Chris Jenkins, College Student

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http://kstp.com/article/stories/s421846.shtml?v=1

DETECTIVES: Chris Jenkins murder connects dozens around country

Could there be a calculated, cross-country plot to kill young college men, including some in Minnesota? It seems a little hard to believe, but two New York detectives say, they can prove it.

Now, they are revealing years of their evidence for the first time to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS...

GO DEEPER INTO THE INVESTIGATION:

THE JENKINS FILE: Rarely-seen documents related to the Chris Jenkins murder case

Interactive Map of victims possibly linked by the investigation

Visual timeline of the Jenkins murder case in Minneapolis

Extended video clips of detectives discussing the case

Kristi Piehl and John Mason talk about how the case has developed

List of possible Minn. and Wisc. victims

Kristi Piehl: How the story came about

Listen to Kristi Piehl talk about the story on the KQRS Morning Show


University of Minnesota college student Chris Jenkins was found in the Mississippi River in February of 2003.

Minneapolis Police began investigating the case, which also caught the attention of two retired NYPD detectives.

Turns out, Jenkins' death was the missing part of the puzzle for Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte.

They think Jenkins connects dozens of other deaths around the country over the last decade. The stories are the same all over the country--an athletic, intelligent, well-liked college student goes missing.

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Family and friends launch a massive search. Weeks or months later, the young man is discovered drowned. In more than 40 cases, the deaths are blamed on a drunken accident--except for one.

The death of Chris Jenkins in Minneapolis is the only one
"The level of evil we are dealing with here is rampant, it's deep and it's widespread," Chris' mother Jan Jenkins told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS

where the cause of death was changed from 'undetermined' or 'drowning' to 'homicide.'

"I can honestly tell you that I've walked every step of the way and it is hard for me to believe," Chris' mother Jan Jenkins told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. "The level of evil we are dealing with here is rampant, it's deep and it's widespread."

Because of extensive investigation by Duarte and Gannon, Jan Jenkins now says she knows exactly what happened to her son on the night he disappeared, Oct. 31, 2002.

"Chris was abducted in a cargo van," she said. "He was driven around Minneapolis for hours and tortured. He was taken down to the Mississippi River and he was murdered. And after that, his body was positioned and taken to a different spot and then to a different point in the Mississippi River."

Gannon and Duarte say they've discovered a link between Jenkins' death and the drownings of at least 40 other men in 25 cities in 11 different states.

It began in New York

The investigation started 11 years ago in New York when then-Sgt. Gannon made a promise to the parents of Patrick McNeill.

Patrick McNeill was last seen at a New York City bar in 1997. His body was found 50 days later, 11 miles downriver.

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'Sick Signature'

Gannon and Duarte have done something that no other law enforcement agency has ever done in this case--they looked at the big picture and visited each site where the young man disappeared.

While most local investigations focused on where a body was recovered, Gannon and Duarte tried to figure out where the body went into the river.


City after city, when they'd find the spot where the body went into the water, they would find something else: The symbol of a smiley face

City after city, when they'd find the spot where the body went in, they would find something else: The symbol of a smiley face.

"It's very disturbing," Duarte said.

The paint color and size of the face varies, but the detectives are convinced that it's a sick signature the killers leave behind.

They found one eight years ago in Wisconsin and then others in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. Then most recently, they believe they've found one in Iowa.