0:00

Location the lab. Quinton only has

0:02

24 hours to sell his car.

0:05

Is that even possible? He goes

0:07

to carvana.com. What is this? A movie

0:09

trailer? He ignores the doubters,

0:11

enters his license plate. Wow, that's

0:13

a great offer. Carvana

0:19

pick it up in time for

0:21

it? They'll literally pick

0:24

it up tomorrow morning. Done

0:26

with the dramatics. Car selling

0:28

in record time. Hey

0:32

True Crime Besties, welcome back

0:34

to an all-new episode

0:36

of Serialously. Hey

0:55

everybody, welcome back to an all-new episode

0:57

of serialously with me Annie Elise. The

0:59

case we're talking about today is one

1:02

that has been in the works for

1:04

quite some time because a lot of

1:06

you guys have been requesting it for

1:08

well over a year now, maybe even

1:11

two years. It's taking us to Austin,

1:13

Texas and the title of this episode

1:15

may have already given it away of

1:17

what case we're talking about today, but

1:19

it is one of the eeriest and

1:21

I don't want to say complex, but

1:23

almost like... confusing maybe one of the

1:25

most confusing cases out there because it's

1:27

one of those cases where there's so

1:30

many unanswered questions so many possibilities and

1:32

like I hate this word but a

1:34

lot of like spooky things surrounding this

1:36

case to where it's hard to really

1:39

make sense of it all and Let

1:41

me just kind of break it down.

1:43

So for the past several years, there's

1:45

been something that has just casting this

1:47

like dark cloud over Austin, Texas. And

1:49

it all started back in 2022 because

1:51

bodies of mostly young men just started

1:53

turning up in a lake that sits

1:56

right there in the heart of the

1:58

city, just one after another after. And

2:00

what is interesting too is that all

2:02

of these victims have striking similarities, not

2:05

just in age, but in what they

2:07

were doing right before they died. because

2:09

they all went missing in the same

2:11

popular, buzzing, nightlife type area similar to,

2:13

you know, you might recall Riley strain

2:16

in Nashville, but the, you know, the

2:18

beat of downtown where everybody's hanging out,

2:20

partying, drinking, it's popular nightlife, and then

2:22

they just vanish. And then later, of

2:24

course, turn up in this lake, and

2:27

it's just happening one after another. So

2:29

naturally, all of the locals have been

2:31

freaking out, right? They think that there's

2:33

a possible serial killer on the loose.

2:35

I mean, what other conclusion could you

2:38

really come to, right? However, the police

2:40

continue to insist that there is absolutely

2:42

no reason to panic. In fact, they

2:44

say that there's no obvious signs of

2:46

foul play and that all of these

2:49

deaths simply, they're chalking it up to

2:51

accidental drownings. They basically are saying, you

2:53

know what, all of these guys, all

2:55

of these victims, they were out partying,

2:57

they were drinking heavily, then they accidentally

3:00

stumbled into the lake, they drowned, and

3:02

that's really all it is. There's nothing

3:04

bigger at play here. There's no reason

3:06

to be scared. But despite these reassurances

3:08

from the police, the community... is scared,

3:11

they are fearful, it's not adding up

3:13

to them. I mean, maybe you could

3:15

explain one, two, maybe call it even

3:17

three, accidental drownings, but the amount of

3:19

bodies that they have been discovering, mmm.

3:21

I don't know, it gives me a

3:24

little bit of pause too. So people

3:26

can't help but wonder, is there something

3:28

else going on that is darker and

3:30

deeper here? Could there be a serial

3:32

killer? Is it the rainy street ripper

3:35

at Lady Bird Lake? So guys, I'm

3:37

gonna break it all down for you,

3:39

but hopefully you don't have nightmares because

3:41

this case definitely might give you some

3:43

nightmares. So let's jump right in, buckle

3:46

up, it is a terrifying one. You

3:48

can call me crazy. and there's something

3:50

evil going on in the city. There

3:52

are renewed concerns after a woman was

3:54

recently... found dead in Lady Bird Lake.

3:57

Austin Police say her body was in

3:59

the water near Brazz and sees her

4:01

Chavez and that her death is not

4:03

suspicious, but it's one of several bodies

4:05

found in or near the water this

4:08

year. Fox 7 Austin's John Crinjack spoke

4:10

to some people who hang out on

4:12

the north side of the lake. They

4:14

say they intentionally avoid rainy street because

4:16

of the bodies that have been found

4:19

in that area. Very scary, especially given

4:21

that I live in this neighborhood. There

4:23

was about six or seven of us

4:25

on a flight down from Boston together

4:27

on Thursday and we had heard of

4:30

the disappearances of people and we were

4:32

kind of joking with one another. Oh,

4:34

watch out for the serial killer in

4:36

Austin. From the Austin homicide unit that

4:38

we look into every possible. aspect that

4:40

we can in all these cases and

4:43

nothing has led us to believe that

4:45

there is any sort of killer especially

4:47

serial killer at play here. All those

4:49

other people that died too deserve better

4:51

than that and the city didn't do

4:54

anything. They didn't do anything and they

4:56

just said it was accidental. It's not

4:58

fair. It's too good of a person.

5:01

All these people were too good to

5:03

just be thrown to the side and

5:05

nothing's been done in the city. needs

5:07

to do something and they need to

5:10

do it faster because people will continue

5:12

to go missing. Okay so let me

5:14

just start by describing Austin and Don't

5:16

take offense if you live in Austin.

5:19

This isn't casting shade to anybody. You

5:21

might actually enjoy this and embrace this.

5:23

But if Texas was a family, I

5:26

feel like Austin would kind of be

5:28

the black sheep in all of it.

5:30

Almost like that weird cousin who wears,

5:32

you know, the cowboy boots, the tie-dye

5:35

shirt, maybe is vegan, who knows, because

5:37

despite being the capital city, Austin doesn't

5:39

fit the traditional Texas mold. So much

5:42

so that for years, Austin has proudly

5:44

gone with the a mashup of people.

5:46

I mean you're talking football fanatics, foodies,

5:48

live music lovers, night owls, people who

5:51

like to party, all of those things.

5:53

And because Austin originally was attracting artists,

5:55

misfits, musicians, things of that nature, they've

5:58

gained a huge popularity over the It's

6:00

kind of become a magnet for tech

6:02

companies, startups, entrepreneurs, and it's caused hundreds

6:04

of new people to move there every

6:07

single day. The population right now sits about

6:09

a million people. It's also become a

6:11

tourist hot spot, a place where people

6:13

go to drink, to dance, to listen

6:15

to music, to party, because they have

6:18

a pretty good nightlife scene. I mean,

6:20

two spots in particular that are very

6:22

popular, 6th Street and Rainy Street. And

6:24

6th Street is legendary for its dive

6:26

bars, it's live music, it's, you know,

6:29

chaotic energy at times. And over time,

6:31

it earned the nickname Dirty Six that

6:33

just due to how it had these

6:35

rowdy crowds, a lot of college students

6:37

just people who were really determined to

6:40

party hard and have a good time.

6:42

And back in the day, rainy street

6:44

was this cute, sleepy neighborhood that was

6:46

filled with little charming bungalow houses. But

6:48

then when zoning laws changed in 2005,

6:50

people started turning those houses into these

6:52

really cool, unique bars and these nightclubs

6:54

just very, very different from traditional bars.

6:57

So now it's a popular strip of

6:59

bars, clubs, lounges, and it attracts more

7:01

of this older crowd compared to the

7:03

college crowd that goes to 6th Street.

7:05

So just a short walk from both

7:07

of these streets that are both the

7:09

major popular ones in Austin. There's another

7:11

local legend you could say and that

7:13

is Lady Bird Lake. Sometimes it's referred

7:15

to as town lake and it's this

7:17

stretch of water that's in the heartbeat

7:19

of downtown Austin and it actually spans

7:21

over 460 acres. Now because this stretch

7:23

of water goes for so long and

7:25

it's so large there are quite a

7:27

few bridges throughout it you know that

7:29

go over a pass it where pedestrians

7:31

can go and walk and some of

7:33

them even go there every night to

7:35

watch the sunset to watch dusk fall

7:38

to just really take in the beautiful

7:40

scenery. And during the day, people surround

7:42

the lake and kind of flock to

7:44

it because there's bike paths, there's hiking

7:46

trails, people will go on the lake,

7:48

and paddleboard, they'll kayak, just really kind

7:50

of making it this outdoor playground. So

7:52

the lake is hugely popular in this

7:54

city. And the whole area, the trails

7:56

that go around it, the water itself,

7:58

it's just constantly full of people. However,

8:00

in more recent years, the lake has

8:02

gained a lot of notoriety for darker

8:04

reasons, scarier reasons, not the fun outdoor

8:06

playground or where you would go to

8:08

maybe kayak in the afternoon, because since

8:11

2022, 14 bodies have been pulled out

8:13

of the water. 14 bodies have been

8:15

pulled out of the water. 14, one

8:17

fourth, that is a lot of bodies

8:19

to pull out of a body of

8:21

water. And if you go back even

8:23

further before 2022, there's even more victims,

8:26

which don't worry, I will get into

8:28

that. similar enough resemblances or circumstances, such

8:30

as partying at the nearby bars before

8:32

going missing, the fact that a lot

8:34

of them are young men, so many

8:36

similarities that it really has convinced the

8:38

locals that there is a serial killer

8:41

out there, somebody who is targeting this

8:43

particular type of victim. Locals have even

8:45

dubbed this phantom unknown serial killer as

8:47

the rainy street ripper. In the heart

8:49

of Austin, Texas, lies a tranquil oasis

8:51

in the form of a picturesque lake

8:53

that has long been cherished by locals

8:56

and visitors alike. But beneath the surface

8:58

of its serene waters lies a mystery

9:00

that has haunted the community for over

9:02

a decade. Rather than being celebrated as

9:04

a family-friendly water spot, the lake has

9:06

come to be feared for much more

9:08

sinister reasons. Since the early 2000s, more

9:11

than 18 victims have been pulled from

9:13

Lady Bird Lake after going missing in

9:15

suspicious circumstances. and many of its other

9:17

victims have yet to be identified. Now

9:19

this whole serial killer mentality first started

9:21

back on Thursday July 14th 2022 because

9:24

it was a super hot summer day.

9:26

People were out paddleboarding, kayaking. The lake

9:28

was full of people. People were out

9:30

walking their dogs just enjoying the you

9:32

know scenery and the warm weather and

9:34

it was in the afternoon around 3

9:36

p.m. and everything just felt normal. Austin

9:39

was in full on summer mode. People

9:41

were enjoying the lake. But then people

9:43

who were walking around the lake noticed

9:45

that there was something unusual near 9

9:47

East Avenue. It was just around the

9:49

corner from Rainy Street, that area with

9:51

all the bars. And they noticed that

9:54

there was something floating in the water.

9:56

Now at first, they thought that, okay,

9:58

maybe it's debris, maybe it's something harmless,

10:00

maybe it's even a kayak turned over

10:02

or something like that. But then as

10:04

they got closer, it became way more

10:06

clear. This was something that definitely was

10:09

not supposed to be there because this

10:11

wasn't just something casual that happened to

10:13

be in the water. came flooding into

10:15

911 and within minutes first responders arrived.

10:17

Soon after they pulled this body out

10:19

of the water it was later identified.

