Drownings haunt Wis. college town

[AmyStrange]

Drownings haunt Wis. college town
Fri Oct 29, 6:37 AM ET
By Debbie Howlett, USA TODAY

FROM: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&e=1&u=/usatoday/drowningshauntwiscollegetown
The last time anyone saw Jared Dion alive, he was trying to beat last call at a Third Street bar on Easter weekend. By the time a police diver pulled his body from the Mississippi River five days later, many residents here believed that the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse senior had become the victim of a serial killer.

Dion was the sixth man to drown in La Crosse since 1997. All were white, ages 19-28. Four were college students. All had a blood-alcohol level greater than 0.22%, nearly three times the legal limit to drive.

Like others, Kellie Halfen, a classmate of Dion's, believes that a serial killer is stalking young men in downtown bars, luring them three blocks to Riverside Park and pushing them into the deep water. "There's too much going on for it just to be coincidence," says Halfen, an art education major from Somerset.

Even now, six months after Dion's death was ruled an accident, the debate over how he died divides this Midwest college town. Speculation about a serial killer came to a boil at a meeting a week after Dion's body was found in April. Residents shouted down the police chief because they thought he quickly dismissed the prospect.

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What is the point of my post, you may ask, since it so clearly seems not to be political, and thus not really DU material in any way, shape, or form?

What is the point of ANY post, but to inform and/ or create discussion. Missing persons and the wrongly accuused deserve as much democratic consideration and justice as any other person.

Personally, I think they deserve it more so, because their voices (unless they are a young white college kid or white clean-cut mostly female rich person - for example, Smart, Sjodin, Levy, Peterson, Hacking etc.) are rarely heard from or written about or acknowledged in any way shape or form.

Do you know how many persons went missing in California at about the same time as Laci Peterson? Two that I know of specifically. One was hispanic (and also pregnant and also found murdered not too long AFTER Laci) and another was a prostitute, but guess which was talked about incessantly by the media?

And finally, missing persons and serial killers and miscarriages of justice are an example of why the budgets of LE (both here in the U.S and abroad) should be raised (and NOT just for homeland security) which is A VERY POLITICAL subject - in my opinion,

d

[Southsideirish]

1. Just my opinion, but I have noticed that sometimes when a young

guy is truly inebriated he may be drawn to water, perhaps to go for a swim and clear his head as he may be neophyte drinker and not used to the feeling of being very drunk. It seems like a logical thing to do (like when people throw their friend in the shower to help him or her sober up.)
We have had several drownings in Lake Michigan of young men who went there after a night on the Rush/Division street bar scene as it is nearby.

[AmyStrange]

2. Were they alone when they drowned?

one or two of these Wis. drowings were in the middle of winter.

All opinions are welcomed,

d

[Southsideirish]

3. Yes, they usually start off with a bunch of drinking buddies but

somehow they get separated from them and go off to the lake by themselves.

The most recent case (late this summer) makes a liar out of me, though, as it was a group that went to the lake and one of them jumped in and the others couldn't save him.

My brother had a friend who was on a cross Lake Michigan sail one night many years ago and after imbibing all night, he jumped off the boat to go for a swim and they never saw him again.

[RevCheesehead]

4. This happened in Eau Claire last year...similar circumstances.

Don't remember, but I think his death was ruled "accidental." But there were similar rumors of a "serial killer" in the area.