Police in Texas have been forced to consider the possibility that a serial killer is currently at large in Houston after a 16th body was pulled from the city's collection of bayous last week.
The body of a man was recovered in White Oak Bayou by investigating authorities on Wednesday (8 Oct) following reports of a suspect drowning.
Neither his identity nor the cause of death has yet been identified, though detectives initially stated that foul play is not suspected in this case.
That said, however, the incident marks the seventh death in/around the White Oak Bayou area over the last month.
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The body of university student Jade McKissic, 20, was identified back in September, closely followed by a further five yet to be identified. Both men and women with ages ranging from their 20s to their 60s have been found in Buffalo Bayou, Hunting Bayou, and Brays Bayou, as well as White Oak.
Arguably more unnerving, however, is that the Houston Police Department's latest find marks the 16th body to be pulled from the slow-moving stream this year alone.
The first to be found was identified as Douglas Swearingen, whose body was recovered from White Oak on 11 January. A coroner later determined that, whilst he'd drowned, acute methamphetamine toxicity had contributed to his death.
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Following concerns from locals, the city's mayor John Whitmire was forced to deny the possibility that the alleged drownings were the work of a possibly dangerous individual.
"Enough of misinformation [and] wild speculation by either social media, elected officials, candidates, the media," Whitmire declared in a press conference back in September, following the recovery of McKissic's body.
"We do not have any evidence that there is a serial killer loose in Houston, Texas."
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During the same speech, the mayor agreed that whilst the death toll is 'alarming', the likes of homelessness, alcohol use, and mental health issues could also be to blame.
"I grew up in Houston," Whitmire continued. "Unfortunately, drowning in our bayous is not a new phenomenon."
Despite five bodies being pulled from the water over a five-day period, the city's Police Chief, Noe Diaz agreed with the mayor, adding: "There is no evidence, and I repeat no evidence, to suggest that any of these incidents are connected."
In the face of these claims, however, a retired NYPD sergeant and criminal justice professor has since joined the case, believing police have tread carefully in ruling out a multiple-murderer during this point in their investigation.
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Joseph Giacalone told Fox News following this week's unnerving find: "Something is afoot. A coincidence? Unlikely."
Going on, the ex-cop said a deeper investigation needs to be carried out on this year's staggering bayou-related death toll, telling the broadcaster that each case needs to be carefully considered both in isolation, and as part of a collection of crimes.
"A careful inspection of each case is warranted, including the 48 hours prior to the discovery of their disappearance," he continued.
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Another retired NYPD sergeant, Kevin Gannon agreed with Giacalone on the matter, going one step further to suggest the possibility that the 16 'drownings' are connected to the 'Smiley Face Theory'.
This hypothesis, for reference, alleges that 45 young men found dead in bodies of Midwestern waters between the late 1990s to the 2010s did not die accidentally, and as such, were victims of one or multiple killers.
"We’ve never seen drowning numbers like this before, especially with a drowning occurring every other day in the same location," Gannon also told Fox.
"This is an aberration and not the normal age of our 700-plus 'potential victims', but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be involved in killing these older individuals also, as they feel like they are pretty invincible right now and can act with impunity due to the police response."
It's important to note, however, that the FBI previously rejected the 'Smiley Face Theory'.
Rhianna Benson