10:21

It was a 59 year old man

10:24

named Ricky Parks and there is it

10:26

wasn't really much known about Ricky so

10:28

the police pretty much quickly ruled this

10:30

as an accidental drowning and then closed

10:32

the case you know nothing to worry

10:34

about there was no foul play they

10:36

ruled that out it was just kind

10:39

of case closed that's that. And for

10:41

a few months, that really was what

10:43

everybody thought happened, that it was an

10:45

accidental drowning and everything stayed quiet. There

10:47

were no headlines, there was no further

10:49

explanation for Ricky's death, no new reports,

10:52

just complete silence. People had moved on

10:54

and almost forgotten about it. It was

10:56

almost like his death just faded into

10:58

the background. But then, December rolled around.

11:00

And now Austin was settling into winter,

11:02

not this bitter harsh unforgiving kind of

11:04

winter, but a winter nonetheless. It wasn't

11:07

these hot summer days. And because of

11:09

that the lively suns. summer energy that

11:11

once was kind of faded off, you

11:13

know, kind of gone. Now it was

11:15

like nights were getting ending earlier, it

11:17

was getting darker earlier, people weren't packing

11:19

the park because it was starting to

11:22

get a little bit cooler, and it

11:24

was now much emptier. until all of

11:26

this just came flooding back because it

11:28

happened again. Another body was found floating

11:30

in the water. But just like last

11:32

time, there were no real headlines, no

11:34

breaking case, no news. The police just

11:37

kind of said, you know, still again,

11:39

no foul play. It was an accidental

11:41

drowning. This time though, it was a

11:43

25 year old man named Christopher Gutierrez.

11:45

But that was that case closed. But

11:47

then just nine... days later, not months

11:49

later like before, things took a big

11:52

twist because the body of Hoseway Moreno

11:54

was found near a bridge on the

11:56

South Lamer Boulevard area of the lake.

11:58

And unlike the previous cases, his death

12:00

was not written off as a simple

12:02

drowning. Unlike the other bodies, he had

12:04

a gunshot wound to his head and

12:07

the investigators also discovered that he had

12:09

driven his truck off a bridge before

12:11

then ending up in the water. So

12:13

police investigated and ultimately they found that

12:15

Hoseway was just in the wrong place

12:17

at the wrong time that he was

12:20

shot and killed by a 19-year-old kid

12:22

named Santiago Perron. They said that he

12:24

was shot in the early morning hours

12:26

of December 19th and when Santiago was

12:28

found he said that he was shot

12:30

in the early morning hours of December

12:32

19th and when Santiago was found he

12:35

said that he shot Hoseway because he

12:37

was somebody else it was mistaken. and

12:39

both groups fled in their cars. Santiago

12:41

was trying to shoot at somebody from

12:43

that rival group, but Hoseway just happened

12:45

to drive by right at that moment

12:47

and got caught in that crossfire. So

12:50

obviously a heartbreaking crime, but by all

12:52

means, you know, not foul play in

12:54

the sense that it was intentional, it

12:56

was more accidental or mistaken identity. And

12:58

at least this body came with some

13:00

answers. Now initially it was pretty alarming

13:02

when Hoseway's body was found because that

13:05

was the third body. in that year,

13:07

and despite having more answers than the

13:09

other two bodies that were found, people

13:11

did start to get a little bit

13:13

worried. And their fears only intensified, because

13:15

just days after his body was found,

13:17

another body turned up. This time, it

13:20

was 56-year-old Kyle Thornton. His body was

13:22

found near to Congress Avenue Bridge, which

13:24

was less than a mile from Rainy

13:26

Street. And like with Ricky parks and

13:28

Christopher Gutierrez, there was little information about

13:30

what happened. The news barely even covered

13:32

his death, so Austin police quickly just

13:35

closed the investigation, not really looking into

13:37

it. Once again, they said that his

13:39

death was... was due

13:41

to an accidental drowning

13:43

and no foul

13:45

play was involved. But

13:48

by this point,

13:50

the pattern was really

13:52

getting difficult to

13:54

ignore, especially by the

13:56

locals, because bodies

13:58

were turning up in

14:00

the same body

14:03

of water, very often

14:05

near Rainey Street.

14:07

Investigations were just closed

14:09

almost as soon

14:11

as they began and

14:13

it made people

14:15

wonder, is this a

14:18

coincidence, or is

14:20

there something more here?

14:22

Police have taken great pains in

14:24

recent years to try and

14:26

put the rumors of a serial

14:29

killer to rest. There's no

14:31

serial killer at this time. Nothing

14:33

has come to light that

14:35

would indicate that there is a

14:37

serial killer. But as the

14:39

deaths continue, many just aren't convinced.

14:42

I feel like they are connected.

14:44

It's giving the serial killer vibes

14:46

in the city. And just when

14:48

people thought that the circumstances could

14:50

not get any more unsettling, another

14:52

body turned up. This time it

14:54

was on February 13th, 2023. And this

14:56

body was 30 -year -old Jason John, who

14:58

he had been missing for eight days

15:00

before his body was found. Jason had

15:02

lived in Austin for two years, and

15:04

despite the relatively short time he had

15:06

lived in the city, he had grown

15:08

to absolutely love it. He had a

15:11

girlfriend, he had tons of friends, he

15:13

had a dog named Ruffles, who was

15:15

like his little adventurous sidekick, and Jason

15:17

was the kind of guy who loved

15:19

the outdoors. He spent his free time

15:21

outside, rock climbing, hiking, going through the

15:23

many scenic trails around the city. But then, one

15:25

night on February 4th, Jason went out with

15:27

his friends to Rainey Street. They were gonna

15:29

celebrate a recent promotion, just have fun, unwind,

15:31

drink a little bit. The night was filled

15:33

with laughs, with drinks, just all around good

15:35

vibes and so much so that it kind

15:37

of carried through into the early morning hours

15:39

of February 5th. But then finally, at around

15:41

2 a .m., Jason decided he was gonna

15:43

call it quits. He was done for the

15:45

night, and he lived just a 15 -minute walk

15:47

from Rainey Street. And he knew the area

15:49

like the back of his hand too, because

15:51

he spent so much time in the outdoors,

15:53

so he figured, you

15:55

know, walking home was

15:57

really no big deal.

15:59

But as it turns

16:01

out, that was the

16:03

last time that... anybody saw him.

16:06

When Jason's friends and family didn't hear from

16:08

him the next day, and his neighbors had

16:10

realized that his dog Ruffles had been home

16:12

alone for hours, they knew that something was

16:14

wrong here because Jason wasn't the type to

16:16

just vanish, especially not without checking in or

16:18

making sure that his dog was okay. So

16:20

by the afternoon of February 5th, he was

16:22

officially reported as missing. And this time, it

16:24

was different because what followed in this report

16:26

was a frantic citywide search. His friends and

16:28

family flooded the streets with missing persons fires.

16:30

They appeared on local news stations.

16:32

They were really spreading the news

16:34

of his disappearance all over social

16:36

media as well, hoping that somebody,

16:38

anybody, had seen him. And eventually...

16:40

They managed to uncover security camera

16:42

footage of Jason walking home that

16:44

night. And what's interesting is in

16:46

this video he appeared completely normal.

16:48

No signs of distress, no signs

16:50

of you know, swaying here or

16:52

there being overly intoxicated, just a

16:54

guy walking home after a night

16:57

out, something that he had done

16:59

countless times before. However, then the footage

17:01

from the last few moments of his

17:03

walk, the footage that really could have

17:05

given answers and shed a new light

17:07

on where he went or what happened

17:10

to him. That footage was just non-existent.

17:12

There unfortunately were no cameras in that

17:14

area of his walk. And so his

17:16

family was really left to wonder what

17:18

could have happened. It was the unknown,

17:20

it unaccounted for minutes. No footage, no

17:23

witnesses, no information, and they really wanted

17:25

to know what happened in those missing

17:27

minutes. And as the days dragged on,

17:29

his family really began losing hope.

17:31

By February 13th, after eight long days

17:34

of searching, they came to the realization

17:36

that he probably wasn't going to be

17:38

coming home. Something probably happened to him.

17:40

Like I said, he wasn't the kind

17:42

of guy who would just disappear without

17:44

a trace. And deep down, they all

17:46

knew that something terrible had happened. Our

17:48

main thing is we want to find my

17:50

brother. In good health would be great, but

17:52

if he has passed, we want to find

17:54

him, we want to have a proper funeral.

17:56

The John family is beyond frustrated as

17:59

they move. into day eight wondering where

18:01

30 year old Jason John is. It

18:03

is the worst nightmare for a family.

18:05

The family of Jason has flown in

18:08

from New York to get answered. His

18:10

oldest brother Rinju flew in from his

18:12

home in Dubai to be with his

18:14

family in Austin during this difficult time.

18:16

It's tough, but it's the most important

18:19

thing for family to be together in

18:21

a tough situation like this. His family

18:23

says they started to notice something was

18:25

off when Jason didn't answer the family's

18:27

weekly call on Sunday. So I spoke

18:30

to my mom on Sunday and then

18:32

she's like, oh Jason didn't pick up

18:34

his phone. Which happens sometimes and then

18:36

we all get busy in the time

18:38

difference. But alarm bells didn't really go

18:41

off until Jason's family was told that

18:43

he hadn't been back home at all

18:45

on Sunday, leaving his dog Ruffles alone.

18:47

The key thing is, okay, maybe he

18:49

went out, he stayed at a friend's

18:52

place, his phone dad, that's all possible.

18:54

But as soon as we knew that

18:56

she was at home. For hours on

18:58

end and Jason wasn't back then we

19:00

knew something was wrong. So that day

19:03

their worst fears were realized because that's

19:05

when his body was found in Lady

19:07

Bird Lake He was fully dressed. He

19:09

was wearing the exact same clothing that

19:11

he was wearing the night that he

19:13

was wearing the night that he went

19:16

missing He had his wallet in his

19:18

pockets his phone in his pockets. It

19:20

was literally like just either was placed

19:22

in this lake or walked into the

19:24

lake now I will say that his

19:27

death was connected to a 911 call

19:29

that was made around the time to

19:31

head home from the bar on February

19:33

around 2 a.m. because a man called

19:35

911 around that time saying that he

19:38

did witness somebody who was stumbling along

19:40

the pathway along Lady Bird Lake. The

19:42

caller also said that this person who

19:44

was stumbling they could see them vomiting

19:46

into the lake before then slipping into

19:49

the water. The witness rushed to help

19:51

but when their efforts failed they ran

19:53

to a nearby hotel so they could

19:55

call 911. He goes to the bank,

19:57

where he cooks down a little bit,

20:00

and he's stomach pretty carefully, and he

20:02

learns to tie it in and feed

20:04

it out into the water. Okay, time

20:06

I got to the bank. He was

20:08

a good 30 feet out. Did you

20:11

see him come back up? Chris? You

20:13

know, I got rid of the top

20:15

of where I leave he was. I

20:17

slipped around in a circle with a

20:19

stick. I'm just trying to feel around

20:21

find him. I couldn't find him. I

20:24

couldn't find him. probably three minutes ago.

20:26

As soon as I got five minutes

20:28

ago, since I made it back to

20:30

the shore and got up on land,

20:32

I ran straight up through the holiday

20:35

and they called you. Police arrived at

20:37

the scene around 2.16 a.m. which was

20:39

very shortly after that 911 call was

20:41

placed and very soon after he started

20:43

his walk home. But when they got

20:46

there, this person who had supposedly fell

20:48

into the water was nowhere to be

20:50

found. There were also no signs of

20:52

a struggle, no footprints, nothing to suggest

20:54

that this person had even been there

20:57

at all. Fast forward then to when

20:59

Jason's body was found and the police

21:01

started connecting the dots. I mean, they

21:03

claimed, okay, this man that was referenced

21:05

in this 911 call, that had to

21:08

be Jason. That's what makes the most

21:10

sense. Case closed, right? Just another terrible,

21:12

unfortunate circumstance of accidental, accidental drowninging. Could

21:14

the call have been made intentionally? to

21:16

explain away why a body may be

21:19

found in the lake. So the official

21:21

autopsy report ruled his death is drowning,

21:23

and the medical examiner said that his

21:25

body was typical of somebody who had

21:27

been in the water for multiple days.

