@yahoo.com.

Our thoughts are with Slyvester's McCurry's family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 1-218-730-5400, search headquarters at 612–965–1121.You can remain anonymous.

Case Details
Name/age: Sylvester McCurry, 18
School: Duluth East High School
Residence: Duluth, MN
Last seen: 1/17/10, Stargate Nightclub in Superior, WI
Physical Description: 5'11", 150 pounds, black male, light complexion, short brown hair, brown eyes. Last seen wearing blue jeans and white Nike shoes.
Links: Facebook

Originally posted: 1/20/10. Updated 5/27/10, 9/7/10.

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/

 

02/21/10: Gregory Wry, 30, Fredricton, NB, Canada

Gregory David Wry, 30, left his residence Feb. 21, 2010 at 1 p.m. and hasn't been seen by his family since.

"He went for a drive and didn't come home," said Cpl. John Foster of the Woodstock Police Force. "It was a complete surprise to his family."

Police have determined that Wry stayed overnight at the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel in Fredericton on the day he went missing but that was the last time his whereabouts have been confirmed.

Foster said there's no reason to suspect something bad has happened to Wry, but the fact he hasn't been seen in the meantime is baffling.

"It's been 10 days now; that's a long time," Foster said. "Our policy, as it is with most of the police forces in New Brunswick, is that on a missing person, we don't release it to the press until the family authorizes it and they just authorized it today."

Foster said Wry's status as a missing person has been made known to other police forces and border officials.

"All police across the country would know he's missing," Foster said. "Any border crossing in Canada or the United States would know that he's missing."

Wry is described as 5'8" tall, 140 pounds with brown, brush cut hair. He has green eyes and scruffy whiskers and was last seen wearing a ball cap, a jacket with leather sleeves and brown cloth patches, jeans and sneakers. The Woodstock man was driving a 2005 four-door Chevrolet Malibu, sandy brown in colour with New Brunswick licence plate GMS-732.

If anyone has information on Wry or his whereabouts, they are urged to contact the Woodstock Police Force at 325-4601 or N.B. Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

His family has set up a Facebook page.



Published: 4/1/10.

02/14/10: Craig Meyers, 21, La Crosse, WI

Craig J. Meyers, 21, was last seen on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14. The photo at the right was taken the night Meyers disappeared.

After spending the night of Saturday, Feb. 13 at a wedding reception at the All Star Lanes at 4735 Mormon Coulee Road, Meyers went to two downtown bars in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He was last seen at approximately 1:50 a.m., after his cousin dropped him off on the 700 block of Market Street. The area where he was dropped off is on the south side of the city, just 9 blocks from his residence. Meyers was reportedly intoxicated and believed he was being dropped off at his girlfriend's residence, which is actually on 16th Street. He was not seen again until February 16, when his body was recovered from the Mississippi River.

Meyers was a criminal justice student at Western Technical College in La Crosse. Prior to college, he attended West Salem High School where he was a state champion wrestler. More than 600 people showed up at an event at the college to remember the much-loved student.

12/31/08: David Martinez, 26, Cherry Hill, NJ

David Martinez, 26, a security guard from Berlin of Camden County, NJ, had the night off from his job as a security guard to celebrate New Year's Eve.On Wednesday, December 31, 2008, Martinez and about ten of his high school friends went to a popular nightspot on Route 70 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. They arrived at Taylor's Restaurant and Bar at 9 p.m. and paid a $65 cover charge to ring in the New Year.

At about 1 a.m., Martinez left Taylor's Bar without his jacket. According to Martinez's friends, David was kicked out of the bar by bouncers to make room for more customers waiting in line outside the bar. It was the last time David Martinez was seen by anyone. After the party, he was supposed to meet up with his friends at the nearby Crowne Plaza Hotel where they had a room for the night, but he never showed.

At 9 p.m. the next day, police found Martinez's body at the bottom of a decorative pond outside Taylor's Bar frozen under one-inch of ice.

