Since 2008, over 20 bodies have been pulled from Lady Bird Lake in Austin. And not a single one of these "accidents" has been thoroughly investigated as more than that- an "accident".

The Austin Police Department still refuses to acknowledge that there could possibly be a person or persons operating in the Austin metropolitan area that is targeting and harming citizens of their city, and by refusing to acknowledge this as a possibility, more lives are being lost as we sit idly by.

I have spoken to multiple family members of victims who believe that their loved ones were targeted and or murdered by a person or persons that is currently operating in the Austin city area. There is a belief amongst family members of victims that their loved ones were drugged before their deaths (another possibility that the APD refuses to acknowledge), and they are tired of having their cries for justice go unanswered.

Inconsistent autopsy reports. Misleading toxicology reports. Unexplained injuries. Unexplained routes of victim travel. Leads that were never properly investigated.  The APD has a lot of explaining to do, not only to the family members of victims but to the public as a whole.

The time to act was years ago. We are long past the point of calling for action. At this point, the only thing that the public sees is a lack of care and empathy from not only the APD, but from the Austin city leaders as a whole, and what appears to be corruption and injustice.

We seek not only to have more protective measures put into place for those who visit Lady Bird Lake (trail cameras, adequate lighting, protective barriers), but we also demand that APD reopen some of the cases that the public believes were handled swiftly and callously. Cases that would benefit from another look include:

1.) The death of Christopher Hays-Clark, whose body was discovered in the Lake in April of 2023. The mother of his child claims that there were many failures in the investigation of her former partner's death, including leads that were not properly investigated, bizarre circumstances surrounding evidence that was lost and a lack of empathy from the department. 

2.) The assault of Christian Pugh in November 2019. Christian's father believes that Christian was assaulted by someone (or a group of people) after spending the night out on Rainey Street, drinking. He had injuries on his body consistent with assault and self defense, and yet the APD has written off his case as a "tragic accident".

3.) The death of Martin Gutierrez, who was pulled from Lady Bird Lake in November 2018. Martin's brother, Mitchell, believes that his brother was drugged on the night that he was last seen alive, and yet the APD has refused to admit that this may be a possibility, and they seemingly have tried their hardest NOT to investigate this case. 

This is an extreme miscarriage of justice. And the circumstances surrounding these deaths are too similar to be purely coincidental. There is something larger, something darker at play in Austin, Texas. And the longer that this goes on without proper attention and care, the more lives that will be lost.

What we are asking for:

1.) Install proper lighting, trail cameras & safety barricades along Lady Bird Johnson Lake.

2.) Reopen cases that have been categorized as "accidents", and investigate them as "criminal incidents".