21:30

There were no significant external or internal

21:32

injuries. His brain, yes, was slightly swollen,

21:34

but apparently that can happen in drowning

21:36

cases. So there were absolutely zero signs

21:38

of foul play. But Jason's family and

21:40

friends weren't ready to accept that official

21:43

explanation, because something about it just did

21:45

not said. right. And when the autopsy

21:47

report came back, it also revealed a

21:49

detail that raised major red flags. There

21:51

was partially undigested food in Jason's stomach,

21:54

which if Jason was the one seen

21:56

vomiting near the water into the water.

21:58

His stomach should have been mostly empty,

22:00

right? He'd also said that the only

22:02

substance that was found in his system

22:05

was alcohol. There wasn't anything out of

22:07

the ordinary. No drugs, no toxins, nothing

22:09

suspicious. But still, his family wasn't convinced.

22:11

So they decided to request a second

22:13

autopsy. And this time, the second report

22:16

came back with a new detail. G.H.B.

22:18

was in Jason's system. And this is

22:20

the same drug that is commonly referred

22:22

to as the date rape drug because

22:24

this drug it causes confusion, drowsiness, even

22:27

unconsciousness, especially if it's mixed with alcohol.

22:29

And I will say there is this

22:31

weird movement out there, not movement, but

22:33

like this weird trend out there where

22:35

younger kids are dosing themselves with GHB,

22:38

like a small dose because they want,

22:40

you know, it's like the new drug

22:42

of choice or one of the drugs

22:44

of choice, but they're doing it in

22:46

a smaller dose than what a lot

22:48

of predators will use for the date

22:51

rape drug, which personally can't wrap my

22:53

head around it. I don't know why

22:55

anybody would ever want to dose themselves

22:57

with GHB. I haven't slipped the drug

22:59

unknowingly before. I was at a club

23:02

in LA. I may have talked about

23:04

it on here. And this guy, who

23:06

I thought was my friend, gave me

23:08

a shot and it had GHB in

23:10

it and it was the scariest night

23:13

of my life, hands down. Luckily, pretty

23:15

soon after I consumed it, I knew

23:17

that something was wrong and I had

23:19

some friends there at the club as

23:21

well and they like rushed me out

23:24

and took me home. But I was

23:26

on the floor of this shower as

23:28

they were running. a nightmare, which thank

23:30

God my friends were there because God

23:32

only knows what could have happened if,

23:35

you know, they hadn't been there and

23:37

this guy was with me the whole

23:39

night. But anyway, I do not understand

23:41

why somebody would willingly dose themselves with

23:43

that. So anyway, they find GHB in

23:46

his system. However, the medical examiner had

23:48

an explanation for this. They said that

23:50

GHB often occurs naturally in the body

23:52

after death and that it's all a

23:54

product of decomposition. However, as you can

23:57

imagine for Jason, this didn't... feel like

23:59

a good enough reason. They were sure

24:01

that Jason had been drugged while he

24:03

was at that bar and that likely

24:05

he was being watched and then attacked

24:07

while he was on his way home.

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Byers Airport Airport Airport Subaru. So

28:05

the Austin locals just could not ignore

28:07

this growing pattern any longer. There were

28:10

too many deaths in such a short

28:12

period of time, similar, you know, circumstances

28:14

for a lot of them, too many

28:16

similarities and too few answers. It just

28:18

didn't seem like a coincidence anymore. Jason's

28:21

death marked the first unusual death of

28:23

2023. Within three months, four men had

28:25

been pulled from Lady Bird Lake. These

28:27

new deaths were a turning point for

28:30

local residents, where they had once merely

28:32

whispered about a dark force running free

28:34

in their community. They now began to

28:36

demand that action be taken to keep

28:38

them safe. And sure enough, exactly one

28:41

month after Jason went missing, this time

28:43

on March 5th, 2023. Another body was

28:45

pulled from the water of Lady Bird

28:47

Lake. This time, it was the body

28:50

of 40-year-old Clifton Axetel. He was a

28:52

father of two, and he had been

28:54

missing since February 25th. And sure enough,

28:56

he was last seen at a place

28:58

called Stubbs Barbecue, which was just a

29:01

few blocks away from 6th Street. Like

29:03

the others, details surrounding Clifton's death were

29:05

pretty scarce, leading a lot of people

29:07

to just fill in the blinks on

29:10

their own. After all, he did, yes,

29:12

have a history of depression. However, just

29:14

two days before his disappearance, Clifton went

29:16

to the doctor and explicitly said that

29:18

he was not experiencing any sort of

29:21

suicidal thoughts. So was this really that?

29:23

Did he really take his own life?

29:25

Once again, his death was just ruled

29:27

as accidental drowning, and the case was

29:30

quickly closed. But like clockwork, almost one

29:32

month later, it happened again. On April

29:34

1st, the body of a 30-year-old man

29:36

named Jonathan Honey was pulled from the

29:38

water near Rainy Street. Now, Jonathan wasn't

29:41

an Austin local. He was actually from

29:43

Washington, D.C. He had flown into the

29:45

city to party with his friends for

29:47

a bachelor party. And on the night

29:50

of March 31st, Jonathan and his friends

29:52

hit Rainy Street. They were doing what,

29:54

hundreds of... people do every single weekend

29:56

there. Barhopping, dancing, drinking, having a great

29:58

time. And at some point, Jonathan separated

30:01

from his friends and then decided to

30:03

go get something to eat at one

30:05

of the, you know, many food trucks

30:07

that lined up and down that street.

30:10

That was the last time that anybody

30:12

saw him alive. When Jonathan didn't return

30:14

from getting food, his friends became very

30:16

worried. But all of their calls, their

30:18

text messages, they went unanswered. And by

30:21

the next day, they reported him missing.

30:23

The search didn't last long though because

30:25

on April 1st his body was discovered

30:27

floating in the lake. And get this,

30:30

the lake or the river that flows

30:32

into the lake is literally just a

30:34

couple minutes walk from the last place

30:36

that Jonathan was seen. Now the autopsy,

30:38

predictably, ruled his death as an accidental

30:41

drowning, the exact same conclusion that had

30:43

been reached with all of the other

30:45

victims. However, I will say that some

30:47

of the details this time did not

30:50

fit the usual pattern. surprise after a

30:52

big night out drinking, right? It also

30:54

showed that he had amphetamines in his

30:56

system, which was quickly explained away because

30:58

he also had a prescription for ADHD

31:01

medication which contained amphetamines. However, there was

31:03

something unusual in the talks report. Hydroxazine,

31:05

and I'm hoping I'm saying that right,

31:07

but this hydroxazine isn't this party drug

31:10

or anything like that that somebody would

31:12

take recreationally. It's actually found in medications

31:14

for allergies, anxiety, it's even used as

31:16

a sleep aid. of his main side

31:18

effects causes drowsiness, which we know could

31:21

impair somebody, especially if it's mixed with

31:23

alcohol. Now some reports did say that

31:25

the reason this was found in his

31:27

system was because he took Zyrtec and

31:30

he took that for allergies and that

31:32

that contains a small dose of this.

31:34

But who really knows and what really

31:36

set Jonathan's case apart from the others

31:38

were his injuries. Because unlike the other

31:41

victims Jonathan did have visible contusions. One

31:43

on his left eyelid, another one on

31:45

the side of his neck. He also

31:47

had several cuts along his face. And

31:50

these weren't the kind of injuries that

31:52

you would expect from somebody who simply

31:54

tripped and then fell into a body

31:56

of water. It looked more like... injuries

31:58

that happened from the result of a

32:01

struggle. So his friends were confused, to

32:03

say the least, because when Jonathan left

32:05

to go get food, he was acting

32:07

completely normal, not overly drunk, not disoriented,

32:10

nothing like that. So how did he

32:12

end up in the lake? And more

32:14

importantly, how did he go from standing

32:16

in the middle of a street full

32:18

of people to then drowning in shallow

32:21

water just blocks away? In fact, his

32:23

death was so unexplainable and caused so

32:25

much uproar in the community that they

32:27

decided to start actively investigating his death

32:30

themselves. People started walking up and down

32:32

the shorelines of the lake, trying to

32:34

really understand how could somebody accidentally drown

32:36

here. Yet another body has been found

32:38

in Lady Bird Lake. It was 33

32:41

year old Jonathan Honey who was here

32:43

for a bachelor party and he was

32:45

also in the rainy district. He was

32:47

out on rainy street. Family says he

32:50

was last seen, I believe, I believe,

32:52

a taco truck. Rescue went out yesterday,

32:54

which was Saturday, April 1st, and they

32:56

recovered his body, I believe, after a

32:58

five-hour search. There still aren't many answers,

33:01

but it obviously leads the question of

33:03

what is happening here. In just a

33:05

month, you've had two 30- to 33-year-old

33:07

men from Rainy Street now in the

33:10

lake. Some are blaming trail lighting. Some

33:12

are thinking this could be targeted. call

33:14

it community investigation, many people found that

33:16

the shoreline was surprisingly shallow in a

33:18

lot of places, making it even more

33:21

difficult for people to believe that this

33:23

full-grown adult could accidentally drowned without some

33:25

other factor being at play here and

33:27

being involved. And then two more bodies

33:30

surfaced in 2023. On April 15th, the

33:32

body of 30-year-old Christopher Clark was discovered,

33:34

and this time it was discovered about

33:36

two miles away from Rainy Street. And

33:38

then on June 27th, the body of

33:41

Moga de Gala was found only one

33:43

mile away from Rainy Street. In both

33:45

cases, they followed the exact same pattern.