----------------------
Search and Recovery
On Thursday, January 1, Guiseppina (Josie) Martinez received a phone call from her son's boss asking why David hadn't shown up for work as a mall security guard. Ms. Martinez knew something was terribly wrong. David had agreed to work overtime on New Year’s Day to fill in for someone who was sick, and he had his uniform and lunch prepared in advance. She immediately phoned David's friends and learned they had not seen him since 1 a.m. the night before.

At 6 p.m. that same day, Ms. Martinez reported her son missing and a missing persons report was quickly filed. For the next few hours, she and the police searched the area around Taylor's Bar for any signs of David.

At 9 p.m., police found the body of David Martinez outside Taylor's Bar in a 3-foot deep decorative landscaping pond that housed a fountain. Firefighters were called to cut through the one inch of ice that had accumulated during the the night. An autopsy confirmed that David Martinez had drowned in the pond. Cherry Hill Detective Sgt. Joseph Vitarelli Jr. said Martinez had marks on his chin and may have struck one of the many metal fountains in the pond when he fell. He said, "He may have been knocked out, it's not that deep and there's no evidence that he tried to get out." He said foul play was not suspected. Friday afternoon, Camden County Medical Examiner Dr. Feigen, ruled the cause of death drowning, and said until toxicology reports were available, believed the death to be accidental.

Unanswered Questions
Authorities and the Martinez family are still trying to figure out how the young man could have fallen into the fountain without being noticed by anyone. The pond is on a small lawn a few feet from the Taylor's Bar parking lot and is accessible to anyone outside the bar. Water from the pond runs into a waterfall that cascades onto the bar's outside deck. The pond is nearly at ground level, dimly lit, and has no safety fencing. David's family has hired an attorney, believing his death was preventable. Taylor's Nightclub has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Captain Joseph Bowen of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office confirmed that David Martinez had been "removed" from the bar but couldn't say why. Taylor's Bar general manager, Rich Bunt, said he also did not know why Martinez was kicked out of the bar that night.

Anyone who may have seen David Martinez between 1 a.m.-2 a.m. on January 1, 2009 are urged to call the Camden police.

About David Martinez
David Martinez was born in Italy and grew up in Texas and Colorado before moving to South Jersey in 1994 because his father, Michael, worked for the military, his family said. After graduating from Lenape High school in Burlington County, Martinez earned a Criminal Justice degree at Stockton College in Atlantic City and had just graduated in the spring. David also joined the Army and later switched to the Air Force Reserves. His mother said that just two days before his death, he was approved to apply for a corrections officer for the CIA/FBI in New Jersey. She said she had never seen her son David so happy as when he drove to the post office to mail his application.

Facts of Interest
Name/age: David Martinez, 26
Last seen: 12/31/08, Taylor's Bar, Route 70, Cherry Hill, NJ
Recovered: 1/1/08, landscaping fountain outside Taylor's Bar
Residence: Berlin, NJ
Cause of death: drowning
Manner of death: accident

Sources
http://cbs3.com/local/body.found.david.2.898701.html
http://privateofficernews.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/police-investigate-suspicious-death-of-security-officer-wwwprivateofficercom/
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/man_dies_in_cherry_hill_pond_n.html
http://www.nj.com/south/index.ssf/2009/01/berlin_man_drowns_in_night_clu.html

11/21/06: Jesse Ross, 20, Chicago, IL

Jesse Ross has been missing since 11/21/06.

In November 2006, Jesse Ross, 20, a sophomore in college, traveled to Chicago with a group of thirteen of his fellow University of Missouri-Kansas City college students and their faculty sponsor. The group was in town to attend a model United Nations convention held at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. The conference drew more than 1,000 college students from around the country.

On Nov. 20, Jesse called his mother, Donna, to say that he was having a blast at the conference and that he would call her the next day when he and the group were headed back home.

The next night, Nov. 21, the last night of the conference, a dance was held at the hotel. Jesse was spotted on a surveillance photo just before 1 am. He was then seen again at about 2:30 a.m. by friend Ralph Parker. He and Parker were taking part in a simulated emergency U.N. meeting with 30 other students when Jesse left the conference room through a side door. A surveillance camera in the hotel lobby caught the unmistakable image of the red-haired Jesse, clad in a white T-shirt, jeans, and a green warm-up jacket, walking toward the main doors. He was carrying a Gatorade bottle. Parker assumed Jesse had either gone to the restroom or headed back to their hotel to sleep. The hotel was at the Four Points Sheraton at 630 N. Rush St., about ten minutes away, but Jesse never arrived. No one has seen him since.

