A fourth body has been pulled from a city lake this year - sparking fears a serial killer is on the loose.
Again and again men have turned up dead in Lady Bird Lake in Texas, near a bustling strip of bars and food trucks.
It's the fourth body pulled from the lake since February and, according to local reports, the eighth in 10 months.
In a press conference, Officer Michael Bullock from the Austin Police Department said officers responded to a call at around 1.30pm on Saturday April 15 asking them to check the welfare of someone at Lady Bird Lake.
He said: "Multiple individuals had called 911 reporting that a subject appeared to be deceased and was in the water."
The person was pulled from the water, before being pronounced dead at the scene. He confirmed that their homicide unit did respond and have launched an investigation into the death.
The person has been named as John Christopher Hays-Clark, 30, the fourth person to be recovered from the lake since February.
Austin Police have not yet released a cause of death, but have said they do not suspect foul play in his death.
But that does little to calm the fears of residents, who worry there is a 'roofie killer' on the loose, targeting men around the age of 30, using drugs like GHB to spike people's drinks - known as 'roofies'
The first person to be pulled from the lake was Jason John, 30, whose body was recovered in February.
He was last seen just a week before on Rainey Street, which is a popular location for bars and restaurants around a mile from the lake, which runs through the heart of the city and is a stretch of the Colorado River.
Cliff Axtell, slightly older than the other men at 40, was discovered on March 5.
Then on April 1, Jonathan Honey, 33, was found dead in the water just one day after he was reported missing. He was last seen at a taco truck on Rainey Street at around 2am on March 31.
The south end of Rainey Street ends at Lady Bird Lake, which is still referred to as Town Lake by many locals. The Lady Bird Lake area stretches from North Pleasant Valley Road bridge to Redbud Trail bridge and Red Bud Isle along the Colorado River.
In recent years, multiple men have been found in the lake under similar circumstances.
In 2015, 22-year-old Julio Santos was found. Martin Gutierrez, 25, was found in 2018.
In 2019, 21-year-old Christian Pugh was found alive.
Due to a swirl of speculation on social media, the Austin Police Department issued a statement addressing the deaths.
"Although these cases are still under investigation and evidence is being analysed, at this time, there is no evidence in any of these cases to support allegations of foul play," they said.
"While each incident has occurred at the lake, the circumstances, exact locations, and demographics surrounding these cases vary..
"Our investigators approach every case with an open mind and objectively examine all available evidence."
The statement went on to talk about the autopsies, saying: "The results of these autopsies have not revealed any trauma to the bodies nor indication of foul play."
Police also expressed their theory that the deaths may be a result of alcohol-fuelled accidents.
"One common theme of the drownings in Austin this year is the combination of alcohol and easy access to Lady Bird Lake, which has numerous access points," the statement said.
"Many of the access points can be challenging to see at night. The parks in which most of these drownings have occurred are park areas that close at 10pm and occur after the park closes."
However, people weren't ready to accept the theory of drunken misadventures - with some even warning that people are having drinks 'spiked' on nearby Rainey Street.
"I've lived in Austin my entire 35 years. I have never heard of so many deaths in LBL. Something is going on. It's not just drunk people falling in a lake. Not that it can't happen, but it doesn't happen this often," said one Twitter user.
Another person commented on a Facebook live briefing video from the force, saying: "So in Austin people are drinking on land and stumbling near townlake and accidentally drowning, yet people in NB are in the water and drinking all day while tubing and they don't have the frequency of drownings like Austin does, and APD doesn't think it's suspicious".
The family of Jason John also believe the incidents could be connected - despite his autopsy saying his death was an accidental drowning.
His mother, Elsie John, said: "We definitely don't agree with that. Jason was 30. Jonathan Honey was 33. Two in the morning. Rainey Street. So there were some similarities in the case."
A Facebook group was set up in February called "Lady Bird Lake Serial Killer/ Rainey St Killer", which says it's: "A place to discuss the possible serial killer in Austin Texas/Theories including the Lady Bird Lake Killer.
"We also advocate for the family and friends of these victims, if you were affected by one of these tragedies, our admin teams inbox is open!"
They later updated the group information to say: "Due to the influx of information; we are now including the men/situations going on in Houston, Tx, in our investigations."
The group has exploded since its conception, with more than 71,500 members - a figure growing by around 5,000 new members a week.
But there are critics of the serial killer theory - with many pointing to a rise in true crime media and a popularisation of the macabre stories as a source of fuel for such speculation.
