Since the beginning of last year, some 16 people have been pulled out of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, leading some experts to believe that a serial killer is terrorising the area.
In just the last six months alone, authorities have recovered the corpses of five men. In total, 10 men and six women have been pulled from the two bodies of water.
“There’s too many coincidences,” Tracy Walder, a former CIA and FBI federal agent, said.
Similar patterns started becoming more apparent for the former federal agent as she looked into cases of "accidental" drownings, recovery sites being far from where victims were initially reported missing and periods of time - often short - where multiple victims have been found.
“In a case like this, there are so many similar patterns right across the board [so] it’s not just a coincidence anymore,” Ms Walder added.
Not all of the 16 bodies pulled out of Chicago-land water in 2022 and 2023 so far have had suspicious circumstances.
But according to Ms Walder, who spoke to the New York Post, serial killers will tend to follow a pattern and using water as a means of hiding a body is effective.
"Forensic evidence is gonna be, for the most part non-existent," making it the ideal crime, she said.
By the end of December 2022, local outlets reported that the FBI and the Chicago Police Department were working together to solve the series of drowning deaths.
Mr Walder also highlighted "cluster" of deaths - when multiple incidents occur in a small window of time - as times indicative of "something more going on."
Records show that in Chicago alone, two bodies were pulled from waters in April 2023 while two were found in waterways last December. And in April 2022, four bodies were found.
The latest recovery occurred on June 17 when authorities pulled restaurant worker Noah Enos from the Chicago River, just five days after he had vanished from a rock concert at a local venue.
Noah was found roughly a block away from where he had gone missing.
Authorities have yet to release a cause or manner of death for the 26 year old.
His family has teamed with private investigators, according to a GoFundMe made by Noah's father Steven Michael Enos, in a bid "to find justice for Noah."
During a vigil for Noah, girlfriend Nicole Wijs shared her hope for there not to be anymore suspicious deaths following similar patterns.
"I know Noah wasn’t the first one to go missing and be found in the river, and I sure as s**t hope that he’s the last," she said, holding back tears.
The recovery of 46-year-old Richard Garcia has proven to be one of the most suspicious incidents authorities are looking into.
Mr Garcia's body was retrieved from the Chicago River on April 13 near the Columbus Drive Bridge.
The FedEx employee was still wearing his uniform when authorities recovered him, according to his loved ones.
He had been reported missing in March from his home on the South Side of the city.
His cause and manner of death are still pending the Cook County Medical Examiner's officer told The Post.
The 16 people recovered from Chicago-area waters
- Noah Enos, recovered June 2023. Cause and manner of death: pending
- Unidentified woman, recovered May 2023. Cause and manner of death listed unavailable
- Richard Garcia, recovered April 2023. Cause and manner of death listed as pending
- Seamus Gray, recovered April 2023. Cause and manner of death listed as undermined drowning
- Joel Orduno, recovered March 2023. Cause of death listed as drowning but manner undetermined
- Anthony Rucker, recovered February 2023. Cause of death listed as drowning and manner as suicide
- Krzysztof Szubert, recovered December 2022. Cause and manner of death listed as accidental drowning
- Peter Salvino, recovered December 2022. Cause and manner of death listed as accidental drowning
- Hayward Brown, recovered June 2022. Cause and manner of death listed as accidental drowning
- Daniel Sotelo, recovered May 2022. Cause and manner of death listed as undetermined drowning
- Natally Brookson, recovered May 2022. Cause and manner listed as undetermined
- Karina Pena Alanis, recovered April 2022.Cause of death listed as drowning and manner as suicide
- Yuet Tsang, recovered April 2022: Cause and manner of death listed as undetermined drowning
- Unidentified woman, recovered April 2022. Cause and manner listed as unavailable
- Unidentified man, recovered April 2022. Cause and manner listed as unavailable
- Kathleen Martin, recovered March 2022. Cause and manner of death listed as undetermined drowning