When the meeting concluded at about 5:30 a.m., Parker walked back to the hotel room alone. He turned on the hall light so he wouldn’t disturb his roommate. “There was a big mess on the bed, and he’s so skinny, I figured he was under the mess somewhere,” Parker says of Jesse. But when he woke up at 10 a.m., he realized Jesse had never returned. No reason to panic, he probably just crashed in someone else’s room, Parker thought. “So I just packed up his stuff thinking he should be thanking me,” he says. It wasn't until about 3 p.m., 12 hours after Jesse had last been seen that Parker and the other UMKC students on the trip realized there was a real emergency.

Jesse Ross is still missing.


About Jesse

Jesse Ross is described as intelligent and funny--a very likable young man not known for ever being depressed or negative. While friends say he had the occasional drink, he never became belligerent or disorderly if drinking. Jesse also has a very bright future mapped out and was on the path to achieving his goals. To anyone who knows him, there is nothing to lead them to believe that Jesse could have walked away from his life or that he would have committed suicide.

Jesse was majoring in communication studies/broadcasting with a minor in political science. He had received a scholarship to attend the University of Missouri Kansas City because of his high ACT score in high school. While at school, he had gotten a promotion from unpaid intern to paid morning on-air personality at Kansas City radio station 95.7 FM - "The Vibe"--- dream job for a sophomore communication studies/broadcasting major. He was now a popular radio personality on the "Shorty and the Boyz" morning show. Coworkers decided he needed an on-air name, so they named him "Opie Cunningham," after Ron Howard's TV characters, Opie Taylor and Richie Cunningham, said Don.

He was also looking forward to finishing up his new room in his parents' home, and he was pledging the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.



No clues in disappearance

Since Jesse Ross was reported missing, police divers and cadaver dogs have searched along the Chicago River near the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. Police have also searched the area around both hotels---the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, where Jesse was last seen, and the Four Points Sheraton, where he was staying. They have not turned up any leads. Chicago police have found no evidence that he was a victim of foul play. There has been no activity on Jesse's credit cards or his cell phone, neither of which have been found. GPS tracking could not be used on Jesse's cell phone because it is either turned off or the battery is dead.

On a Web site dedicated to her son, Donna Ross has expressed her frustration. "When you lose someone you love when they pass on, you grieve and then you move on with your life," Donna said. "We are nowhere. We are still stuck in that revolving door. We know nothing more than we knew that first day."

Anyone with information about Jesse Ross’ disappearance should call Chicago police at (312) 744-8266.


Facts of Interest
Name/age: Jesse Ross, 20 (from Belton, MO)
http://www.findjesseross.com/
College: University of Missouri at Kansas City
Last seen: 11/21/06, 2:30 am, Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers (301 E. North Water St).
Notes: Jesse was staying at the Four Points Sheraton (630 N. Rush Street), 10 minutes away.
Physical Description: 5'10," 140# and has red hair and freckles. He was last seen wearing a green warm-up jacket and blue jeans.
Investigating Agency: Chicago Police, (312) 744-8266.

Published: 11/21/06. Updated: 6/17/11.

09/30/06: Luke Homan, 21, La Crosse, WI

On September 30, 2006, University of La Crosse junior Luke Homan celebrated with friends at the annual Oktoberfest celebration in downtown LaCrosse. He was last seen at approximately 2:15 am at The Vibe bar at 322 Jay Street early Saturday morning. His roommates called police Saturday after he failed to show up for a scheduled golf outing. Loved ones spent a horrific weekend searching for Luke. On Monday, it was discovered that he had drowned.

Luke Found

On Monday, October 2, his body was found in 10 feet of water near a levee in the Mississippi River close to the south end of Riverside Park. The autopsy report, completed by Dr. Lindsey Thomas, indicates there were no signs of trauma, no signs of a struggle, no signs of foul play. Homan's blood alcohol content was .32; authorities believe he drowned accidentally.

