Chris Jenkins, A Possible Victim Of The “Smiley Face Killer”
TwitterChris Jenkins in an undated photo.
To date, scant details about the Halloween murder of 21-year-old Chris Jenkins are known. But some believe that this University of Minnesota student was a victim of the mysterious “Smiley Face Killer.”
According to notes taken by investigators and published by NBC News, Jenkins went out with his girlfriend on Halloween night in 2002. Dressed as an “American Indian,” Jenkins disappeared a little after midnight.
Four months later, his body was found in the Mississippi River. The 21-year-old was still wearing his Halloween costume. But what had happened to him?
Mark Evans/Wikimedia CommonsChris Jenkins’ body was found in the Mississippi River four months after he went missing on Halloween night in 2002.
At first, police assumed that Jenkins had just gotten drunk and fallen into the river. Though his parents had their doubts, his cause of death was initially ruled as “accidental.” But as ABC News writes, two New York City detectives named Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte came to believe that Jenkins was actually a victim of the Smiley Face Killer.
No one knows who the Smiley Face Killer is — or, indeed, if they even exist. But Gannon and Duarte have been compiling evidence on the drowning deaths of 40 young men across 25 different cities. They believe that these young men died at the hands of a serial killer, someone who targeted successful, good-looking college students like Chris Jenkins.
After looking into Chris Jenkins’ case, the detectives produced enough evidence that his official cause of death was changed from “accidental” to “homicide.” Minnesota police even apologized to Jenkins’ parents for assuming that he’d drowned accidentally.
That said, no one has ever been charged in Chris Jenkins’ death. That makes his Halloween murder one of the most chilling on this list.
After reading through these nine stories of Halloween murders, discover these murders inspired by horror movies. Then, delve into the disturbing stories of these unsolved murders.
