The term 'smiley face' became connected to the alleged murders when it was made public that Gannon and Duarte had discovered graffiti depicting a smiley face near locations where they think the killer had dumped the bodies in at least a dozen of the cases. Gannon and Duarte have theorized that the young men were all murdered, either by an individual or by an organized group of killers. The men, according to the former detectives, often fit a profile of being popular, athletic and successful students, and most were white. Letter from Congressman Sam Graves to FBI director Robert Mueller requesting the reopening of the case.Īs recently as 2017, Gannon and Duarte were examining evidence going back to the late 1990s that they believe connects the deaths of 45 college-age males whose dead bodies were found in water in 11 states, often after leaving parties or bars where they had been drinking. Gannon wrote a textbook case study on the subject titled 'Case Studies in Drowning Forensics.' The response of law enforcement investigators and other experts have been largely skeptical. The term 'smiley face' became connected to the alleged murders when it was made public that the police had discovered graffiti depicting a smiley face near locations where they think the killer dumped the bodies in at least a dozen of the cases. It alleges that a number of young men found dead in bodies of water across several Midwestern American states from the late 1990s to the 2010s did not accidentally drown, as concluded by law enforcement agencies, but were victims of a serial killer or killers.

Lee Gilbertson, a criminal justice professor and gang expert at St. The smiley face murder theory (also known as the smiley face murders, smiley face killings, and smiley face gang) is a theory advanced by retired New York City detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, as well as Dr. Not to be confused with Smiley Face Killer.

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