About Luke Homan

Homan's high school basketball team at Brookfield Central went to state two of the three years he played varsity ball, and Homan set a school record for three-point shots, with 165, and made 16 free throws in one game. In college at UW-Milwaukee, Homan joined the basketball team as a walk on. He played in nine games during the 2004-'05 season when the Panthers advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 before transferring to LaCrosse. At La Crosse, he played in all 28 games for the La Crosse Eagles this past season and helped deliver the school's first 20-victory season in more than two decades.

Aftermath

On 9/22/07, The LaCrosse Tribune reported:

Austin Scott, 19, of Palatine, Ill., is the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse sophomore accused of lying about events leading up to the disappearance and drowning death of fellow UW-L basketball teammate Lucas Homan last fall.

He will spend 48 hours in the La Crosse County Jail after pleading no contest Friday to two misdemeanor counts of obstructing officers.

La Crosse County Circuit Judge Elliott Levine also gave Scott a year on probation after he leaves jail at 6 p.m. Sunday.

"Whether or not he had anything to do with Luke's death, we don't know, and we might not ever know," La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke said in court Friday. "But he still obstructed the investigation into that death and threw a cloud over it that will remain probably forever."

Homan's body was recovered from the Mississippi River off the Riverside Park levee Oct. 2, 2006. An autopsy showed cold water drowning, with acute alcohol intoxication as a major contributing factor.

A group of Homan's friends said they last saw the 21-year-old from Brookfield, Wis., with Scott at The Vibe, 332 Jay St., about 9 or 10 p.m. Sept. 29, 2006. But Scott told UW-L police he saw an intoxicated Homan leave The Vibe alone about 12:30 a.m. Sept. 30, according to the criminal complaint.

Scott was cited at 9:58 p.m. Sept. 29 for underage drinking near the Radisson hotel, the complaint reported. A blood test at Franciscan Skemp Medical Center registered a 0.33 percent, Gruenke said.

"The number of lies he was telling, all of them seem to be going the same direction -- he doesn't want police to know he was in Riverside Park," Gruenke said. "... We don't know why he lied and that's the mystery here. "Scott told authorities he doesn't know how he got to the Radisson or the hospital, but remembered heading from the hospital back to UW-L's Sanford Hall dorm. He later said he recalled "sitting at The Vibe, I ... would never leave him in the water" but could not elaborate, according to the complaint.

Scott said it was possible he and Homan were in Riverside Park together that night and Homan fell in the river -- his best guess was Homan tripped -- but he could not remember, according to the complaint.

He said he gave investigators a false story of three men arguing with Homan at the Vibe on Sept. 29 because he didn't know what happened, according to the complaint. That led police on a "wild goose chase" for men who didn't exist, Gruenke said.Defense attorney Mark McCabe said Scott admits lying about his birthdate, address and walking home from the bar, but objected to all other facts in the complaint. He stressed Scott has no memory of that night.

"This community is frustrated by eight separate river deaths that have occurred, there's no question about that," McCabe said. "My client is not to blame for all of those prior deaths. My client is not to blame for Luke Homan's death."

Scott apologized to "everyone" Friday and said it was wrong to lie about that night. "My heart goes to out to Luke's parents," he said. "I wish I knew what happened. The Homans would be the first people I would tell."

Patti Homan said she "truly, truly believes Austin knows what happened that night," but asked Levine to spare him from jail."I want for Austin to have a happy, productive life," she said. "The only way he's going to be able to do that is if he actually tells what he knows --even if it's the worst, even if he pushed Luke into the water, even if it's that, I'd wrap my arms around him right now and tell him we'll get through this."

Since Homan's death, city leaders have enacted a public intoxication ordinance and spent about $60,000 on fencing in Riverside Park. A consortium of local medical centers is studying ways to reduce alcohol-related injuries. Three colleges have also launched a safe drinking campaign.