33:47

The bodies were found floating in the

33:50

water, which had... very little information released

33:52

to the public soon after. The cause

33:54

of death was ultimately ruled accidental drowning

33:56

and no foul play being involved. But

33:58

by this point, these were fifth and

34:01

sixth bodies that were pulled from this

34:03

lake in just six months. So was

34:05

it accidental drowning or was it a

34:07

dumping ground for a serial killer? And

34:10

not to mention all these victims, they

34:12

were all men all around roughly the

34:14

same age and just vanishing under very

34:16

similar circumstances and ultimately all meeting the

34:18

same fate, dead inside the water. So

34:21

it's not hard to believe that the

34:23

city was buzzing with rumors and theories,

34:25

right? Everybody was trying to sleuth out

34:27

the details, figure out the truth here,

34:30

figure out what was going on. There

34:32

were theories that were flooding social media,

34:34

read it, Facebook groups, I mean, you

34:36

name it, saying there was this predator

34:39

who's out there on the loose, he's

34:41

lurking around targeting men who are alone

34:43

leaving the bars possibly under the influence,

34:45

and then a predator who's basically picking

34:48

that as their perfect target. So as

34:50

the city's an uproar, the police decided

34:52

they need to release a statement. They

34:54

wanted to calm everybody down, bring it

34:57

all down a notch, try to relax

34:59

everybody, hoping to shut down the

35:01

rumors, ease people's fears, and the

35:03

statement was interesting. Because it read,

35:05

the Austin Police Department is aware

35:08

of speculations regarding recent drownings in

35:10

Lady Bird Lake. Although these cases

35:12

are still under investigation and evidence

35:14

is being analyzed, at this time,

35:16

there is no evidence in any

35:19

of these cases to support allegations

35:21

of foul play. While each incident

35:23

has occurred at the lake, the

35:25

circumstances, exact locations and demographics surrounding

35:27

these cases, they vary. Our investigators

35:30

approach every case with an open

35:32

mind and objectively examine all of

35:34

evidence. We work closely with the

35:36

Travis County Medical Examiner's Office, which

35:38

conducts a parallel investigation into all

35:41

deaths. The Medical Examiner performs autopsies

35:43

in each of these types of

35:45

death investigations. The results of these

35:47

autopsies have not revealed any trauma

35:49

to the bodies nor indication of

35:51

foul play. One common theme of

35:54

drownings in Austin this year is

35:56

the combination of alcohol and easy

35:58

access to Lady Bertha. which has

36:00

numerous access points. Many of these

36:02

access points can be challenging to

36:04

see at night. The parks in

36:07

which most of these drownings have

36:09

occurred are park areas that close

36:11

at 10 p.m. and these occur

36:13

after the park closes. We advise

36:15

the public to follow the rules

36:17

on park closures. Can't explain why

36:19

it seems to be mostly men, but

36:22

I can say that from the Austin

36:24

homicide unit that we look

36:26

into every possible. aspect that we

36:28

can in all these cases and

36:30

nothing has led us to believe

36:33

that there is any sort of

36:35

killer or especially serial killer at

36:37

play here. Whenever people are out,

36:39

especially in the bar districts, hopefully

36:41

people keep an eye on their

36:43

friends. I think a lot of

36:45

people end up becoming incredibly intoxicated,

36:48

which often leads to some people

36:50

ending up in the water. I

36:52

can't speak to exactly how. folks

36:54

end up in the water, right?

36:56

Every case is completely different. Some

36:58

of the folks who are homeless

37:00

sleep by the water and may

37:02

use that as a bathroom. So

37:04

there's all different circumstances in all of

37:06

these different cases. But I hope it

37:09

helps make people feel a little

37:11

bit better that through our homicide, you

37:13

know, we look at every possible thing

37:15

that we can in trying to rule

37:17

out any sort of. foul play and

37:20

there's just no signs that or any

37:22

evidence leading to any kind of conclusion

37:24

that anyone is being killed other

37:26

than the ones that we've already

37:28

classified as homicides. So the statement

37:31

did put some people at ease not everybody

37:33

there was definitely still speculation going wild but

37:35

it did start to put some people at

37:37

ease and For a while, it kind of

37:39

felt like the nightmare had finally ended because

37:41

months went by without a single body being

37:44

found in the lake. So the city began

37:46

to breathe a little bit again. The rumors

37:48

started to fade away, the fear started to

37:50

dull, but there were still a couple people

37:52

who were questioning it. And you know who

37:54

I'm talking about, right? Maybe you're one of

37:57

them being like, okay, the police put out

37:59

this big statement. So if there is a

38:01

serial killer on the loose, of course he's

38:03

going to go dormant for a little bit

38:05

or he's going to try to lay low

38:08

because there is so much speculation and the

38:10

heat is on him, you know, things like

38:12

that. It doesn't mean that it's because all

38:14

of these were in fact accidental drownings. Everybody

38:16

was trying to explain away both parts of

38:19

it, both ways you could look at it.

38:21

And even though there was generally a feeling

38:23

of peace in the community and calm, the

38:25

peace was quickly shattered because on February 5th,

38:27

2020 for another body was found. Now what's

38:30

different is this time it was a

38:32

woman's body that was found. She was

38:34

the very first female victim that was

38:36

connected to these mysterious deaths. And at

38:38

first, the police claimed that they were

38:40

investigating her death as a homicide. So

38:42

this of course caused immediate panic. But

38:44

then, after the panic was already beginning

38:46

to ensue and everybody was freaked out,

38:48

they insisted, no, no, no, it's not

38:50

a homicide. This is just another mysterious

38:52

death. No details were released, but they

38:54

were saying, you know, there's no cause

38:56

of death, there's no explanation, it's just

38:58

another mystery. And then, sure enough in

39:00

April, another body was found near the

39:02

lake. This time, the body wasn't inside

39:05

the water, though, it was just near

39:07

it. And the medical examiner ruled the

39:09

cause of death as heart-related, saying, okay,

39:12

this person unfortunately had a heart attack

39:14

and then died right near the lake.

39:16

But the city barely even had enough

39:19

time to process this death, because just

39:21

another body was pulled from the water.

39:23

Once again, no names, no details, just

39:25

another accidental drowning. So after months of

39:28

silence, when people's fears were finally starting

39:30

to subside, there were three new

39:32

sudden deaths. Then a few months

39:34

later on August 6th, 2024, calls

39:36

flooded into 911, claiming once again

39:38

a body was floating in Lady

39:41

Birdley. When the authorities arrived, they

39:43

found a man in his 60s,

39:45

and he was clearly dead and

39:47

likely had been dead for quite

39:49

some time. Can you take a

39:51

guess what the police's conclusion was?

39:53

No foul play. Just another accidental

39:55

drowning. And just over a month

39:57

later, on September 29th, another 9-1.

40:00

call. This time the call was a

40:02

bit different though and very very disturbing

40:04

because a man was spotted near the

40:06

lake behaving very erratically waving his arms

40:08

punching the air just clearly in distress.

40:10

And while the caller was still on

40:13

the phone with 911 dispatch this man

40:15

entered the water and never came back

40:17

up. First responders rushed to the scene,

40:19

obviously, and they managed to pull him

40:21

out of the lake, trying to save

40:24

him, but unfortunately, it was too late.

40:26

He was pronounced dead on the spot,

40:28

which maybe this one is easier to

40:30

explain away. It sounds like he was

40:32

acting erratically, so maybe he was on

40:35

drugs, maybe there's something else going on,

40:37

maybe somebody drugged him, he got away,

40:39

ended up by the like, I don't

40:41

really know. But when you add it

40:43

all together with how many bodies are

40:46

being found in this one bodies are

40:48

being found in this one, you know,

40:50

you know, this, this. I think it

40:52

definitely does warrant a closer look. And

40:54

also, another detail to consider is these

40:57

are the only bodies that have been

40:59

officially pulled out of Lady Bird Lake,

41:01

because there are a lot of unsettling

41:03

reports from people out there who believe

41:05

that they were under the rainy street

41:08

rippers attack or pathway of attack, and

41:10

that they were able to escape being

41:12

the next victim, which these stories are

41:14

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sales for a local pest control company,

45:09

and he was really eager to begin

45:11

the next chapter of his life. And

45:13

then, just two days after his move,

45:15

he decided to celebrate with some friends

45:17

on Sixth Street. So they hit up

45:19

a bar where the night started off

45:21

like any other, but at some point

45:23

during the night, Connor told his friend

45:26

that he was going to go to

45:28

the bathroom. And when he left, he

45:30

never came back. Now his friends didn't

45:32

panic at first, but then they spotted

45:34

him across the street at another bar.

45:36

So they went and tried to catch

45:38

up to him, but by the time

45:40

they crossed the street and got over

45:42

to that bar, he was gone again.

45:44

And this time, he was really gone.

45:47

They couldn't find Connor anywhere. He also

45:49

wasn't answering any of their phone calls.

45:51

So panic really started to set in

45:53

and all of the friends kind of

45:55

just like sprang into action. They called

45:57

the police, local hospitals, they even started

45:59

plastering missing persons flyers all around the

46:01

city just hours after his disappearance. I

46:03

mean, they truly wasted no time at

46:06

all. But days passed with no sign

46:08

of Connor. Until finally, some... Somebody found

46:10

him crumpled up behind a dumpster in

46:12

an alley, completely unresponsive. A passer-byer just

46:14

happened to spot him and then called

46:16

911 for help. Now thankfully, Connor was

46:18

still alive, and when he finally woke

46:20

up, he found himself in a hospital

46:22

bed, confused, disoriented. He had no idea

46:25

how he had gotten there. His memories

46:27

of that night were completely blank. It

46:29

was almost like his mind had been

46:31

wiped clean after leaving the bar, and

46:33

the talks report revealed something even more

46:35

disturbing. Connor had a cocktail of drugs

46:37

in his system, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and even

46:39

ketamine, a truly deadly combination that Connor

46:41

did not remember taking any of. And

46:44

in an interview with a publication called

46:46

The Daily Dot, he recounted the very

46:48

few fragmented memories that he did have

46:50

of that night. He says, One thing

46:52

I remember from the night is that

46:54

we met a group of people. It

46:56

was me and Jayden. We were at

46:58

this one bar and then there was

47:00

like this group of people and they

47:02

had like a weird vibe. What was

47:05

weird is I only drink like one

47:07

or two drinks and I felt crazy.

47:09

Fucked up, you know? And then I

47:11

remember we talked to this one group

47:13

and they were weird and that's it.

47:15

Now the hospital just kind of brushed

47:17

everything off as an overdose treating him

47:19

like your average party goer who just

47:21

maybe, you know, you know, partied a

47:24

little too hard. that weren't covered or

47:26

something like that. They didn't really believe

47:28

him when he insisted that he never

47:30

took any of those drugs, especially intentionally.

47:32

And despite that his wallet and his

47:34

phone were also missing, the incident was

47:36

really just chalked up to a wild

47:38

night gone wrong and there was no

47:40

thorough investigation conducted. Which I gotta say,

47:43

that's really weird because obviously that has

47:45

foul play written all over it, right?

47:47

Whether or not he intentionally took the

47:49

drugs. I would come to the conclusion

47:51

that he probably didn't take those willingly

47:53

because his phone and his wallet was

47:55

also missing, which to me indicates that

47:57

there was a robbery that took place.

47:59

So I would imagine it's that same

48:02

weird group who probably drugged him and

48:04

then robbed him and maybe even had

48:06

something more sinister planned. I don't know,

48:08

but how you just come to the

48:10

conclusion of that? Of like, oh, they're

48:12

missing all their stuff, and he had

48:14

a mixture of three drugs in his

48:16

system when he doesn't have a history

48:18

of doing drugs recreationally. How does that

48:21

math equate? It doesn't make any sense,

48:23

right? And another one of these stories,

48:25

which was one of the most disturbing

48:27

stories, is from 38-year-old Jeff Jones, a

48:29

guy from Boston Boston, who traveled over

48:31

to Austin in June 2023 for a

48:33

friend's bachelor party. on June 22nd, just

48:35

really excited, ready to party, ready to

48:37

experience Austin's nightlife that is, you know,

48:39

so iconic. So that night, they decided

48:42

to kick off their trip with a

48:44

really nice dinner and then head to

48:46

the bars along 6th Street. The group

48:48

was having a great time. They were

48:50

laughing, they were drinking, they were dancing.

48:52

It was a normal night. until it

48:54

wasn't. At around 1 a.m. on June

48:56

23rd, Jeff got separated from his group

48:58

and it wasn't anything alarming at first

49:01

because that happens all the time around

49:03

crowded bars, right? Sometimes it's like jam-packed

49:05

shoulder-to-shoulder, you miss each other in a

49:07

crowd, you end up reuniting at some

49:09

point, but his friends tried finding him.

49:11

texting him, calling him. But Jeff just

49:13

didn't answer. They last heard from him

49:15

around 1.30am, but after that, it was

49:17

just radio silence. But then, three hours

49:20

later, an anonymous call came into 911

49:22

anonymous, okay? And this caller was cool,

49:24

calm, collected, almost detached, and they reported

49:26

seeing a body that was lying underneath

49:28

one of the street bridges which crosses

49:30

over Lady Bird Lake. And it was

49:32

later discovered that that body was Jeff.

