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Posted
On 6/9/2025 at 11:47 AM, Bevo said:

38 Bodies Found In and Around Lake

 

June 9, 2025 by David Jones

The tranquil environment of Lady Bird Lake has been disrupted by a series of unsettling discoveries that have gripped the public’s attention. Since 2022, a total of 38 bodies have been found in or near the lake, sparking speculation about a possible serial killer. Despite the rumors, law enforcement agencies maintain that there is no evidence to suggest a connection between these deaths.

Data analysis shows that out of the 38 bodies recovered, 30 were males, with the majority, about 60%, aged between 30 and 49 years. Only two of the deceased were teenagers, one of whom was discovered just this week. The recent discovery was made by a paddleboarder who spotted a body floating in the lake, leading to a quick response from the police.

The unidentified body is believed to be that of a teenager who went missing while kayaking and paddleboarding with his family on Sunday. The police report suggests that the teenager had stepped off his paddleboard into shallow waters but unknowingly drifted towards an underwater shelf, a concealed danger that resulted in his disappearance. His backpack and life jacket, which matched the description of the missing teenager’s belongings, were found on the paddleboard.

This incident marks the seventh body found in Lady Bird Lake in 2025 alone. Over the past three years, the majority of deaths have been ruled as accidental drownings, followed by suicides, drug overdoses, and natural causes. Only one case has been officially classified as a murder, while several others remain unresolved with undetermined causes of death.

Despite the alarming frequency of these incidents, the Austin Police Department has consistently stressed that there is no evidence to suggest a link between the deaths. Officials have dismissed any suggestion of foul play, assuring the public that there are no signs of trauma in the recent discoveries.

Nice report on drownings from Davy Jones.

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Posted
17 hours ago, demos said:

49e45bdf01e93f816b66806bf5ccacf9.jpg

Either there’s a copy cat, or Nicole is like Ted Bundy.

She's raping their severed heads?

Posted

Try this:  get drunk or stoned and fall down on the sidewalk, you may be injured.  Get drunk or stoned and fall in the water, you will probably drown.

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Posted
3 hours ago, AnTiM said:

Try this:  get drunk or stoned and fall down on the sidewalk, you may be injured.  Get drunk or stoned and fall in the water, you will probably drown.

It’s not like the lake being there, or the bars being there is new.  
 

Also, what is the percentage of men versus women who “drowned”?   Even if you say it would likely be more men than women if accidental you wouldn’t think it would be overly uneven.  Then look at the reality of the numbers.

The incidents (at this higher numbers) are a new phenomena and are largely male.

Posted

Maybe the numbers really are greater than they historically were but they’ve been finding bodies in Town Lake forever.  This didn’t just start in 2022. 

Runners in the 90s never went to the eastern half of the hike and bike trail because that’s where the bodies always got found.  It was common knowledge then, and likely way back before that.  

And like that article posted above, I tend to think that every city on a river thinks they have a problem with dead bodies in the water. 
 

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Posted
5 hours ago, ABSR said:

It’s not like the lake being there, or the bars being there is new.  

Also, what is the percentage of men versus women who “drowned”?   Even if you say it would likely be more men than women if accidental you wouldn’t think it would be overly uneven.  Then look at the reality of the numbers.

The incidents (at this higher numbers) are a new phenomena and are largely male.

What is new is the massive influx of newcomers and visitors within that demographic over the past 10 years or so.

Posted
9 hours ago, AnTiM said:

Try this:  get drunk or stoned and fall down on the sidewalk, you may be injured.  Get drunk or stoned and fall in the water, you will probably drown.

Spoken like someone who doesn’t want people looking too closely at this situation. Right, NICOLE?

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Posted

Y’all had me nervous. 
 

kayakers ain’t my thing. 

all kidding aside, I have heard a fairly credible rumor. There may be a need to re-examine certain bodies. I have contacts within the medical community. Early on (and I miss our fellow poster—Wolfgang who added humor and levity) we kinda threw around succinol choline (I misspelled the shit out of that but too lazy to look it up) as a potential way to get people who seemed not to have drunk much and were not seen using drugs to somehow get disoriented so quickly they drowned. In not that deep of water, one victim was a very good swimmer, To administer this I can’t imagine any other way than an injection but who the fuck knows. I was told the bodies of the ones believed to have been CONNECTED victims that their toxicology was negative, most didn’t have even that much alcohol in their system, most were dark headed, this type of drug would metabolize quickly if there is such a killer. 