Facts of Interest in this Case
Name/age: Lucas Homan, 21
College: University of Wisconsin, La Crosse (transfer from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Major: Finance
Physical description: 6'3," athletic build (basketball player)
Last seen: 09/20/06, early a.m., The Vibe bar at 322 Jay Street
Recovered: 10/02/06, Mississippi River levee near Riverside Park
Cause of death: drowning
Injuries: no signs of foul play or trauma
Blood Alcohol Content: .32

07/26/06: Max Walker, 26, Milwaukee, WI

Max Walker

Max Walker, 26, a former Army Reservist from Davenport, Ia had adjusted well to his return from military duty. After driving a truck in convoy duty in Iraq from 2004 to December 2005, he got back together with his girlfriend and was excited about his new job as an intern for Northwestern Mutual Life. He had been hired by the Milwaukee-based insurance and finance company in December 2005.

On July 26, 2006, the Saint Ambrose University honor student and a colleague were in Milwaukee for the company's annual financial representatives meeting, a convention that draws 9,000 people from around the nation. The educational and business-oriented conference was held at the Midwest Airlines Center and the Bradley Center civic arena. 

A colleague, named Dan, last saw Max about 1:45 a.m. Wednesday outside the Buckhead Saloon, 1040 N. Old World 3rd Street. The saloon is located in a popular downtown Milwaukee night spot and tourist area known as the RiverWalk. A security video camera shows that Max left the bar by himself. Employees at the salon told police that Max appeared to be very intoxicated when he left.

The colleague called the police about noon on Wednesday to report that Max never returned to his hotel room the night before and wasn't answering his cell phone, which was out of character for him.

Max Walker's body was found in the Milwaukee River on Thursday, July 27, about one block from the bar where he was last seen. The Milwaukee River runs behind the bar. 

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

12/05/05: Matthew Soumakis, 31, Chicago, IL

Thirty-one year old Matthew Soumakis, a mutual fund accountant from East LongMeadow, MA was in Chicago in order to attend a business conference on Monday, December 5th. He called his mother that morning and a short time later was seen on security cameras walking out of the hotel. He never made it to the conference and missed his return flight home. His body was found fifteen days later in the Chicago River.

---------------------
Details
Matthew Soumakis, a mutual fund accountant for SS&C Technology of Windsor arrived in Chicago on Friday, December 2 for a business conference (National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Meeting). On Sunday, December 4, he called his wife to say he would be going out to dinner with his cousin who drove up from Indianapolis, IN to meet him. On Monday, December 5 at around 6:30 a.m., he called his mother. Just a short time later, at approximately 7:49 a.m., security cameras at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers at 301 E. North Water St., where he was staying observed Soumakis walking out of the hotel towards Illinois Street. He failed to show up at a meeting that day, and after his coworkers called his home, his family filed a police report. He was supposed to fly home on Tuesday, December 6th, but he never made it home. When investigators searched Matthew's hotel room, it was undisturbed. They found his laptop, luggage and other personal belongings. His credit cards had not been used.

Possible Sighting
A bartender at Lizzie McNeil's bar, across the street from the Sheraton and just off the bank of the Chicago River, believes to have seen Soumakis was drinking in the bar for five hours later that night. Soumakis was reportedly talking business and having a couple of drinks with a professionally-dressed older gentleman with gray hair and beard and wearing a dark coat. They both left the bar at closing time, around 1:30 a.m. The man believed to have been Soumakis was seen walking back in the direction of the Sheraton hotel.

The Search and Recovery of Matthew
Early on police feared he may have fallen into the Chicago River. The area near the Sheraton Hotel was searched by the police marine unit and its scuba team without results. Sonar equipment was also used in the search of the river. The river water temperature was about 39 degrees, according to police.

On December 20, 2005, Soumakis' body was pulled from the river near Halstad and Division Streets two weeks later after Department of Streets and Sanitation employees working near the river spotted the body and called police. The body was taken to the Cook County medical examiner's office, where it was positively identified through a body and clothing description and other identifiers. Soumakis' body was found several blocks from the hotel where he had been staying. An autopsy performed the following day determined Soumakis drowned, but the manner of death was undetermined pending a police investigation, according to a Cook County medical examiner's office spokesman.

