Awareness=Answers

Since the mid-1990’s, more than 100 young American men with bright futures and vibrant personalities have either drowned or disappeared under similar circumstances.

Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter Kristi Piehl first exposed a theory of a possible connection between the mysterious drowning deaths in 2008 on Good Morning America. She’s also appeared on other national television and radio programs with Bill Szostak, a former fire investigator committed to solving his son’s death.

This site is a place where people can find facts surrounding drowning mysteries. The goal is to raise awareness.

Why are these tragedies continuing? Read the stories, watch the videos and come to your own conclusions.

Exclusive Awareness=Answers content:

Despite new evidence in Todd Geib’s case, Michigan authorities refuse to reopen the case. Click here to see the documents.

What happened to Josh Szostak after he left a bar? His bizarre behavior is caught on tape.

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Nathan Bihlaier | courtesy NY Daily News

The Maine medical examiner’s office has ruled Nathan Bihlmaier’s death was an accidental drowning.

The 31-year-old was last seen early May 20 after celebrating his upcoming graduation with friends at a bar. He was asked to leave for being visibly intoxicated.

According to authorities, Nathan tried calling friends for directions to his hotel but got lost.

Two days later, his body was pulled from Portland Harbor along Custom House Wharf.

Nathan was married and his wife was expecting their first child.

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Franco Garcia

While officials say evidence suggests Franco Garcia, a Boston College student, accidentally fell into a reservoir and drowned, his family is requesting a more thorough review.  The Medical Examiner’s Office agreed to the additional testing. The case will remain open until the toxicology and other test results are complete.

The State Police spokesman told Boston reporters that foul play has not been ruled out and the investigation is ongoing.  David Procopio said,  “We owe that to the Garcia family, to find answers to the question of what happened in his final hours.’’

The last time Franco was seen, he was recorded by a bank surveillance camera. He appeared to be casually walking. Franco left a Cleveland Circle bar at 12:15 am. Officials suspect he was walking back to his car on the Boston College campus. The walk would have taken him past the reservoir.  The reservoir was searched several times, but it wasn’t until early April when his body was recovered.

Anyone with information about what Franco was doing in the early morning of February 22 should call 617.727.8817 , Ext 1, or Boston College Police at 617.552.4000.

Kristi Piehl Uncategorized

Additional drowning mysteries have people wondering what is happening in the midwest and why the deaths aren’t getting more attention.

Greg Senn

The body of Greg Senn, 29, was discovered March 13 in Lake Wazeecha in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was last seen leaving a home on January 14. According to published reports, authorities and some of Greg’s family members suspect he was trying to walk across the ice when he fell into the lake.

According to wsaw.com, “Grand Rapids Police Chief Dave Lewandowski says preliminary autopsy results show Greg Senn died of drowning and/or hypothermia. Chief Lewandowski says at this point they do not expect foul play. There was also no sign of significant injury. The exact cause of death is still pending. Official lab results won’t be available for another two to three weeks.”

Tom Hecht

The massive search in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for Tom Hecht, 28, ended tragically on March 22 when Tom’’s body was recovered in the Milwaukee River.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, “Hecht and a group of friends took part in an early St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl March 10. Hecht was last seen at Rosie’s on Water at 1111 N. Water St. He left alone. Friends said he was either going to walk or catch a cab to his condo or head to the Third Ward. To get home, he likely would have crossed the river on a bridge near where his body was found.”

Officials don’t suspect foul play. Autopsy results and the official cause of death are pending.

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Eric Duffey

The deaths of two young Wisconsin men have people in two communities grieving.

Eric Duffey’s body was recovered in the Wisconsin River about 110 miles north of Madison. He was last seen over the weekend after celebrating his 21st birthday with friends.

According to the local CBS news station and the Associated Press, “Stevens Point assistant police chief Brian Kudronowicz said emergency personnel including the Civil Air Patrol had been scouring a part of the river where the ice becomes open water. He said it is not far from where Duffey was last seen.  Kudronowicz said the department had received new information that led officials to believe Duffey walked into the Wisconsin River.”

Police say foul play is not suspected in Eric’s death.

Damien Sewell

17-year-old Damien Sewell was recovered from the Wisconsin River in Wisconsin Dells on February 29. Since Damien’s disappearance in November, he’d been listed on the national registry of missing children.

Police are investigating the case and working to determine the cause and manner of death.

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Michael Philbin

UPDATE | March 2012 | According to local press reports Michael Philbin’s blood alcohol level was .176 and marijuana was found in his system. Officials say Michael fell through the ice and drowned. His cause of death has been ruled accidental.

The tragic death of Michael Philbin, son of  Green Bay Packers coach Joe Philbin, is raising many questions and new awareness surrounding the mysterious drowning deaths of dozens of college-aged men.

The families and friends of other men who disappeared and were recovered in water are closely watching developments and praying the Philbin family gets answers.

Here is what ABC News is reporting:

Michael Philbin, the 21-year-old son of the Packers offensive coordinator, was reported missing Sunday by his family. League sources told ESPN that a body recovered from an Oshkosh, Wisc., river on Monday was identified as the missing son.

The body was discovered after an employee at a nearby business reported hearing cries for help from someone on the icy Fox River around 2:30 a.m Sunday. Police, fire and dive team patrols searched the area, but did not find anyone on Sunday.

A fresh search was conducted on Monday and the body was found around 3:15 p.m., according to Police Officer Joseph Nichols.