49:34

And I was found at about 4.30

49:36

in the morning at the bottom of

49:39

a ravine. I actually was right next

49:41

to a river that would lead to

49:43

Lady Bird Lake. I had twists to

49:45

it as well. I was found right

49:47

next to the creek where another individual

49:49

a few years back also was found

49:51

there. Unfortunately, he had passed away. But

49:53

yeah, that leads right to Lady Bird

49:55

Lake. And I was found... at about

49:58

4.30 in the morning after disappearing from

50:00

the group around one. So it is

50:02

a strange amount of time that I

50:04

had, and it was just kind of

50:06

an innocent bystander who had found me

50:08

and reported it anonymously. So it would

50:10

be interesting to find out a little

50:12

bit more about that person. I always

50:14

thought it was kind of odd that

50:16

I, why did they see me at

50:19

the bottom of a creek and bed,

50:21

you know, in the middle of the

50:23

night? randomly. When the emergency responders had

50:25

found Jeff, he was severely injured. He

50:27

was broken, battered, literally clinging to life.

50:29

That is not an exaggeration. So he

50:31

was rushed to the hospital and he

50:33

actually, when he got there, had to

50:35

go under several emergency surgeries. He had

50:38

to repair damage to his kidneys, liver,

50:40

his lungs, his spleen even had to

50:42

be removed entirely. I mean, this guy...

50:44

was beaten to a pulp and his

50:46

injuries didn't stop there. He had several

50:48

broken vertebrae, a shattered shoulder, a fractured

50:50

elbow, and several broken ribs. He was

50:52

in such critical condition in fact that

50:54

the doctors had to place him in

50:57

a medically induced coma. They were trying

50:59

to help his body recover and that

51:01

was the only way to allow his

51:03

body to recover. He didn't wake up

51:05

for almost two weeks. And when he

51:07

finally did wake up and open his

51:09

eyes, I mean, Jeff was confused. He

51:11

was scared. He also said that while

51:13

he was in this coma, he had

51:16

very vivid dreams, so real that these

51:18

dreams felt like he was just living

51:20

his ordinary life back in Boston. So

51:22

then waking up being hooked up to

51:24

all these machines, this hospital bed, all

51:26

these things surrounded by people who were

51:28

explaining to him what happened, it just

51:30

didn't even feel real to him at

51:32

all. It ended up taking days for

51:34

Jeff to accept what had happened to

51:37

him. But the most unsettling thing was

51:39

that Jeff had no memory of what

51:41

happened the night that he was injured.

51:43

None at all, except for the fact

51:45

that he felt relatively normal before he

51:47

got separated from his friends. I had

51:49

no idea what had happened because my

51:51

recollection faded away while we were still

51:53

at dinner. So to me, I woke

51:56

up about about about... week and a

51:58

half into it they took me out

52:00

of they had been in an induced

52:02

coma and yeah I had no idea

52:04

where I was or what had happened

52:06

and I had a bunch of staples

52:08

all over my body and it was

52:10

a quite a harrowing experience I'll say

52:12

at that point to even it took

52:15

me a few days to really even

52:17

understand what was going on. He hadn't

52:19

been super drunk, he was 6-3, he

52:21

was a big guy who could handle

52:23

his alcohol, on top of that he

52:25

had been pacing himself on purpose that

52:27

night because he knew that it was

52:29

going to be a long bachelor party

52:31

weekend so he didn't want to overdo

52:34

it on day one and then be

52:36

out of commission for days and have

52:38

the worst hangover of all time so

52:40

it was drugged. It wipes your memory.

52:42

It truly does. For me, I only

52:44

remember, it's just like what they had

52:46

reported, it's fragments. I remember being handed

52:48

the shot and we were actually, he

52:50

was like a promoter for the club,

52:53

which is so embarrassing. So we were,

52:55

he was like a promoter for the

52:57

club, which is so embarrassing. So we

52:59

were, he had like access to all

53:01

the different areas of the club and

53:03

we were like in the clear shock

53:05

glass with tequila and now what I

53:07

know was drugs. The next thing I

53:09

remember is being out by one of

53:11

the like velvet booth type areas. I

53:14

think the club was called Wonderland. I'm

53:16

almost positive it was. And it was

53:18

like Alice in Wonderland theme. I remember

53:20

being out by one of those booths

53:22

and kind of like looking at my

53:24

friend AJ and like being like something's

53:26

wrong. I don't feel right. And then

53:28

the next memory I have was being

53:30

back at my friend's apartment on the

53:33

floor of the shower with the water

53:35

on, vomiting. And then the next thing

53:37

I remember was waking up and not

53:39

really having a memory of what happened.

53:41

It was like just three little memories

53:43

from that night. And so for all

53:45

these people who are reporting, I don't

53:47

do drugs, I drugs are my system,

53:49

but I've never done drugs. I don't

53:52

remember anything. How would I get here?

53:54

That is definitely a result of being

53:56

drug. That's what it does. It wipes

53:58

your memory. But here, now you have

54:00

this guy, this six three guy, who's

54:02

intentionally pacing. himself, handling his alcohol. He's

54:04

now been in a coma for weeks.

54:06

He hit was beat to a pulp.

54:08

And the official story was that he

54:11

just was drunk, super drunk, and accidentally

54:13

fell off the bridge. But Jeff was

54:15

not going to buy this story. He

54:17

knew that this wasn't like this story.

54:19

He knew that this wasn't like him.

54:21

He wouldn't just get so wasted and

54:23

so drugged that he would fall off

54:25

a fucking bridge. Also, the bridge that

54:27

they say he fell off of, it

54:30

wasn't some open ledge. The person who

54:32

was cool, calm, collected, knew exactly what

54:34

was going on and identified somebody being

54:36

found just like that earlier 911 call

54:38

when somebody said, oh, I think I

54:40

see somebody in Lady Bird Lake and

54:42

quickly gets off just too coincidental, right?

54:44

And where there's smoke, there's fire. And

54:46

Jeff too thought that this was super

54:48

suspicious. He said that the spot that

54:51

he was found at, it wasn't even

54:53

easy to see from the bridge. So

54:55

it was almost like this person who

54:57

called 911 was specifically looking for him.

54:59

or they knew specifically where he was

55:01

because a regular pedestrian walking that bridge

55:03

would not have had the visibility to

55:05

see where he was. So how did

55:07

they know he was there? And also,

55:10

if you're calling 911, let me just

55:12

ask you personally, if you're calling 911,

55:14

saying you see a body lying under

55:16

a bridge or somebody in a lake

55:18

or somebody not moving, are you cool,

55:20

calm and collected? Are you also asking

55:22

to be anonymous? Are you out also

55:24

asking to be anonymous? Are you also

55:26

asking to be anonymous? Are you out

55:29

also asking to be anonymous? Probably to

55:31

be anonymous? Are you out also asking

55:33

to be anonymous? Are you also asking

55:35

to be anonymous? like the normal course

55:37

of action and how you would respond.

55:39

Something just was not equating here. So

55:41

Jeff, he theorized and tried to make

55:43

sense of it and he's like, what

55:45

if the person who called 911 was

55:48

the same person who pushed him off

55:50

that bridge? What if that same person

55:52

drugged him? He was convinced by this

55:54

point that he was targeted. He was

55:56

a predator's clear-cut target and possibly even

55:58

the predator who was the room serial

56:00

killer roaming the streets of Austin. And

56:02

then they also had done a toxicology

56:04

screen and they did find rueful into

56:06

my system so and there was no

56:09

other substances outside that. There's no way

56:11

to really know because I don't have

56:13

unfortunately any memory of the actual event

56:15

but yeah somebody had drugged me and

56:17

either tried to rob me or you

56:19

know maybe it was part of whatever

56:21

this murdering situation is not really sure

56:23

but obviously... something had happened and it

56:25

seemed to odd too that a few

56:28

of the other guys in our group

56:30

also had gone home with you know

56:32

abnormally level high levels of confusion and

56:34

more than just typical intoxication. It was

56:36

definitely quite a quite a revelation I

56:38

mean I had never really contemplated my

56:40

own mortality at all in my mid-30s

56:42

so it's not even something you think

56:44

about really we we we had actually

56:47

just heard about it when we were

56:49

going down the there was about six

56:51

or seven of us on a flight

56:53

down from Boston together on Thursday and

56:55

we had heard of the disappearances of

56:57

people and we were kind of joking

56:59

with one another oh watch out for

57:01

the serial killer in Austin and you

57:03

know to wake up and then realize

57:06

that you know it could have actually

57:08

been a target of somebody in that

57:10

exact situation we were laughing about was

57:12

definitely a shock. Yeah I mean I

57:14

hadn't I'd heard about it, but I

57:16

hadn't really, I obviously did a lot

57:18

more research afterwards. I started realizing that

57:20

I fit the profile of a 20

57:22

or 30 something male who've been disappearing

57:25

at an increasing rate over the past

57:27

few years in Austin. So it's, yeah,

57:29

it's really unfortunate. And I don't know

57:31

that I believe that it's really a

57:33

serial killer, but I do think that

57:35

the drug is that, you know, these

57:37

drugs that can knock you out are

57:39

very prevalent and easily available for people

57:41

down there. If you want to take

57:43

advantage of someone, it's a great way

57:46

to do it. You completely incapacitate someone

57:48

within an hour or so. So I

57:50

think that maybe the real issue is

57:52

just that that drug is kind of

57:54

running rampant around major cities. I think

57:56

it's something that really needs to be

57:58

addressed at this point. fact that you have

58:00

this many people disappearing in your city whether

58:03

it's a serial killer or not I feel

58:05

like that's not good for tourism and then

58:07

you would think that they would want to

58:09

eradicate that issue sooner than later it's it's

58:12

crazy but um yeah hopefully you know me

58:14

having these conversations can get some

58:16

awareness and and at least help people be

58:18

a little more safe when they're when

58:20

they're down there and in a few other

58:22

cities around the country which seem to have

58:24

kind of similar issues going on. Do

58:26

you guys have any reason

58:29

to believe there was anything

58:31

suspicious surrounding the incident

58:33

involving Jeff Jones? No. And

58:35

I, from what I had

58:37

heard, he just had no

58:39

recollection of the events of

58:41

that night. But the officers

58:43

that had responded out there found

58:45

him at the bottom of the,

58:47

to find him on the ground.

58:49

So again, without like video or

58:52

anything definitive to show. that there

58:54

was any foul play, everything pointed to

58:56

the fact that he had just fallen.