Clues
In to a Chicago Tribune article, Matthew's cousin said his cousin’s clean-shaven face suggests that he died in the morning, as all of the men in the family have heavy beards and develop a shadow of stubble early in the day. Matthew was also still wearing an identification tag from the conference he was supposed to have attended.

A family man
Soumakis, a Springfield native, lived in East Longmeadow with his wife, Kelly, and 6-year-old stepdaughter. His wife was four months pregnant with their first child. "I can't tell you how uncharacteristic this is of him,” said Kelly Soumakis, his wife of eight months. “Matt’s such a reliable person -- a great friend; a great husband." Matthew was also described as being "in touch"--never hesitating to pick up his cell phone and check in with his wife.

Facts of Interest
Name/Age: Matthew Soumakis, 31 (from East Longmeadow, MA)
College: University of Massachusetts-Amherst graduate
Physical description: 6'1," 220#, black hair, brown eyes
Last seen: 12/5/05, 7:49 a.m., exiting Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers at 301 E. North Water St. May have been seen later that night at Lizzie McNeill's bar across the street at 400 N. McClurg Court.
Recovered: 12/20/05, 9:39 a.m., Chicago River, near Halsted and Division Streets near Goose Island
Cause of death: drowning
Manner of death: undetermined
Injuries: no information
Water temperature: 39 degrees
Blood Alcohol Content: no information

1/19/03: Jeremy Stienkeoway, Hinckley, MN

After checking in to the Grand Casino Hotel in Hinckley, Minnesota, Jeremy Stienkeoway went for a drive and never came back. He was reported missing the following day after he failed to show up for work.

On Jan. 28, Stienkeoway's car, a 1994 Ford Thunderbird was found by Burnett County Sheriff's deputies parked alongside the St. Croix River near Grantsburg, Wisconsin. Grantsburg is in northwest Wisconsin, approximately 45 minutes southeast of the casino where he was last seen. The car was not damaged, and it was still locked with his cell phone, wallet and belongings inside. There was a single set of footprints leaving the vehicle, but it was unclear where they were headed. There was no sign of a struggle nearby.

A video surveillance tape thought to have shown Stienkeoway at the casino with another man yielded no leads. It is now thought that Stienkeoway was alone at the casino, but why he went to the river is not known.

Research indicates the Stienkeoway was a victim of a violent crime less than two months before he disappeared. On November 4, 2003, Stienkeoway was working at the Delano Theatre when it was robbed at 12:42 a.m. Stienkeoway was bound with duct tape and severely beaten in the head and face by two suspects wearing ski masks. Police say the robbery is not thought to be related to his later disappearance.

Search and Recovery
On Jan. 30, an ice fisherman found Stienkeoway's body about two miles downstream from where his car was found. His car keys were in his pocket. A Ramsey County Coroner's report shows that Stinkeoway drowned, but there was no evidence of trauma, indicating a struggle. Police believe he may have fallen through thin ice on the river.

Facts of Interest
Name/age: Jeremy Michael Steinkeoway, 24
Residence: Lakeville, MN
Last seen: 1/19/03, Hinckley, MN
Reported missing: 1/20/03
Found: 4/10/03, St. Croix River, Grantsburg, WI
Cause of death: Drowning

04/4/02: Lon Dowdle, Covington, KY

Lon Dowdle, a 26-year old sales representative for Madix Inc., an international fixtures company headquartered in Goodwater, Alabama, came to Cincinnati on a business trip and took a room at the Holiday Inn across the river in Covington, Kentucky. He spent the evening of Apr. 4, 2002 bar hopping with childhood friend John Dark who was also in town. Dark had recently moved to Fairfield, Alabama.
Dark last saw Dowdle at 2:30 a.m. when they were getting out of a cab at the Waffle House at 311 Philadelphia St. in Covington, within walking distance to Dowdle's hotel. The two were inebriated. Dark told the police that while he was waiting to get Dowdle's change for a $5 cab drive from a $20, Dowdle left the cab, walked around the corner of the building and disappeared.

Dark has passed a polygraph test, and the cab driver has backed up his story.

