The story sounded almost unbelievable, says the St. Paul Pioneer Press: At least 40 drownings of young men near college campuses in 25 cities since 1997 were not accidental but possibly murders. If that wasn’t shocking enough, there was the discovery of smiley faces by retired New York police Det. Kevin Gannon and his former partner, Anthony Duarte, near the spots where 12 of the 40 young victims are believed to have entered the water. In September, Gannon went on national TV and suggested he had uncovered a ‘well-structured’ organization of ‘smiley-face’ serial killers. Nearly two years after the theory shocked a nation and renewed the hopes of some victims’ families, not one person has been arrested, charged, or prosecuted.
Virtually all the cases Gannon has tied to the mysterious cabal of murderers still remain closed as “accidental drownings.” A growing number of family members who once considered Gannon “a knight in shining armor,” as the father of one victim described the ex-cop, believe it’s time for him to put up or shut up. “I still believe my son was murdered, but I also think it’s time that (Gannon) stop going on TV and come out and show some proof,” said Kathy Geib, mother of a Michigan drowning victim. “I have not heard from him in a year and a half.”