Now, as I read about these "Smiley Face Killers," I wonder about two other local "drownings" that have dominated the headlines in the past few years. One, another young man in my town, showed up in a creek in 2005 with blunt force trauma to his head. Another was found a few hours east of here in a country club pool, his body covered by the pool's tarp.

As a member of the collegiate population, I usually feel safe in my town. Students generally try to watch out for one another, always lending a hand or a kind word. But in light of the recent "Smiley Face" speculations, I find myself glancing over my shoulders when I walk around in the dark. And I really worry about my boyfriend and male friends cruising the bars late at night.

I guess I'm just glad our town isn't on a major river or lake.

Needless to say, I absolutely believe in this serial killer theory. I think these men were drugged at the bar, kidnapped, perhaps tortured and then dumped.

I applaud those who are sticking with this story as 9 people have died "questionably" in LaCrosse, all by the same means. For those who wrote in and questioned whether or not this should be further investigated obviously don't have kids, and don't have a general compasion for the parents who are suffering an unspeakable loss.
What can it hurt to have two retired cops looking into mysterious deaths that can possibly be linked from different states? At least those who have suffered a family loss can have some closure one way or the other down the road.

Fellas, never thought I'd have to say this...but you better start traveling in packs and never leave a drink unattened. Could be the killer is spiking their drinks when they get up for a bathroom break. Maybe an autopsy would have told us this a long time ago. They may have alcohol in their system, but has anyone checked for anything else?

There is not enough information given in the original CNN article or in Cooper's blog to convince me that there is any real threat of a traveling band of serial killers hunting down college-aged males. To even suggest this without providing sufficient support and evidence is ridiculous.

The original article states, "Who would commit this type of crime?
"The type of person that would be the opposite, not smart, someone not good in school, maybe doesn't have a job, not popular," Duarte said."

It is obvious that the FBI is not assisting Duarte on these cases. If they were, he would know that IF there were a serial killer who had successfully killed 40 men without detection, dumped their bodies without being seen, left smiley faces at the crime scenes, and escaped without having left a single trace of evidence behind.....that the individual would not be a dumb, unemployed, unlikeable individual. The "killer" that Duarte has described is a disorganized killer. If this imaginary killer did exist, we would be dealing with an organized serial killer. He would be intelligent, charming, socially adept, probably employed, someone that would be able to convince these young men to come out and "party" with him, someone that likely drives a nice clean car. His appearance will be clean and well dressed. We're not talking about someone that looks and acts like a "loon." A "loon" would not be able to pull off such an intricate plan.

Finally, if there were such a killer, the smiley face would be his "signature." He would leave that mark at every crime scene (not just here and there). Leaving the mark is asking for the attention (or credit) that he feels he deserves for the murder and for getting away with it.

The details provided in these stories are not consistent. The analysis of the details is clearly not based on training and education in the field of behavioral analysis and demonstrates a lack of knowledge in the area of serial murder. To someone familiar with the topic, it just sounds like someone has been reading one too many Robert Ressler books.