Lon Dowdle's father, Walter Dowdle, reported him missing about six hours after he disappeared, after a Kroger representative with whom Lon Dowdle had a morning meeting called to say he hadn't showed up. Walter Dowdle is the vice president of Madix, the company that employed Lon Dowdle.

01/01/00: Brian Welzien, 21, Chicago, IL

Brian Welzien, 21, and two friends, Nick Young and Mike Wittrup, drove to Chicago to attend a private New Year's Eve party where a former NIU student, Reid Cain, was the disc jockey. After returning back to their hotel, his friends went up to the room leaving Welzien behind near the hotel entrance. His body turned up in Lake Michigan two months later.

Timeline

After checking into the Ambassador East Hotel (1301 N. State Pkwy), where the three were sharing a room with Cain and two of his friends, they went to Irish Eyes pub at 2519 N. Lincoln. Welzien, who according to Young, “wasn’t a big drinker,” had four or five Long Island Iced Teas. At closing time (2:00 am), Welzien was ready to go back to the hotel, so he rode back with Cain and his two friends. Young and Wittrup decided to go to another bar with a 4 a.m. closing. Cain stopped outside the hotel to let the men out before he went to park the car, and Welzien "just sat there, then he threw up twice," Cain said. The two other men were already into the hotel before Welzien recovered enough to climb out. Cain pulled away to find a parking spot two blocks away. When Cain returned, Welzien was gone, so he went up to the hotel room. "I never even thought about it. I had no clue till we woke up in the morning," Cain said.

While Cain and his friends were up in the hotel room, several people reported seeing Welzien getting sick near the hotel entrance: the doorman, a bartender, a man parked on Goethe waiting for his girlfriend (a waitress at the Pump Room). Welzien leaned on the man's car for support, police said. When Young and Wittrup got back to the hotel sometime after 4 a.m., Welzien still wasn't in their room, so they began to search the area around the hotel, but soon gave up and went to sleep. When they awoke around 1 pm on New Year’s Day, they saw that Welzien still hadn’t returned and called the police.

Recovery

On March 17, Welzien's body was found by someone strolling on a Gary beach some 25 miles from downtown Chicago. According to a written statement, the cause of death was listed as asphyxia due to drowning. However, police called the circumstances of Welzien's disappearance suspicious,'' and one investigator has said it is ”the most perplexing case'' he has ever handled.

Unlikely victim

Welzien was on the dean’s list, never used drugs, rarely drank, called mother a few times a week.

Perplexing Questions

Police also wonder whether he could he have wandered the few blocks east to Lake Michigan. Crossing eight lanes of traffic on Lake Shore Drive to get to Lake Michigan would be a formidable task even for a sober person, police say, though he might have found the tunnel underneath the drive at Division Street, which is more plausible. A few steps down, a short walk and a few steps up could have landed him on the banks of the lake. To his right, a spectacular skyline view; to his left, a treacherously icy, downward sloping concrete surface, leading to a 15-foot drop into cold water. It happened just two years before when a young man fell into the water off Navy Pier.*

* Note: I have received comments from people living in the downtown area that there is not a 15-foot drop off in this area as reported in some news stories at the time.

Robbery was always considered a strong possibility, especially given Welzien's drunken state, but he his wallet, with money in it, was still on his body. And there were no obvious signs of struggle or foul play, supporting the notion that he fell into the water rather than being pushed or dumped, police say.

Private investigator Don Johnson, who was hired by Welzien's mother and has worked closely with police on the case, wasn't ready to dismiss foul play. "Who's to say he didn't go down there and somebody didn't give him a shove? Did he go down and slip and fall? Who knows?" Johnson said. Brian’s mother said she hopes police will continue to investigate. "It would be nice to know what happened."


Facts of Interest in this Case
Name/age: Brian Welzien, 21
College: Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, IL), finance student
Physical description: athletic (soccer player)
Last seen: 01/01/00, Irish Eyes Pub, then Ambassador East Hotel, Chicago, IL, 2:00 a.m. Recovered: 03/17/00, Lake Michigan
Cause of death: asphyxia due to drowning
Injuries: no information
Blood Alcohol Content: no information