Fire & Rescue
New reality series looks at drownings in La Crosse and elsewhere
Starting in late 1997, four or five apparent drownings within a period of months in La Crosse led to theories that young men were victims of murders made to look like drownings.
The theories have grown to include other drowning deaths around the country, and the Oxygen Channel has a new reality series in which detectives examine how several young men died.
The show, called “Smiley Face Killers,” begins this Saturday night on Oxygen.
The title of the series refers to spray paintings of smiley faces which reportedly have been seen at the locations of drownings in La Crosse and elsewhere.
La Crosse police and the FBI have long declared that evidence from the city’s drownings showed them to be accidental, sometimes involving drinking.
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Sean
January 18, 2019 at 8:58 pm
Interesting in theory. But the main premise has been repeatedly debunked, so…enjoy all you like, but do know that this is fiction. Somehow, this got tossed around the hype machine til the Daily Beast picked it up& ran an article on it today. It was called out within hours, by reputable journalists, as being sensationalism at best; harmful farce at worst. The killer has a name alright…and it ain’t the “Smiley Face Killer”. More like Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker, Jim Beam…sometimes the most obvious, direct answer is also the correct one. I believe this to be the case here, 100%. Belief in the theories presented on this show and elsewhere would require a suspension of logic; Some of us have more difficulty in just letting that go than others, I guess…
Alan Iverson
January 18, 2019 at 11:09 pm
So sad that something like this would air. Most every one of the local La Crosse deaths did in fact have alcohol as a contributing factor. This article indicates sometimes and this is not factual. The local river drowning victims was .22 to .42 blood alcohol content. That’s incredibly high. Focus on harm reduction such as bringing back an Alcohol, Compliance & Education Team vs. spreading hypothesis at best. Just disturbing to see this and so harmful to the victim’s families. And 0 educational value!
Justine Hermanson
January 19, 2019 at 10:25 am
Something going on ..
Terry
January 19, 2019 at 6:25 pm
The police always find drunk young people walking towards the river, people want to believe its a killer , no one wants to take responsibility for their drinking.