Possible Victims: Wisconsin

[SeriouslySearching]

1) Charles Blatz 28 yrs

Missing-9/28/97 La Crosse, Wisc.

Found-10/0397 -- Mississippi River --BAC (0.20)

2) Anthony Skifton 19 yrs

Missing-10/10/97 La Crosse, Wisc.

Found-- 10/20/97-- Mississippi River --Bac (0.23)

3) Nathan Kapfer 20 yrs

Missing-2/22/98 La Crosse, Wisc.

Found---4/04/98 -- Mississippi River -Bac (0.22)

Third (3rd) child missing within five (5) months, (9/20/97 ---2/22/98). Not just the same state but the same town of La Crosse.

4) Jeffrey Geesey 21 yrs.

Missing-4/11/99 La Crosse, Wisc.

Found---5/24/99 - Mississippi River - Bac (0.42)

5) Craig Burrows 23 yrs.

Missing-9/29/02 Eau Claire, Wisc.

Found--10/06/02 - Half Moon Lake

6) Michael Noll 22 yrs.

Missing-11/06/02 Eau Claire, Wisc.

Found-----8/19/03 - Half Moon Lake

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6815&highlight=Michael+Noll

7) Nathan Herr 21 yrs.

Missing-01/10/03 Sheboygan, Wisc.

Found----3/15/03 - Lake Michigan

Third (3rd) child missing within less than three (3 1/2) months, (9/29/02--01/10/03)

8) Jared Dion 21 yrs.

Missing--4/10/04 La Crosse, Wisc.

Found----4/15/04 -- Mississippi River -Bac (0.40)

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6734&highlight=Jared+Dion

9) Joshua Snell 22 yrs. (in from Minnesota for a wedding)

Missing-6/12/05 Eau Claire, Wisc.

Found---6/15/05 - Chippewa River

10) Cullen Fortney 21 yrs.

Missing 1/08/06 Mississippi River La Crosse, Wisc.

Found---1/08/06 - ALIVE Bac (0.043-0.1643)

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34966&highlight=Cullen+Fortney


11) Kenji Ohnri 20 yrs.

Missing-01/28/06 Madison, Wisc.

Found----6/19/06 - Lake Mendota

12) Lucas Homan 21 yrs

Missing-9/30/06 La Crosse, Wisc.

Found--10/02/06 - Mississippi River

http://kstp.com/article/stories/s421937.shtml?cat=63
(End of Detectives list)
------------------------------------------------------------------
13) Lee S. Cutler 18 yrs.

Missing-10/21/07 - Buffalo Grove, WI

(still missing)

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55295

[Meyahna]

Just adding in case.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) - March 12, 2001

Black River victim presumed drunk

A man who broke through the ice on the Black River and drowned was likely drunk, authorities said. Authorities pulled the body of Patrick Runingen, 23, of West Salem from the river Thursday. He had been missing since March 1, when witnesses said he appeared intoxicated as he left a bar near the river, which feeds into the Mississippi River, Lt. Bob Berndt said.Berndt said the death appears to be accidental. Results of an autopsy are still pending.Runingen's death marks the...

Purchase Complete Article, of 122 words (http://nl.newsbank.com/nojavascript.html)

[Ang50]

Interesting reading re: the Luke Homan case -

http://www.rivervalleyblogs.com/complaints/scott.htm

Mr. Scott pled to probation. It leads me to believe that although police could link him to the scene, they simply did not believe that he was involved in foul play.

However, it does lead me to believe that Luke just fell in.

[Blink34]

Interesting reading re: the Luke Homan case -

http://www.rivervalleyblogs.com/complaints/scott.htm

Mr. Scott pled to probation. It leads me to believe that although police could link him to the scene, they simply did not believe that he was involved in foul play.

However, it does lead me to believe that Luke just fell in.

Very Interesting, however, I am not sure this guy was not also a potential victim given what we know about the other cases and the fact that he was wet as well when he surfaced and lied about his name which he did not have to, sounds to me like he really did not remember, and was VERY scared , imo

[Ang50]

Very Interesting, however, I am not sure this guy was not also a potential victim given what we know about the other cases and the fact that he was wet as well when he surfaced and lied about his name which he did not have to, sounds to me like he really did not remember, and was VERY scared , imo

Can you tell me where he said he was wet? I can't find it. Thanks!