58:58

And another man thinks that he may

59:00

have been a target as well. 21-year-old

59:02

Christian Pew vanished after a night out

59:05

in November of 2019. On the night

59:07

of November 17th, Christian had been out

59:09

barhopping with his friends all along Rainey

59:11

Street and everything was going normal, everything

59:13

was fine, but Christian was last seen

59:15

around 1.30 a. Similar to Jeff, similar

59:18

to Connor, similar to so many of

59:20

these people right around that 132 o'clock

59:22

hour. Christian had gotten separated from his

59:24

group of friends after that night out

59:26

on rainy street. And just like Jeff

59:28

and Connor, when his friends tried to

59:31

text him or call him, there was

59:33

no response. Now what ensued for the

59:35

next couple of days was an ultimate

59:37

frantic search. Multiple law enforcement agencies combed

59:39

the area. They were desperately searching for

59:41

Christian. And even more weird, when the

59:44

police checked surveillance footage from the bar

59:46

where he was last seen, There was

59:48

absolutely no sign of him leaving. It

59:50

was almost like he walked into this

59:52

bar and then just vanished, just ceased

59:54

to exist at all. But 60 hours,

59:57

60, 60 hours after he disappeared,

59:59

Chris. was found. He was

1:00:01

found unconscious and barely clinging

1:00:04

to life. His body was found

1:00:06

deep in the brush along this trail

1:00:08

right alongside surrounding Lady Bird Lake. It

1:00:10

was hidden under the shadow of one

1:00:12

of these bridges, just in the brush,

1:00:14

deep in there, hidden away, tucked away,

1:00:16

tucked away. And in fact, he was

1:00:18

so well concealed, that it's likely that

1:00:20

somebody would have ever found him by

1:00:22

accident. His body wasn't found near a

1:00:24

busy path where a casual jogger or

1:00:26

biker would maybe stumble across it. It

1:00:28

was almost like somebody hid him there

1:00:30

on purpose in a place where nobody

1:00:32

would ever look. a mile away on

1:00:34

the opposite side of the lake from

1:00:37

where he was last seen. And that

1:00:39

kind of just begs the question of

1:00:41

how to even get there. When first

1:00:43

responders reached his body, Christian was in

1:00:45

critical condition and he had injuries that

1:00:47

were so severe that, like the others,

1:00:50

he was rushed to the hospital and

1:00:52

he was immediately placed in a coma.

1:00:54

And this coma lasted an entire month.

1:00:56

Now let me just say, somebody's body

1:00:58

has to be really badly injured to

1:01:01

be placed in a medically induced coma.

1:01:03

So now, here you have two people.

1:01:05

very similar circumstances who just vanished from

1:01:07

their friends and beaten or injured so

1:01:09

badly to where they needed to be

1:01:11

placed in a medically induced coma. at

1:01:13

the same area, by the same lake,

1:01:15

after parting on the same strip of

1:01:17

ours. Mm, again, at what point can

1:01:19

you not chalk this up to a

1:01:22

coincidence? That is, too many similarities. And

1:01:24

all of these are men, all of

1:01:26

these are men, all of these are

1:01:28

men who are out partying, like there's

1:01:30

too many similarities. But once again, the

1:01:32

official report from the Austin Police Department

1:01:34

said it's nothing more than a tragic

1:01:36

accident. Christian had fallen from this bridge

1:01:38

by accident, probably was drunk, case clothes.

1:01:41

But his injuries, they told a very

1:01:43

different story because his body was battered.

1:01:45

He had multiple traumatic injuries, the kind

1:01:47

that don't line up with this simple

1:01:50

fall off of a bridge. And even

1:01:52

if he had fallen off of a

1:01:54

bridge, how did he end up then

1:01:56

so hidden so deep in the brush,

1:01:59

so far away? from where gravity would

1:02:01

have naturally taken him if he fell off

1:02:03

a bridge? No way! Like, they're saying he

1:02:05

fell from a bridge, he was so injured

1:02:07

because of the impact of that fall, but

1:02:10

then he somehow managed to move himself all

1:02:12

the way into this deep hidden brush? Make

1:02:14

that make sense. So Christian's family never accepted

1:02:17

that this was just an accident. They

1:02:19

believed that Christian had been drugged,

1:02:21

attacked, and then intentionally thrown from

1:02:23

the bridge. Then left for dead

1:02:26

in this secluded spot where nobody

1:02:28

was supposed to find him. And

1:02:30

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packed full of flavor. Now

1:03:40

while many people believe that

1:03:42

these men just happened

1:03:44

to escape the clutches

1:03:47

of a serial killer,

1:03:49

others believe that this

1:03:51

serial killer has been

1:03:53

active for much longer

1:03:55

than originally believed. After

1:03:57

the string of deaths,

1:04:00

In 2022, police have also started

1:04:02

to re-examine older cases and start

1:04:04

to look at them with fresh

1:04:06

eyes. Cases that once did seem

1:04:08

like accidents or isolated incidents. But

1:04:10

now, they seem very eerily familiar.

1:04:12

For example, the death of Riod

1:04:14

Hammond in 2008. Riod was a

1:04:16

55-year-old school teacher who was reported

1:04:18

missing by his family on April

1:04:21

14, 2008. This was after he

1:04:23

didn't return home after going to

1:04:25

a nearby pharmacy. Then, two days

1:04:27

later, he was found on the

1:04:29

south side of Lady Bird Lake

1:04:31

and he had duct tape over

1:04:33

his eyes and mouth. He also

1:04:35

had injuries to his face, his

1:04:38

body, and his hands and his

1:04:40

feet were bound. Despite these concerning

1:04:42

circumstances, police ruled this death as

1:04:44

a suicide. Which tell me what

1:04:46

person is taking their own life

1:04:48

and putting their feet and hands.

1:04:50

How does that work? Like, how

1:04:53

do you even justify that? right?

1:04:55

To me, and I'm not trying

1:04:57

to like be critical of the

1:04:59

police department, but to me it almost

1:05:01

seems like the police are more concerned

1:05:04

with marketing Austin as this safe, beautiful

1:05:06

community where people can go and tourists

1:05:08

can come and everybody can have a

1:05:10

great time and feel safe. So they're

1:05:12

trying to explain away all these deaths

1:05:15

rather than look at the writing on

1:05:17

the wall and say, uh, something doesn't

1:05:19

feel right here. Maybe they need to

1:05:21

put more surveillance out I don't know,

1:05:24

but how do you come to these

1:05:26

conclusions? How do you say that that

1:05:28

was self-inflicted and somebody's duct taping their

1:05:30

eyes and their mouth and binding their

1:05:32

hands and feet and also have injuries

1:05:35

to their face and body? Like, what?

1:05:37

Are you out of your mind? And

1:05:39

in May 2008, just weeks after Reaud's

1:05:41

mysterious death, another teacher vanished. And of

1:05:43

course, this teacher also vanished under eerily

1:05:45

similar circumstances. Now this teacher was a

1:05:48

woman and she had left her house

1:05:50

late at night to make a quick

1:05:52

run to the grocery store, but when

1:05:54

she went to the grocery store, she

1:05:56

never returned. Days past and her family

1:05:58

grew, obviously increasingly desperate. missing persons reports,

1:06:00

they were putting flyers out, they were

1:06:02

pleading for help, they just wanted answers.

1:06:04

But then, a few days later, her

1:06:06

body was discovered by a group of

1:06:09

fishermen. And can you take a guess

1:06:11

where it was discovered? Right there, in

1:06:13

Lady Bird Lake. But what really stood

1:06:15

out wasn't just where she was found.

1:06:17

But more so the condition of her

1:06:19

body when she was found. Because despite

1:06:21

having been missing for only a few

1:06:23

days at that point, her body was

1:06:25

severely decomposed. Far more than what would

1:06:27

be expected in such a short amount

1:06:29

of time. It just didn't make sense.

1:06:31

Then fast forward to 2012 and

1:06:33

the police found a 21-year-old named

1:06:35

Cole Christensen, dead right there in

1:06:37

a creek near Lady Bird Lake.

1:06:39

His body was found by somebody

1:06:41

passing by. Like so many of

1:06:44

these cases, the police didn't really

1:06:46

conduct much of an investingesting. investigation.

1:06:48

They just said his death wasn't

1:06:50

suspicious and his official cause of

1:06:52

death has never even been released.

1:06:54

Then between February of 2014 and

1:06:56

2016, just a two-year period, five

1:06:58

more bodies were found and these

1:07:00

bodies were all belonging to people between

1:07:02

20 years old and 35 years old

1:07:05

and like all the other cases we've

1:07:07

talked about, they were out drinking, out

1:07:09

with friends, vanished and then turned up

1:07:11

in Lady Bird Lake or near Lady

1:07:14

Bird Lake. Later that same year, 25-year-old...

1:07:16

Christian White was in Austin attending the

1:07:18

Austin City Limits Music Festival. And one

1:07:21

night he got separated from his friends

1:07:23

and then, like the others, disappeared. They

1:07:25

reported him missing and his body was

1:07:27

found in a river that connected to

1:07:30

Lady Bird Lake. His talks report showed a

1:07:32

slew of drugs in his system. However, an

1:07:34

official cause of death was never revealed. And

1:07:36

despite the tragic nature of all of these

1:07:39

deaths, at the time, there wasn't a clear

1:07:41

pattern or link between them. I mean Austin

1:07:43

is a pretty big city with over 40

1:07:45

to 50 homes besides a year, so the

1:07:48

sheer size of the city really made it

1:07:50

difficult to connect these individual deaths to one

1:07:52

another. It was hard to say whether they

1:07:54

were anything more than just random occurrences. But

1:07:56

one of the most concerning deaths happened just

1:07:59

weeks later, because 25-year-old Martin Gutierrez

1:08:01

had recently moved to Austin

1:08:03

after graduating from Texas Tech

1:08:06

University. Martin, such a good kid.

1:08:08

He was a little bit younger than me.

1:08:10

He's like six years younger than me. Such

1:08:12

a happy, happy individual. Very optimistic,

1:08:14

painfully optimistic. He's such a great

1:08:16

person. You know, he went to

1:08:18

Texas Tech graduated and he always

1:08:20

used to come here to Austin

1:08:22

all the time. And then when he

1:08:25

graduated, he came and moved in with

1:08:27

me. And so that's what ultimately

1:08:29

brought him here to Austin. He

1:08:31

was the baby. You guys were really close.

1:08:33

Sounds like you were really close. Very

1:08:36

very much. So we went to the

1:08:38

gym every day, like we did everything

1:08:40

the same, watched the same stupid movies

1:08:42

all the time on repeat, you know,

1:08:44

just, you know, those kinds of things.

1:08:46

He moved in with his brother Mitchell

1:08:48

and with his sister-in-law Whitney, and all

1:08:50

three of them supposedly got along great.

1:08:53

They loved going out together. And then

1:08:55

after dinner, Martin decided to go out

1:08:57

with some friends out on Rainy Street.

1:08:59

So they started out at one bar,

1:09:01

which I want to say, and to

1:09:04

make it clear, Martin did not have

1:09:06

a drink at this bar. Then they

1:09:08

went to another bar called Lustre Pearl,

1:09:10

and at this bar, Martin had exactly

1:09:13

one drink. He and his friends then

1:09:15

wandered over to another bar called

1:09:17

Alibi, and apparently once they got there,

1:09:19

Martin was eventually thrown out. The bouncers

1:09:21

at Alibi said that he was behaving

1:09:24

very strange. friends and then he started

1:09:26

heading down south rainy street all by

1:09:28

himself alone. Sounds familiar right? And sure

1:09:31

enough Martin didn't make it home that

1:09:33

night and never came home the next

1:09:35

day either. This caused his brother and

1:09:38

his sister-in-law to of course you know

1:09:40

panic and really start to worry. Him

1:09:42

and I were a victim of routine you know we

1:09:44

went to the gym you know like six days a

1:09:46

week. So whenever I got off of work at 2.30,

1:09:48

I'd come home, clean the house or whatever, and then

1:09:50

he got off of work at 5, and then we'd

1:09:52

go to the gym. Like we had a set routine

1:09:55

that we did all the time. And I texted him,

1:09:57

I was like, hey man, where are you at? You

1:09:59

know, and he was... very dependable he never

1:10:01

missed a day of work he was

1:10:03

you know always always there very predictable

1:10:06

and he didn't answer and then we

1:10:08

called his work and he didn't go

1:10:10

to work which was unheard of so

1:10:12

we called around called the buddies he

1:10:15

was with the previous night and they

1:10:17

said that he had just left and

1:10:19

they didn't know where he was and

1:10:21

then so we called around and I

1:10:23

was like well maybe he's you know

1:10:25

at his girlfriend's house and and he

1:10:27

wasn't there so we knew something was

1:10:29

immediately off within like an hour of

1:10:31

not making it to the gym. I

1:10:34

knew something was off. And then the

1:10:36

next day I went to like local

1:10:38

hospitals, like seat facilities, St. David's, asking

1:10:40

around if there were any John Doe's

1:10:42

that were found or brought to their

1:10:45

facilities or anything like that. And there

1:10:47

was nothing. Mitch Gutierrez filed a

1:10:49

police report and started searching

1:10:51

for Martin as any family

1:10:53

member would do. He remembers what

1:10:55

Martin's friends told him about the night

1:10:58

that he vanished. So it was a

1:11:00

Sunday night, he went out to go meet

1:11:02

up with the buddies that were just

1:11:04

watching Sunday night football out there on

1:11:06

rainy street. They went to one bar,

1:11:08

they weren't there very long, then went

1:11:11

to another bar called Lustre Pearl.