Packers coach Joe Philbin spent Monday in Oshkosh, where his son had been reported missing after an outing with friends at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh campus, according to ESPN. Michael Philbin is the second-oldest of six children.

“The Philbin family’s obviously going through a tough time right now, and as we always have, we’re a family-first philosophy with our organization, with our program,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said early on Monday. “So we’re supporting Joe and his family the best we can, and we’re holding out hope that this comes to a positive conclusion.”

McCarthy noted that he had plans in place to prepare for Sunday’s NFL playoffs NFC Divisional round against the New York Giants if Philbin remained away from the team, ESPN reported. The Packers are seeded first in their division.

“We’re prepared to do whatever we need to do as a staff to make sure our team’s ready to go,” McCarthy said. “We’ll be ready to go.”

Packers players offered supportive messages on Twitter throughout the day.

“As children we all have to someday say goodbye to our parents, but a parent should never have to say goodbye to their child,” said offensive lineman T.J. Lang.

Packers defensive lineman B.J. Raji wrote that “life is too short.”

“Live in the present,” he tweeted.

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Jay Polhill

The CBS station in Chicago is reporting that Jay Polhill’s family is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Jay’s death.

Jay, 20, was killed in early March 2010. His body, naked from the waist down, was found in the Calumet River at 126th and Stony Island. Initially, police ruled his death “undetermined”. Jay’s parents hired experts to take another look at the case and they determined that skull fractures suggested Jay was the victim of an assault. Based on information from the outside experts, Jay’s cause of death was officially changed to ”drowning due to multiple injuries due to assault,” a homicide.

If you have information that could help investigators solve this mystery, call a toll-free tip line at 866.514.4459, text information to 312.985.5642 or send an email to  centinv@chicagopolice.org.

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Travis Trowbridge

There’s a tragic case of deja vu in Muskegon County, Michigan.  WZZM reports that Travis Trowbridge, 20, was last seen in the early hours of October 1 after leaving a party held in the woods on Wolf Lake Road, near Evanston Avenue in Fruitport. His body was recovered near the party in shallow water.

Despite the fact that the toxicology report was not yet complete, the cause of death was determined. According to Mlive.com, “Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler said the autopsy revealed that drowning is the cause of death, but an investigation into the man’s death is ongoing.”

The case is eerily familiar and deeply disheartening for the family of Todd Geib. In 2005, Todd was recovered in a body of water in Muskegon County after leaving a party. Last week, Kathy, Todd’s mom, had a letter published in the local newspaper urging authorities to take a close look at Travis’ death. For the past several years, we’ve uncovered new evidence in Todd’s case and presented it to Michigan authorities. Despite the opinion of a well-respected Forensic Pathologist, authorities have been unwilling to consider the compelling evidence that suggests Todd’s death may not have been an accident. Click here to read more and see some evidence.

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Ricardo Gonzales

The co-captain of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire wrestling team was recovered in the Chippewa River on Friday, September 2.  According to reports, 22-year-old Ricardo Gonzales was last seen drinking with the wrestling team on Wednesday, August 31.

Ricardo graduated from high school in South Carolina. He was well liked and known for his wrestling skills. His death is hitting his former coach, John Hollman, hard.  Hollman told a SC newspaper, “Everyone is devastated. I’ve been coaching 20 years and I’ve been lucky enough to never ever have to deal with this kind of pain. Now I have to mourn the loss of a kid who was very much like a son to me.”

Authorities say Ricardo’s blood alcohol level was .19. They didn’t find any signs of trauma and say foul play does not appear to be involved in his death. Authorities say Ricardo’s cause of death was drowning. Complete toxicology results are pending.

His father is UW-Eau Claire’s director of facilities planning.

It’s unfortunate to see that authorities are not waiting for complete toxicology results before concluding foul play was not involved. It’s also too bad that newspapers are reporting that Ricardo is one of five people to drown in the Chippewa River this summer. While that is a true fact, there should be a distinction made between someone who drowned while engaged in a water sport and someone who had no reason to be in the water. My hope is that eventually death records will be kept differently so the number of drowning mysteries can be quantified and compared. Let’s hope Ricardo’s death will be fully investigated and police will figure out how Ricardo ended up from being with friends to being in the water.

Kristi Piehl Uncategorized

Jeremy Peck

Progress is being made to solve the mysterious disappearance and death of Jeremy Peck.  The 24-year-old was last seen about 1:00 am leaving a West Seattle pub on Christmas Eve, 2010. Several weeks later, his body was recovered on Bainbridge Island.

At the end of January, a man called police to report that he saw two “Hispanic-looking” males dump something, that appeared to be body parts, from a bridge on the day Jeremy disappeared. The tip caller was able to provide police with a description of the men’s vehicle. Thanks to a combination of good old-fashioned police work and DNA testing, detectives found the car. It had signs of a struggle and Jeremy’s blood inside.

The two men are persons of interest in the case, but arrests have not been made.  Right now, Jeremy’s death is classified as “suspicious”.

Click here to read more about the latest developments in the case.

I echo what I wrote in a previous post about Jeremy’s case, “It appears that investigators did not jump to conclusions or make assumptions based on circumstances, gender or age.  Isn’t that refreshing?  Let’s hope that more departments will follow the lead of the West Seattle Police Department.”

*Many thanks to the tipster who is keeping tabs on this case. I appreciate all the support of people around the country who frequently send me details about drowning mysteries.

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