You aren't confusing the Cullen guy with Austin Scott, are you? I just want to check.

[cheko1]

Ang,

Austin Scott was lucky LE believed him & allowed to plea bargain probation.

[shadowraiths]

While reading a linked comment to Greta Van Susteren's blog, I noticed the following (interesting) post:
Comment by Lisa C.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:17 pm (http://gretawire.foxnews.com/2008/05/16/3-murders-in-a-college-town-madison-wisconsin/#comment-1008612)

Hi Greta Several years ago, I dealt on a regular basis on eBay with a man named John Klinger from Eau Claire. Suddenly, he was unreachable. After about 6 months of no response from him, I typed his name into a search engine on the internet and found that he was dead. He had gone to a bar one night and was found floating in a river the next day or so. He didn’t drive and it was too far for him to have walked to this river. He was partially disabled so such mobility would have been a problem for him. He was a gay rights and AIDS activist. The circumstances surrounding his death sound very similar to the deaths of these young boys. Though he was in his 40’s, he may still have fallen victim to these same killers. I didn’t know him well, but from what I knew of him, he was a really nice man who deserves some justice, if he was murdered. The Eau Claire police department had his picture on their website asking for any information about the circumstances of his death. As far as I know it’s never been solved to even their satisfaction. Perhaps with a little attention, maybe the case could be solved. Thanks!
There is very little info on this tragic case. In fact, a quick search revealed this single post that appears to be in the cached version only:

fishymama
Jun 29 2003, 11:03 PM (http://www.crimeandjustice.us/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t1205.html) (scroll down)

Thanks plsmith, lots of good info at this site. I grew up several miles from St. Johns College and spent alot of time out there. Its very secluded, not someplace you accidently find yourself at. It is also just a few miles down the road from where Jacob Wetterling was abducted 13 years ago. The entire campus is surrounded by lakes,woods,and farmland. The Freeway is at least a mile from the campus and the closest town of any size is St Cloud, about 10 miles away.

**********************************************

Add another one to the list..This was posted to the Chris Jenkins website in May.

Posted By: John Klinger family

5/20/03

We were lead to this web site by persons who believe there are too many connections to all these drownings. Our brother was found May 1 in the Eau Claire River 10 miles outside of Eau Claire WI. He did not drive and did not have a car. We believe someone took him to the isolated area he was found in and left him there. We want to connect with the other family members who have lost their sons and brothers and see if there are similarities. We have told the police our concerns about the number of deaths by drowning, happening late at night.In fact it was the news release that another body was found in the river that got our attention when we were looking for John. If you read this and know the family members of other victims please encourage them to email John's sister at [email redacted]. To the other families we extend our sincere sympathy and understand your loss is as great as ours. We hope we can find some answers.
What I find to be most curious about this tragic case is the ebay bit. It would be interesting to see if any other drowning victims used ebay (or craigslist). Esp considering the detectives claim the alleged gang is scouting for their victims online.

[SeriouslySearching]

Excellent find, Shadow! It would be interesting if we could find a way to track that information down. I know many college students which do use both as a way to sell things for money to keep going and to also buy electronic equipment.

[fran]

I know my daughter used to sell her 'used' books online. I'm not sure which venue though. I'll ask her tomorrow.

JMHO
fran

[Peculiar Petunia]

From:
ALCOHOL ABUSE CLAIMED 1,949 IN STATE IN 1988

Capital Times, The (Madison, WI) - May 24, 1990
Author: Associated Press



Alcohol use and abuse cost the state's economy more than $1.4 billion in 1988, causing almost 2,000 eaths in the state that year, the Division of Health says.

The state study said alcohol was responsible for more than 30 percent of the deaths of Wisconsin men ages 15 to 24 and for about one-fourth the deaths of Wisconsin women in that age group.
~snip~

The division said men accounted for more than twice as many alcohol-associated deaths as women. It said 1,263 men died, compared to 686 women.

The doctors estimated that, in 1988, alcohol was responsible for 346 motor vehicle deaths , 105 deaths from accidental falls, 24 accidental drownings , and 33 deaths by fire.

~~snip~~
I hope I edited out enough of the article, but these statistics date from before the string of probable murders (that we know of). It gives an idea of the scope of the drinking problem in the state.