1:11:13

My brother was perfectly fine. And then

1:11:15

he went to another bar called Lustre

1:11:17

Pearl. From Lustre Pearl, my brother was

1:11:19

perfectly fine. And then he went to

1:11:21

the bar next door called Alibi. He

1:11:23

could barely even stand. He was slurring

1:11:26

his speech. And I know my brother

1:11:28

through and through you know we'd go

1:11:30

out all the time we drink and

1:11:32

what I saw in that footage that

1:11:34

the the bar owner let us see

1:11:36

that wasn't him I don't know what was

1:11:38

going on but from one one moment he

1:11:40

was okay and then he wasn't and so

1:11:43

unfortunately with the bar there's

1:11:45

an inside area and then you go to

1:11:47

the back area where the bathrooms are and

1:11:49

then you can actually exit on the outside

1:11:52

which is what he did. So the buddies

1:11:54

that he was with. didn't even realize that

1:11:56

he was gone. They figured, oh, he went to the

1:11:58

bathroom or whatever, and then they text. at him after

1:12:00

like 10, 15 minutes. Like, hey, where are you

1:12:02

at? No response. Martin's family reported

1:12:05

him is missing and a large

1:12:07

search ensued. Martin's disappearance was all

1:12:09

over the news. Flyers were everywhere.

1:12:12

It's been almost three days and

1:12:14

Martin Gutierrez is still missing. His

1:12:16

friends and family searched for him

1:12:18

all day today, but nothing turned

1:12:20

up. They are not giving up,

1:12:22

though. Caveuse Patrick Perez is live

1:12:24

on rainy street near downtown Austin,

1:12:26

where they put up posters. Patrick.

1:12:30

Well Mike this is a poster Martin's friends

1:12:32

and family have placed throughout Rainy Street and

1:12:34

the surrounding area They're hoping that someone will

1:12:37

recognize him from that picture and know where

1:12:39

he is now throughout the day search crews

1:12:41

have been in the air on the water

1:12:43

and on the ground looking for Martin His

1:12:45

friends and family were out there to checking

1:12:47

places. He may have wandered off to in

1:12:49

the dark many of them drove at least

1:12:52

five hours just to help search for him

1:12:54

Martin's friends last saw him early Monday morning

1:12:56

at the alibi on Rainy Street He tried

1:12:58

to find a ride a ride a but

1:13:00

he never made it. Nearly 72 hours

1:13:02

later his family hopes he'll turn up

1:13:05

soon. I'm hoping he's not in the

1:13:07

water that had drowned. I'm hoping someone

1:13:09

didn't hurt him and he's down somewhere

1:13:11

and he can't do anything or someone

1:13:14

took him. I just don't want to

1:13:16

think that he's behind a dumpster somewhere.

1:13:20

At a press conference earlier today a

1:13:22

detective said they don't suspect foul play

1:13:25

but an APD spokesperson later told me

1:13:27

they haven't ruled it out just yet.

1:13:29

Morton's family is offering a $5,000 reward

1:13:31

to anyone who has any information about

1:13:34

where he may be. There's also be

1:13:36

here tomorrow morning bright and early working

1:13:38

on Thanksgiving to find him. We're live

1:13:40

in downtown Austin tonight. I'm Patrick Perez.

1:13:43

KB News. Finally, after a week of

1:13:45

searching, a body was found near the area

1:13:47

where Martin was last seen on surveillance footage.

1:13:49

His body was in the lake, and he

1:13:51

was also wearing the same clothing as the

1:13:53

night that he went missing. And like almost

1:13:56

all of the other deaths, the medical examiner

1:13:58

in this case determined that his cause of

1:14:00

death was drowning. But Martin's family just

1:14:02

was not convinced, because he had this

1:14:04

very large contusion on the back of

1:14:06

his head, and the medical examiner never

1:14:08

gave an answer as to what that

1:14:10

could have been from, what could have

1:14:12

caused it. But in any event, the

1:14:14

police closed the case almost as soon

1:14:16

as they opened it. He had water in his

1:14:18

lungs, but on the autopsy report, he had

1:14:20

a large contusion on the back of his

1:14:23

head, and the occipital region of his

1:14:25

head. And I just find it hard to

1:14:27

believe that, you know, this kid was like

1:14:29

the best swimmer in the world, but swimming

1:14:31

aside, like, it was like 20 degrees. There

1:14:33

was no way he would ever hop in

1:14:35

that water or whatever. They said it was

1:14:38

an accidental drowning. There was no way. Like

1:14:40

there's no logical sense for him to be

1:14:42

anywhere near that water. Mitch Gutierrez fears

1:14:44

that someone harmed his brother and he's

1:14:46

not satisfied with the answers he was

1:14:48

given about his brother's cause of death.

1:14:51

I'm in the medical field. you know,

1:14:53

not to say I'm an expert in autopsies

1:14:55

and whatnot, but I'm an I see a

1:14:57

nurse practitioner and dead people don't bleed. So if

1:14:59

you have a large contusion on the back of

1:15:01

your head, that means you are bruising. That means

1:15:03

you had to have, I am too bruised. Dead

1:15:05

people don't bleed. and he had a contusion on

1:15:07

the back of his head. They said, well, maybe he

1:15:10

hit his head when he fell in the water. Well,

1:15:12

if he fell, hit his head in the water drowned,

1:15:14

he would have never had a contusion on the

1:15:16

back of his head. His family has

1:15:18

been insanely vocal about Martin's death, and

1:15:21

they are sure that somebody did something

1:15:23

intentionally to hurt him. His sister-in-law Whitney

1:15:25

told that same publication, the Daily Dot,

1:15:27

something I feel very deeply happened to

1:15:30

him that night. There was no indication

1:15:32

of him trying to hurt himself or

1:15:34

commit suicide. He wasn't in any secretive

1:15:36

groups trying to meet up with secretive

1:15:38

people. Something happened to him. His brother

1:15:41

says he is just numb. He looked

1:15:43

every day for Martin Gutierrez who disappeared

1:15:45

after a night of drinks on Rainy

1:15:47

Street and a week later, just Monday,

1:15:49

authorities pulled his body out of Lady

1:15:51

Bird Lake. Tonight, Gutierrez's family still don't

1:15:53

know why he ended up in the

1:15:55

water, but they hope something changes so

1:15:58

this doesn't happen to anyone else. Kay

1:16:00

views Patrick Perez spoke with

1:16:02

Martin's brother tonight Patrick Mike

1:16:05

and Quita these last few days

1:16:07

have been really rough for Martin's

1:16:09

family on Monday They had a

1:16:11

strong feeling it was his body

1:16:13

cruise had pulled out of the

1:16:16

water But they had to wait

1:16:18

until the next morning to know

1:16:20

for sure But what they still

1:16:23

want to know is why didn't

1:16:25

Martin make it home? He lived

1:16:27

right up here and I come

1:16:29

home and house is empty Mitchell

1:16:32

Gutierrez still doesn't know what to

1:16:34

think about the circumstances surrounding his

1:16:36

brother's death. It's absolutely gut-wrenching, and

1:16:38

I just feel numb at this point.

1:16:41

Cruz pulled 25-year-old Martin Gutierrez's body

1:16:43

out of Ladybert Lake Monday, a

1:16:45

week after he disappeared from Rainey

1:16:47

Street and downtown Austin. You know,

1:16:49

you get some kind of closure

1:16:51

with finding him, but it's just

1:16:53

not full yet. We just wanted to

1:16:56

know what happened to him. What happened

1:16:58

after March and left the alibi bar

1:17:00

and why he didn't get it right

1:17:03

home? We take ooburs everywhere. Everywhere. He

1:17:05

took an Uber to get there. I

1:17:07

don't know. Just something's not right.

1:17:09

And it just, I just don't

1:17:11

have that closure because something just

1:17:14

doesn't connect. Needless to say, there's an

1:17:16

obvious sense of unease that is just

1:17:18

sweeping through the city, still to this

1:17:20

day. There are renewed concerns after a

1:17:22

woman was recently found dead in Lady

1:17:24

Bird Lake. Austin police say her body

1:17:26

was in the water near Brazos and

1:17:28

Caesar Chavez, and that her death is

1:17:30

not suspicious, but it's one of several

1:17:32

bodies found in or near the water

1:17:34

this year. Fox Evan Austin's John Crinjack

1:17:36

spoke to some people who hang out

1:17:38

on the north side of the lake.

1:17:40

They say they intentionally avoid rainy street

1:17:42

because of the bodies that have been

1:17:44

found in that area. But to hear

1:17:47

about deaths like this, this far west,

1:17:49

that's sparking renewed concerns about safety.

1:17:51

Very scary, especially given that I

1:17:53

live in this neighborhood. Concern among

1:17:55

people who hang out near Lady Bird Lake

1:17:57

Monday after the body of a woman was...

1:18:00

found Sunday morning in the water near

1:18:02

Brazos and Caesar Chavez. A 911 call

1:18:04

was received from a kayaker who is

1:18:06

paddling upstream and observed some type of

1:18:08

object in the water. Police say it

1:18:11

appears the woman was homeless in her

1:18:13

60s and may have been trying to

1:18:15

keep warm when she somehow ended up

1:18:17

in the water. Detectives do not suspect

1:18:19

foul play. There's nothing that appears to

1:18:22

be suspicious. There's no type of connection

1:18:24

that they believe. No connection to the

1:18:26

at least five other... deaths in or

1:18:28

near Lady Bird Lake just this year.

1:18:30

Now that you mentioned the body was

1:18:33

found in this area maybe I will

1:18:35

I will double think about like just

1:18:37

walking late at night here. Three other

1:18:39

deaths around the lake this year were

1:18:41

also ruled not suspicious in April. A

1:18:44

fisherman spotted a person floating in the

1:18:46

water at the east end of the

1:18:48

lake near Craig Field. In July a

1:18:50

man was suffering from blunt force trauma

1:18:52

on the trail near rainy street. The

1:18:55

man was pronounced dead a short time

1:18:57

later. and in September a body was

1:18:59

found along a trail near the lake

1:19:01

off Pleasant Valley. It's talking obviously, like

1:19:03

I don't know, it's like, I don't

1:19:06

know, do I feel safe to come

1:19:08

and walk? With all the inconsistencies and

1:19:10

seemingly incomplete talks reports and medical reports

1:19:12

also pair that with the unexplained injuries,

1:19:14

the rushed investigations, I mean, people aren't

1:19:17

convinced that these deaths are not connected.