Of course  I could just be covering my tracks. Throwing y’all off, punting the ball away from myself. 😂 
 

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Posted (edited)
50 minutes ago, Nicole44 said:

Y’all had me nervous. 
 

kayakers ain’t my thing. 

all kidding aside, I have heard a fairly credible rumor. There may be a need to re-examine certain bodies. I have contacts within the medical community. Early on (and I miss our fellow poster—Wolfgang who added humor and levity) we kinda threw around succinol choline (I misspelled the shit out of that but too lazy to look it up) as a potential way to get people who seemed not to have drunk much and were not seen using drugs to somehow get disoriented so quickly they drowned. In not that deep of water, one victim was a very good swimmer, To administer this I can’t imagine any other way than an injection but who the fuck knows. I was told the bodies of the ones believed to have been CONNECTED victims that their toxicology was negative, most didn’t have even that much alcohol in their system, most were dark headed, this type of drug would metabolize quickly if there is such a killer. 

Of course  I could just be covering my tracks. Throwing y’all off, punting the ball away from myself. 😂 
 

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A punting history won't save you.

Erxleben went to the federal pen twice! Lulz.

Edited by BachelorTrek
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Posted
10 hours ago, Nicole44 said:

Y’all had me nervous. 
 

kayakers ain’t my thing. 

all kidding aside, I have heard a fairly credible rumor. There may be a need to re-examine certain bodies. I have contacts within the medical community. Early on (and I miss our fellow poster—Wolfgang who added humor and levity) we kinda threw around succinol choline (I misspelled the shit out of that but too lazy to look it up) as a potential way to get people who seemed not to have drunk much and were not seen using drugs to somehow get disoriented so quickly they drowned. In not that deep of water, one victim was a very good swimmer, To administer this I can’t imagine any other way than an injection but who the fuck knows. I was told the bodies of the ones believed to have been CONNECTED victims that their toxicology was negative, most didn’t have even that much alcohol in their system, most were dark headed, this type of drug would metabolize quickly if there is such a killer. 

Of course  I could just be covering my tracks. Throwing y’all off, punting the ball away from myself. 😂 
 

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The jury for your trial is going to need about 15 minutes to find you guilty if you keep this up. 

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Posted
On 7/6/2025 at 4:29 AM, AnTiM said:

Try this:  get drunk or stoned and fall down on the sidewalk, you may be injured.  Get drunk or stoned and fall in the water, you will probably drown.

Well.... um... be mindful of stairs when you're really drunk. I know a guy that died from falling down some while hammered.

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Posted
2 hours ago, BurntEyes said:

Well.... um... be mindful of stairs when you're really drunk. I know a guy that died from falling down some while hammered.

Imagine stairs going into the water...

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Posted (edited)
14 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Nicole has made the national news!

Quote

The waters of a Texas lake remain shrouded in mystery as dozens of young men’s bodies continue to be pulled from the depths, putting a community on edge as rumors of a serial killer continue to swirl. 

Ricky Gervais Lol GIF

Nobody I know outside of Surly or Reddit or true-crime sites has really gives a fuck about this and very few are even aware of the deaths  

I have relatives in other towns and states ask me about it and can’t believe when I say it’s a running joke with a lot of people or that we aren’t scared to go downtown.  

Edited by atomheartbevo
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Posted
12 hours ago, BurntEyes said:

Well.... um... be mindful of stairs when you're really drunk. I know a guy that died from falling down some while hammered.

...those goddamed owls!

Posted (edited)
18 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Ricky Gervais Lol GIF

Nobody I know outside of Surly or Reddit or true-crime sites has really gives a fuck about this and very few are even aware of the deaths  

I have relatives in other towns and states ask me about it and can’t believe when I say it’s a running joke with a lot of people or that we aren’t scared to go downtown.  

Ehhh... I agree it's definitely niche knowledge/conspiracy but I think its a bit broader than you're painting it out to be. For me it ties into the Smiley Face Murder conspiracy which, while niche, is not a small niche. I am very hesitant to go to downtown Austin.

Mostly cause its a 14 hour drive for me and I'm too old.

Smiley Face Wiki

For the record I met @Nicole44 once near a body of water where alcohol was involved and lived to tell tail. Though I did find her parting comment to me a bit disconcerting.

"You seem like a nice guy, if a little old, short and fat, but in a pinch... Nice to me you!"

Edited by BurntEyes
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Posted
21 hours ago, BurntEyes said:

Well.... um... be mindful of stairs when you're really drunk. I know a guy that died from falling down some while hammered.

Barfly's?

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Posted
51 minutes ago, BurntEyes said:

Ehhh... I agree it's definitely niche knowledge/conspiracy but I think its a bit broader than you're painting it out to be. For me it ties into the Smiley Face Murder conspiracy which, while niche, is not a small niche. I am very hesitant to go to downtown Austin.

Mostly cause its a 14 hour drive for me and I'm too old.

