Awareness=Answers

It’s time to show you the facts – documents – evidence. We haven’t shared police files in the Todd Geib case because we wanted to turn the new evidence over to law enforcement so they could reopen the case. Despite the new information, the Michigan State Police and Muskegon County Prosecutor Tony Tague have decided not to reopen Todd’s case.

Todd Geib

Todd Geib was last seen walking away from a party near his Muskegon County, Michigan home on June 12, 2005. On June 27, 2005, investigators told reporters and Todd’s family that the young man was dead. They told Todd’s parents that they had information that led them to believe Todd was hit by a car and buried.

Read the news articles

On July 2, 2005, Todd was found fully clothed in a remote pond near the party. Todd’s blood alcohol level was .12. Investigators determined that Todd accidentally drowned.

In 2009, I began talking with Todd’s mom, reading police files and talking with witnesses. I’m a trained journalist who knows that to get answers you have to ask experts hard questions. Former New York District Attorney, Trish DeAngelis agreed that there were some inconsistencies in Todd’s case. She brought the autopsy report and recovery photos to Dr. Michael Sikirica, a board certified Forensic Pathologist and CEO of Forensic Identification and Profiling Labratory. He showed the file to his team and other investigators. The data was also shared at an international convention of Medical Examiners. They agreed with Dr. Sikirica’s conclusion – Todd was dead 2 – 5 days.

A letter was sent to Prosecutor Tony Tague that outlines the findings of Dr. Sikirica and explains that there is more information to share.  Mr. Tague forwarded the letter to the Michigan State Police.

Read the letter sent to Michigan officials

After three months, Todd’s parents were told the Michigan State Police would not take another look at Todd’s case.

Read the letter Michigan State Police sent to Todd’s parents

Tony Tague is the elected attorney for Muskegon County.  Tell him what you think |  Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Office | 990 Terrace St., 5th Floor
Muskegon, MI 49442 | Phone 231.724.6435 | Fax 231.724.6685

UPDATE – A Wisconsin woman read this post and launched a letter writing campaign to Tony Tague’s office. Click here to join her and take action!

Kristi Piehl Case Updates

Dan Zamlen

St. Paul, Minnesota Police have closed the case of Dan Zamlen. The 18-year-old St. Thomas University student was last seen leaving a house party on April 5, 2009. His body was found in the Mississippi River nearly a month later. His death was ruled an “accidental drowning.”

After Dan disappeared, police investigators told reporters that dogs followed Dan’s scent towards the road and away from the water. 

A St. Paul Police spokesman says he can’t explain where Dan was from the time he vanished until the time he surfaced in the Mississippi.  He says there is nothing detectives uncovered that points to foul play. In fact, someone told investigators Dan may have been suicidal and questioning his sexual orientation.  Dan’s father says his son would not have killed himself and believes Dan’s death could be linked to the other drowning cases. 

In the 400 page police report, there is one witness who described hearing a scream and a car door slam on the evening Dan disappeared.  Also included in the report is something that happened to Dan on the day before he went missing. Apparently, he called someone and said he’d been robbed. 

Dan’s family says the St. Paul investigators didn’t do enough to find answers.

Kristi Piehl Case Updates

William Hurley

The search for William Hurley ended early October 14 when a police officer on routine patrol spotted a body in the Charles River.  William was recovered behind the Nashua Street Jail in Boston, Massachusetts.  Click here to see a picture of the jail from the water. The location isn’t far from the sports arena where the 24-year-old former Navy sailor was last seen.   Click here to see an aerial picture of the area.

On October 8, William and some friends went to a Bruins game, but William left early.  He told his friend he was tired after working a long day as a golf course greens keeper.  William’s girlfriend was on her way to pick him up and was talking to him on his cell phone when it went dead.

Police said an exhaustive search turned up clues, but nothing concrete.  Boston officials aren’t speculating on a cause of death and have said there aren’t obvious signs of foul play.  Preliminary autopsy results are expected soon.  Check back for updates.  

Several people familiar with the Boston area say the scenario doesn’t make sense.  They don’t think Will would have walked behind the arena to a mainly industrial area to wait for his girlfriend when there are “landmark” locations nearby.  The locals also say it seems odd that in Boston, a densly populated city, there aren’t witnesses who watched Will walk to the edge of the Charles River.  In fact, the locals say that it seems the obvious area to walk is in the opposite direction of 99 Nashua Street. You can read more discussion in the comments section.

Kristi Piehl Case Updates

It isn’t in word clues. It isn’t in graffiti. It isn’t in poems. The keys to solving these cases is simple: it’s reopening each case one at a time and proving the victims did not accidentally drown, but were murdered. If these young men were killed, then there should be evidence to prove it and I’m talking about the kind of evidence that could be used in a court of law.

Several months ago, Trish DeAngelis, a lawyer and former District Attorney in New York, agreed to review case files from around the country. She has an extensive background with homicide cases and a track record of convicting killers. DeAngelis frequently relied on the expertise of forensic pathologists to crack unsolved homicides and violent crimes. DeAngelis asked a respected and experienced forensic pathologist and medical examiner to look at autopsy photographs and reports related to these drownings.

Through their analysis, research and fresh interviews with witnesses and family members, we continue to find significant evidence overlooked by the original investigators. When there is conclusive evidence in a case, a report will be presented to local officials. We are in the process of doing that now.

