Bill Szostak, Father Of Possible Victim, Urges Investigation Into “Smiley Face Killer” Murders

A series of drownings across the country may be the work of a serial killer who leaves a smiley face at each scene, according to families of some of the young men who may have been targets.

Bill Szostak, a retired fire investigator and father of one of the drowned boys, has joined forces with investigative journalist Kristi Piehl in order to draw more attention to the case and to convince the FBI that these boys’ deaths were not accidental, as many have been officially announced.

After first hearing a report on the possibility of a so-called “Smiley Face Killer,” - a theory put in motion by retired NYPD detectives Anthony Duarte and Kevin Gannon - Szostak returned to the spot on the Hudson River where is son was thought to have drowned and discovered a smiley face painted onto a tree near the river bank. Evidence, he says, that his son Josh was among the killer’s victims. He also revisited security footage and photographs taken on the last night of Josh’s life. Bill points out that footage showing Josh joking and laughing with his friends at a bar show he was relatively sober that night. However, mere moments later, Josh is seen staggering outside the bar. Friends who were with Josh that night echo Bill Szostak’s suspicion that his son must have been slipped some sort of drug at some point before he made it out of the bar:

Local authorities in each case maintain that the drowning were accidental and take issue with Bill Szostak and Kristi Piehl’s pleas to revisit the cases, which includes 50 men across 11 states. So far the only case involved that has been deemed a homicide is that of University of Minnesota student Chris Jenkins, found dead in 2003.

Real or Imagined: ‘Smiley Face’ Killers Targeting Young Men [ABC News]