Smiley Face Wiki

For the record I met @Nicole44 once near a body of water where alcohol was involved and lived to tell tail. Though I did find her parting comment to me a bit disconcerting.

"You seem like a nice guy, if a little old, short and fat, but in a pinch... Nice to me you!"

Nicole isn't strong enough to lift the average Surly poster. You're safe. 

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Posted
21 minutes ago, Deej said:

Nicole isn't strong enough to lift the average Surly poster. You're safe. 

Thank you for your faith in me kind sir. ♥️😃

Posted
1 hour ago, Deej said:

Nicole isn't strong enough to lift the average Surly poster. You're safe. 

To be fair, most human beings aren't strong enough to lift the average Surly poster.

Posted
10 minutes ago, texasdago said:

We cracked jokes about the Rainey Street Killer because the whole phenomenon is so stupid.

Taunting Nicole will not end well for you. 

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Posted

No evidence of ‘Rainey Street Ripper,’ Texas State study finds

 

The “Rainy Street Ripper” — the rumored serial killer allegedly pushing people into Lady Bird Lake — is nothing but an urban myth, according to a new study by Texas State University criminologists and the Austin Police Department.

The report, released Tuesday by Texas State’s Center for Geospatial Intelligence and Investigation, analyzed 189 drowning cases from 2004 to 2025 and found they mirror historical patterns and the average risk of drowning in a growing Texas city. Researchers said the data revealed no time-and-place clusters or other indications of a serial killer, concluding there is “neither direct evidence nor indirect warning signs of a serial murderer” — reiterating what police have said for years.

"The number of drownings in Austin is a function of population, Lady Bird Lake visitation, and the proliferation of nearby bars and nightclubs," the report said. "While the shores of the Colorado River are not being stalked by a serial killer, the hazards of drowning in Texas remain a concern."

The shore of Lady Bird Lake is less than 100 feet from the end of Rainey Street, which hosts a thriving bar scene. 

At least 21 bodies have been recovered from the lake since 2018, when three deaths in downtown waterways within three months sparked the first wave of serial-killer speculation. Police denied the rumors then, just as they do now.

The theory resurfaced with greater reach in 2023, when social media users tied it to Lady Bird Lake and the Rainey Street district, fueling viral TikTok videos and true crime chatter as more bodies were discovered. A Facebook group named “Lady Bird Lake Serial Killer -True Crime” was started that year, now boasting more than 92,500 followers.

Of the 189 drownings researchers examined, 58 fell within the estimated victim profile range of the rumored serial killer. According to the study, the rate of drownings within that range was higher for multiple years before 2023. The years 2015, 2018 and 2020 all had higher drowning rates, when adjusted for population, than 2023.

And the Rainey Street District is far from the city’s drowning epicenter, the report found. Between 2004 and 2025, just eight bodies fitting the target profile were recovered from Lady Bird Lake between Congress Avenue and Interstate 35, roughly one every 32 months.

The most recent body was found in late March.

The report notes that "murder is uncommon," elaborating that only 0.2% of all murders are homicidal drownings. Across the world, other rumored serial killers have also been declared myths, the authors explained, including the Smiley Face murderer, the Manchester Pusher and the New England serial killer. 

Sensationalism across both traditional and social media is the true culprit, the study suggests. It concludes that such narratives thrive on drama and fear rather than facts, a dynamic that's spilled into the national media cycle. The authors pointed to coverage by Fox News, the Daily Mail and social media influencers. Last year, TV personality Nancy Gracy dedicated a 42-minute episode of her show “Crime Stories” to these fatalities.

"Look, you don't have to go to law school to figure out there's something very, very wrong at Lady Bird Lake," Grace said at the start of the episode.

Austin police have remained firm in their stance that there is no killer. They have repeatedly said that the only common factor between some of the deaths is the combination of alcohol and proximity to the lake, which the study confirms. 

Only one of the 21 deaths has been ruled a homicide: Police said Josue Moreno, 45, was shot while driving his truck, which then crashed into the water. Joel Santiago Gonzalez-Paron, 18, later pleaded guilty to Moreno's murder.

The authors argue that lasting progress will come not from chasing lurid narratives, but from problem-oriented policing and evidence-based prevention. They point to Austin’s own efforts — nearly $1 million in safety upgrades on the Rainey Street Trailhead — as an example of how targeted measures can reduce drownings.

In 2023, the city began installing safety measures after emotional pleas from the families of two who died in the lake, Jason John and Martin Gutierrez. The improvements were finished last summer, including new lighting, fencing, sidewalk extensions and a camera. Since then, the number of drownings has decreased, according to the study.

D. Kim Rossmo and Zena Rossouw of Texas State University’s School of Criminal Justice and Criminology, along with Edward R. Anderson of the Austin Police Department, authored the paper.

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