Here is a link to the River Killers thread for those of you that want to discuss the Smiley Face angle.
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/fo...hs-of-Male-College-Students-The-River-Killers
Young men being found dead or drowned is not isolated to the American midwest. It happens in Canada,
the UK, Europe (where I live, for example, there is a trend of Australian tourists who fall into the sea and drown more than locals, not because they are targeted, but because they drink a lot and are reckless) and on and on. Young men are the highest demographic of accidental death. Add drugs, alcohol, fraternity hazing, college life, bad decisions, being alone and water nearby and they will find it and fall in it. I mean, if 200 men country wide over a decade or more is alarming to you, then why is the human trafficking angle so outrageous? Nearly
300 young people were trafficked in Ohio alone in 2015, and that is just the ones we know about.
I do not think Joey was trafficked but I also do not think he is the victim of a serial killer. No, this feels like a strangulation or overdose with a dump in the river and someone he knew or just met.
"There is a high probability that he was dead prior to going in the river," Ortiz said. "We cannot determine that with 100 percent certainty."
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/03/31/Police-identify-body-in-river.html
Looking at all this on a map:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zZIJXWizthYo.kgSYcmSXgUhY&usp=sharing
It seems amazing to me that his body floated more than 4 miles and landed near that boat launch - there are too many twists and turns and it is more likely he would have landed on the western bank along 71 long before making the unlikely turn up into that resovoir area.
I thought perhaps he could have gone in the Olentangy right off the Goodale St bridge, but it is awfully shallow isn't it? If it is anything like the map view, his body wouldn't have made it past Broad St. I am sure LE will be testing this forensically to piece it together. Hopefully they are still looking at CCTV.
The fact that he was gay and use gay dating apps is very relevant because that is exactly how the killer hooked up with him. I can't prove it but there is enough similar case that you can google if you take the time to learn.
Please try to be more mindful in your wording to ensure your hunches and assumptions are stated as such and not asserted as fact. There are no facts in this case that we are privy to that point to any correlation to the smileyface/river killers or that Joey was even definitively murdered. This same talk was all over Zach Marr's case from last month, as he went missing under similar circumstances. They ended up with CCTV showing him falling through a gap in a railway bridge into the river. These are only isolated examples, and I realize there is cause for at least some specialists to think there is a "fad" leading to some of these young men dying. I do appreciate your passion for the subject, and hope you contribute to the River Killers thread if you haven't already. My hope is we can steer this discussion more towards analysis of the facts we have, sleuthing leads where they may be helpful to LE, and offering emotional support to friends and family who are dealing with the loss of a loved one.
