🎥📼PART TWO: THE SMILEY FACE KILLINGS - CASE ZERO, PATRICK MCNEILL. 📼📹
Patrick McNeill was 21 years old.
He was a student at La Salle University in Philadelphia. Intelligent, athletic, close to his family, and excited about the future.
On the night of February 14th, 2002, Patrick went out with friends to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The group spent the evening at local bars near campus. By all accounts, it was a normal night. Drinking, laughing, nothing unusual.
At around 11:45 pm, Patrick left the bar alone and began walking back toward his dorm.
That is the last confirmed sighting of him alive.
When Patrick didn’t return to his room, his friends initially assumed he had stayed elsewhere. But as hours passed and no one could reach him, concern set in. By the next day, Patrick was reported missing.
Search efforts began quickly. Flyers were distributed. Friends, family, and police searched the surrounding area. Nothing was found.
Then, six days later, on February 20th, Patrick McNeill’s body was discovered in the Schuylkill River.
Police ruled his death an accidental drowning.
According to the official conclusion, Patrick had been drinking, somehow fell into the river, and drowned. No foul play.
But for Patrick’s family, the explanation never sat right.
One of the first questions was location. Patrick was found in the river several miles downstream from where he was last seen. The stretch of river where he was recovered had already been searched in the days prior. His body had not been there.
Then there was the condition of his body. Patrick’s family was told there were no obvious signs of trauma. But they questioned how a healthy, athletic young man could accidentally fall into a river without anyone seeing or hearing anything, especially near a populated campus area.
Patrick also had a known fear of water. Friends said he avoided swimming whenever possible.
There were no witnesses. No confirmed sightings after he left the bar. No clear explanation for how he ended up in the river.
And then came the detail that would later link Patrick to the Smiley Face Killings theory.
Not far from where his body was recovered, graffiti depicting a crude smiley face was reported.
Supporters of the Smiley Face theory argue that Patrick’s case fits a recurring pattern. A young man out drinking. Separated from friends. Vanishes. Found in water days later. Death ruled an accident. Questions left unanswered.
They also point to the delay in recovery, suggesting the body may not have been in the river the entire time.
Skeptics argue something else entirely.
They say alcohol, darkness, cold February weather, and proximity to water create a dangerous combination. They argue that graffiti is common and meaningless. And they point out that drownings involving intoxicated young men are tragically frequent.
Officially, Patrick McNeill’s death remains classified as accidental.
But his family continues to believe there is more to the story. For them, too many details were never fully explained. Too many assumptions were made too quickly.
Patrick was not just a name on a list. He was a son. A brother. A friend.
And whether his death was a tragic accident or something darker, his case became one of the earliest and most frequently cited examples in what would later be known as the Smiley Face Killings.
In the next video, we move to another case.
Another young man.
Another night out.
Another body found in water.
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