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Chicago Residents Alarmed As 18 Bodies Found In Waterways Amid Serial Killer Speculations
Last year, Jeff Jones took a plane to Austin for what he thought would be an extravagant bachelor party.
Before heading to pubs on the notoriously boisterous West 6th Street, the Boston native had dinner with his companions.
The 38-year-old inexplicably lost contact with his pals at one in the morning.
He didn’t remember anything until he woke up in the hospital two weeks later, with metal rods supporting his back.
Doctors informed him that he had been discovered in water after falling 25 feet from a bridge, and they discovered the date-rape drug Rohypnol in his system.
Many feared that a potential serial killer was prowling the streets of the Texas metropolis, and a scared Jones believed he had been drugged and pushed by him.
Despite police’s insistence that there isn’t a mass murderer on the loose, the rumours have persisted due to disturbing findings in a river that passes through the heart of Austin.
On Wednesday, it was disclosed that over three dozen bodies had been recovered from Lady Bird Lake in the previous three years.
Although authorities have ruled out a search for a suspect known as the “Rainy Street Ripper” and claim that only one case included a homicide, six reasons of death are still unexplained.
Police do have a theory, despite the fact that many of the deaths are mysterious.
They think the issue has been made worse by the party culture in downtown Austin, which is a popular spot for bachelorette and bachelor parties.
Just a few steps from the river, on Rainey Street, a well-known pub scene, many of the people who ended up in Lady Bird Lake had been having a great time.
Authorities have stepped up safety precautions, such as installing fencing and lights around the lake.
In order to treat people who have had too much fun or to divert others who are heading towards the river, ambulances are also stationed at the end of Rainey Street.
On Tuesday, the most recent remains were discovered. They are thought to be those of a teenager who vanished on Sunday.
Around 7:00 p.m., a 17-year-old Black man who was paddle boarding with his family vanished.
Local police are still waiting for a definite identification from the medical examiner’s office, despite the fact that a body was recovered from the sea on Tuesday, wearing clothing that matched the description of the unnamed child.
Investigators reported that this case, which has been categorised as a drowning, shows no indications of foul play.
“The teenager got off his kayak to stand in shallow water. He was not wearing a life jacket at the time. Investigators have determined that he was unknowingly standing near an underwater shelf, which is a sudden drop-off in the lake, when he stepped or slipped off and did not resurface,” the Austin Police Department explained.
Along with the kayak, the teen’s life jacket and rucksack have also been found.
Fox 7 reports that 38 bodies have been found in Lady Bird Lake since 2022.
The leading causes of death have been drowning, drug overdoses, suicide, and natural causes.
However, the unresolved case has given rise to wild speculation about serial killers, which the Austin Police Department has repeatedly refuted.
The idea that gay males were being targeted was one that was disproved.
Similar to Jeff Jones, 30 out of 38 victims who have been discovered dead in the water are guys.
Sixty percent were in the 30- to 49-year-old age range.
The person discovered on Tuesday was one of two teens.
“The things that lead to it being a serial killer is that it’s a very specific type of victim, which I fit, they don’t have anything stolen from them, they drown in the water, and they disappear in the middle of the night,” Jones told Daily Mail last year.
“I match all of this, I just luckily didn’t end up dead.”
Police have, however, attributed the rising death toll to a burgeoning party scene by the sea.
In a recent interview with KVUE, former forensic director of the Austin Police Department Mark Gillespie emphasised that the public should trust the police when they declare there is no foul play.
“They’re looking for foul play, and so when APD comes out with the statement that at the current time, they don’t suspect foul play, I promise you they were looking for it, and they were looking very hard for it, so I respect that,” he said.
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