Our goal is to uncover evidence in cases that will convince local officials to reopen cases and reclassify them as homicides.

Kristi Piehl Case Updates

Bryan Barker

Bryan Barker, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student, was last seen leaving a Milwaukee bar early July 4th. He’d been celebrating a friend’s birthday at Sullivan’s on Water Street. According to Bryan’s friend Zac, Bryan may have been kicked out of the bar after a fight.  Bryan told friends he was walking to a nearby bar.  The media is reporting Bryan left to walk home. Click here to read more about Bryan.

On  July 6, Bryan’s body found in the Milwaukee River about two blocks from where Bryan was last seen.  

People who live nearby continue to write on this blog and email me because they say the facts don’t add up. The location where Bryan was found is in the opposite direction of his house and the other bar he may have been going to.  Read more from Bryan’s friends in the comments section of this post.

Police say Bryan’s death is a tragic accident and there is no sign of foul play.  The medical examiner ruled drowning as the cause of death.  

Here’s how a local newspaper linked Bryan’s death to others, “Barker’s death will be added to a growing list of college-age drinking fatalities. According to a 2007 Associated Press story, nine college-age men have drowned since 1997 in La Crosse-area rivers after drinking heavily.” 

While I normally don’t add my personal comments – I can’t help myself.  How many young men have to die before people take time to look at the facts, learn about the victims and use critical thinking skills? Why isn’t this happening to women?  Why do these drowning deaths continue to happen in the same states?  When will reporters stop drinking the kool-aid some police pour after a victim is recovered in the water?

Kristi Piehl Case Updates

Kristi Piehl Case Updates

Gerald Smith

Gerald Smith’s body was recovered in the Wabash River on Friday evening, May 8th.  It was found in Vincennes, Indiana – more then 50 miles down river from where Gerald was last seen in Terre Haute on May 1.

On May 9th (the day he should have graduated from Indiana State University), Gerald’s death was ruled “accidental drowning.” So how did the County Coroner come to that conclusion?   “Can I say with 100 percent assurance that he was not murdered? Well, no but there is nothing short of an eyewitness account that will say that but without a good explanation of a motive for a murder… none of that makes a whole lot of sense,” Dr. Roland Kohr said. Click here to read more about why Gerald’s death was ruled an accidental drowning. 

The toxicology results are expected to be completed in the next week. 

(See earlier posts and comments for more information about the simlarities between Gerald’s case and another Terre Haute case.)

Kristi Piehl Case Updates

Ezra Milan

Ezra Milan’s body was recovered on Friday, May 8th in the Fore River in Portland, Maine. He was last seen on a bridge over the Fore River on March 11. Click here to read earlier posts about Ezra Milan’s case.

Officials have ruled his death an “accidental drowning.” Click here to read more about this development.  I’ll post more on this as it’s released. 

NOTE: Gerald Smith’s body was also found on Friday, May 8th. See earlier post below.

Kristi Piehl Case Updates

Gerald Smith

The search is on for a missing Indiana State University senior.  Gerald Smith, 22, was last seen walking in Terre Haute, Indiana in the early hours of May 1.  He had been out at a bar celebrating the end of a class project with friends and professors.

A bartender says that Gerald was kicked out of the bar and that’s why he left.  Police say they can’t confirm the bartender’s account and one woman who was with Gerald is disputing it.  Gerald was last seen by a professor who offered to pay for a cab to bring Gerald home.  Police said that they’ve confirmed Gerald accessed the internet from his phone after he left the bar. Since then, his cell phone, bank accounts and credit cards have not been used.  Several searches have failed to turn up any clues.  Click here to read the latest from ISU about the search for Gerald.

Scott Javins

Terre Haute has been the focus of a search for a missing student before.  Scott Javins disappeared May 24, 2002.  His parents are now reliving their nightmare and trying to help Gerald’s family. The similarities between Scott and Gerald are disturbing.  In a local article, Scott’s dad said, “Brown hair, brown eyes. Same major at ISU, in Safety Risk Management. Gosh, height and weight similar.”  Click here to read more about the similarities in the two disappearances.

Five years after Scott disappeared, his remains were recovered in his car.  It was found submerged in the Wabash River.  The coroner determined that Scott died from an “accidental drowning.”  Here’s what the county coroner said, “Drowning is a diagnosis of exclusion.  It is based on finding a body in water and having no other options to explain it.”  Click here to read about the investigation.

Click here to go to Scott’s website.

Kristi Piehl Case Updates

Daniel Zamlen

The search for Daniel Zamlen has come to a tragic end.  The body of the college freshman was recovered in the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 1. Dan was last seen early April 5th.  His friends lost contact with Dan after he left a party near the University of St. Thomas.  (See post about Dan’s case below.) 

The body was first spotted by workers at the Ford Plant in St. Paul.  It was caught up in debris at the Ford Dam.  Sources say the recovery was completed by mid-afternoon without local media present. Police are waiting for autopsy results before discussing Dan’s death. 

Dan’s family is from Eveleth, MN.  They vowed to stay in St. Paul until Dan was found. Hundreds of volunteers from Dan’s hometown have driven to St. Paul to help search. Those close to Dan are relying on their faith, family and friends to get through this difficult time.

Kristi Piehl Case Updates