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
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 didnt 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 40s, he may still have fallen victim to these same killers. I didnt 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 its 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 (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.
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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.