1:19:19

And in a statement to a local

1:19:21

newspaper, the police said, the Austin Police

1:19:23

Department homicide unit investigates each death in

1:19:26

the city to determine if it is

1:19:28

suspicious. Following the initial investigations, a medical

1:19:30

examiner does a hands-on body exam to

1:19:32

determine if there are any signs of

1:19:34

physical injuries. The investigation then goes to

1:19:37

the toxic unit to determine if there

1:19:39

is any internal damage. Through this process,

1:19:41

one death near Lady Bird Lake in

1:19:43

December of 2022 was ruled a homicide.

1:19:45

The other deaths in... around Lady Bird

1:19:48

Lake are not considered suspicious due to

1:19:50

the results of these investigations. But despite

1:19:52

this... Stance, residents are not convinced. Some

1:19:54

are even convinced that the police might

1:19:56

be intentionally withholding information so that they

1:19:59

could avoid sparking panic among the tourists,

1:20:01

because remember Austin's nightlife is a huge

1:20:03

tourist destination. Many also point to the

1:20:05

striking similarities between all of the victims,

1:20:07

mostly young men in their 20s and

1:20:10

30s, who are just conventionally attractive to

1:20:12

have dark features, most of them are

1:20:14

out and about on sixth or rainy

1:20:16

street with friends, and then just disappear.

1:20:18

And despite the rea... assurances from the

1:20:21

police, the locals are not backing down.

1:20:23

People are banding together, encouraging one another

1:20:25

to really start taking extra precautions using

1:20:27

the buddy system, not going out alone,

1:20:29

staying alert, keeping close to friends. More

1:20:32

and more bars are also providing drug

1:20:34

testing strips to their customers so that

1:20:36

if you get a drink or leave

1:20:38

your drink to go to the bathroom

1:20:40

or somebody buys you a drink, you

1:20:43

can test it and actually see if

1:20:45

you are being drugged. I gotta say,

1:20:47

if the bars are rolling that out

1:20:49

and offering that to that. customers. First

1:20:52

of all, amazing work. I mean, good

1:20:54

on you. But also, that tells me

1:20:56

that they even suspect that there is

1:20:58

probably somebody intentionally drugging people in these

1:21:00

bars. In July of 2024, a petition

1:21:03

was launched that is called Austin Police

1:21:05

Department, acknowledged that the Austin drownings may

1:21:07

not be accidents. And this petition has

1:21:09

already collected thousands of signatures. But despite

1:21:11

the growing public concern, the police have

1:21:14

yet to announce any further investigation into

1:21:16

these deaths. But the victim's families are

1:21:18

also not just taking this lightly. They're

1:21:20

demanding action as well. Many of them

1:21:22

are convinced that somebody is responsible for

1:21:25

the deaths of their loved ones. And

1:21:27

they're even saying, you know what? Even

1:21:29

if these deaths were accidents, which we

1:21:31

don't believe that they are, the police

1:21:33

need to step up and fix things.

1:21:36

You know, step up their efforts. So

1:21:38

with that and what I mean by

1:21:40

that is they're calling for major improvements

1:21:42

to the all-around area. They're asking for

1:21:44

a fence around the lake, more lighting,

1:21:47

increased police. patrol at night, additional cameras

1:21:49

on those trails. that surround the lakes.

1:21:51

I mean, things to where there's more

1:21:53

monitoring and more safety precautions put in

1:21:55

place. It is pitch black. You can't

1:21:58

see anything. This is what the Lady

1:22:00

Bird Lake Trail looks like at night.

1:22:02

I mean, it is, it gets dark.

1:22:04

I mean there is no lighting. That's

1:22:06

what Mitchell Gutierrez has been fighting to

1:22:09

change since 2018. He wants lights and

1:22:11

cameras installed on this trail. Something he's

1:22:13

wanted since his younger brother Martin went

1:22:15

missing here four years ago. His body

1:22:17

found one week later in the lake.

1:22:20

People are dying around families are just

1:22:22

being crushed and devastated through all this

1:22:24

and something needs to be done. This

1:22:26

to be something that changes Austin. We

1:22:29

want that trail to be lit up.

1:22:31

It's hard to believe in 2023 that

1:22:33

entire trail has no cameras on it.

1:22:35

There's no very little lighting. It's incredibly

1:22:37

dark over there. That has to be

1:22:40

fixed. The families recently sat down with

1:22:42

state leaders to discuss the idea of

1:22:44

lights and cameras on the trail. Mitchell

1:22:46

says he hasn't heard much pushback only

1:22:48

from environmentalists claiming it's not safe. As

1:22:51

much as I love. you know, the

1:22:53

environment, trees, birds and everything, it's not

1:22:55

worth a human life. I don't get

1:22:57

about that when in comparison if it

1:22:59

could have prevented Jason from going through

1:23:02

all this. Now both families feel their

1:23:04

plea for change might actually become a

1:23:06

reality. If and when it happens, Mitchell

1:23:08

says it'll be the ultimate testimony to

1:23:10

both Jason's and Martin's life. Surveillance and

1:23:13

lighting won't mean that we actually made

1:23:15

a change. That something happened. that my

1:23:17

brother's death won't go in vain. And

1:23:19

while some of these changes have been

1:23:21

implemented, a lot of locals feel like

1:23:24

it still isn't enough. They still feel

1:23:26

that there's this sense of danger out

1:23:28

there, and it just continues to linger.

1:23:30

A lot of the people believe that

1:23:32

Austin is the perfect praying ground. You

1:23:35

have people who are going out late

1:23:37

night, heavy drinks. visitors who are unfamiliar

1:23:39

with the area so it almost seems

1:23:41

like a perfect playground for a predator

1:23:43

easy targets easy people easy way to

1:23:46

slip things in their drink and look

1:23:48

I will be honest I would say

1:23:50

that everybody's pretty split. While a lot

1:23:52

of people do suspect there is a

1:23:55

serial killer out on the loose, there

1:23:57

are a lot of people, even in

1:23:59

the Austin area, who are saying it

1:24:01

probably is just accidental drownings. I don't

1:24:03

think there's a serial killer out there.

1:24:06

You know, I think everybody's overreacting. So,

1:24:08

people are very divided. But then in

1:24:10

April of 2024, a bartender posted a

1:24:12

very disturbing account on Reddit. Despite this,

1:24:14

the story quickly gained a lot of

1:24:17

attention because according to this post, a

1:24:19

customer came into this bar, approached this

1:24:21

bartender, and just claimed to be the

1:24:23

rainy street ripper. And The poster on

1:24:25

Reddit described him as a white man

1:24:28

in his 40s. He had light brown

1:24:30

hair, a muscular build, and he stood

1:24:32

at around 5 feet 10 inches. But

1:24:34

what was most chilling was the comment

1:24:36

that this person allegedly said to this

1:24:39

bartender, you know, not just the one

1:24:41

of him being the rainy street ripper,

1:24:43

but that he claimed he was quote,

1:24:45

killing homos. Now I don't know if

1:24:47

a serial killer would randomly just announce

1:24:50

that to a bartender, although I have

1:24:52

to say most of the bodies and

1:24:54

victims being men. Not that they've ever

1:24:56

been confirmed to be gay or not.

1:24:58

Maybe there's something to that if he

1:25:01

thinks that they're gay. I don't really

1:25:03

know. But I also don't know if

1:25:05

a serial killer is just going to

1:25:07

up and like out themselves to a

1:25:09

bartender or if like they said it

1:25:12

in more of a not joking kind

1:25:14

of way, but like, you know, unassuming

1:25:16

kind of way. We know that sometimes

1:25:18

in these cases serial killers do get

1:25:21

proud and they want to brag. So

1:25:23

I don't know. Take it how you

1:25:25

want. Do your own research. And I

1:25:27

am interested to hear your thoughts because

1:25:29

I don't really know what to think.

1:25:32

My guess is that it's probably not

1:25:34

real, but like I said, the post

1:25:36

did get a lot of traction. And

1:25:38

one thing I think we can all

1:25:40

agree on, I would at least hope,

1:25:43

is that we do. need more information

1:25:45

to truly see if these deaths are

1:25:47

connected. I mean, did they all go

1:25:49

to the same bars? Did they have

1:25:51

any other injuries? Were they all drugged

1:25:54

with the same kind of drug? Did

1:25:56

the men have anything else in common?

1:25:58

Like, are there any connecting factors? Now,

1:26:00

weirdly, in all of these circumstances, the

1:26:02

police never said why they immediately ruled

1:26:05

out foul play in all of these

1:26:07

deaths. People also bring up that certain

1:26:09

drugs, like GHB, for example, can quickly

1:26:11

metabolize and not even show up in

1:26:13

autopsies. So how many were drug that

1:26:16

we don't even know about. But again,

1:26:18

I want to know what you guys

1:26:20

think. Are people making something out of

1:26:22

nothing? Are they just seeing what they

1:26:24

want to see? Or is there really

1:26:27

something deeper going on here? And if

1:26:29

you're from Austin, let me know what

1:26:31

the community is saying right now too.

1:26:33

Let me know either on Spotify comments

1:26:35

or in the review section on Apple,

1:26:38

since that's the best way we can

1:26:40

connect and on Spotify it's actually cool

1:26:42

because I can comment back to you,

1:26:44

or I can't do that in the

1:26:47

review section, but still, it's a way

1:26:49

for us to engage. But I'm curious

1:26:51

to know what you guys think. Like

1:26:53

I said, this has been one that

1:26:55

has been in the works for a

1:26:58

while now, because so many people have.

1:27:00

Where there's smoke there's fire and something

1:27:02

just doesn't really sit right with me.

1:27:04

I could understand people being drunk and

1:27:06

accidentally falling into the water and drownings

1:27:09

very similar to Riley's strain, although I

1:27:11

know a lot of people believe that

1:27:13

there was foul play involved in that.

1:27:15

So like I could definitely see that,

1:27:17

but then you layer in the drugs

1:27:20

in their system, you add in the

1:27:22

injuries, some that had such severe injuries,

1:27:24

they were put into a medically induced

1:27:26

coma, you add in the weird vanishing

1:27:28

act from all of them, something... just

1:27:31

doesn't feel right here. Not at all.

1:27:33

I mean, at best, at best, I

1:27:35

would argue that somebody's at least drugging

1:27:37

these people and then it's an accident,

1:27:39

whether it's falling off the bridge or

1:27:42

drowning, but that somebody still is behind

1:27:44

it because they're the ones drugging them

1:27:46

without their knowledge. But that's the best

1:27:48

case scenario. Worst case scenario is that

1:27:50

they're drugged and targeted. and then killed,

1:27:53

right? So let me know what you

1:27:55

guys think. Thank you so much for

1:27:57

tuning in to another deep dive over

1:27:59

here on serialously. My usual sign-off is

1:28:01

something like of don't do this that's

1:28:04

related to the case. And I don't

1:28:06

want to say don't go to Austin

1:28:08

because I love Austin, but I will

1:28:10

say don't ever leave your drink unattended.

1:28:13

Stay safe, watch your back, be nice,

1:28:15

don't kill people. Don't leave your drink

1:28:17

unattended and don't ever accept a drink

1:28:19

from a stranger unless it is like

1:28:21

a not even a bottle of beer

1:28:24

that has the cap still on just

1:28:26

don't don't. All right guys I'll be

1:28:28

back with you on Thursday for headline

1:28:30

highlights where we break down everything happening

1:28:32

this week in the true crime world

1:28:35

and so I will talk with you

1:28:37

then. All right thanks for tuning in

1:28:39

and until the next one like I

1:28:41

said stay safe be nice don't kill

1:28:43

people and don't accept any drinks from

1:28:46

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