He was the life of the party – a fun-loving, successful college student from Eden Prairie, and he was gone. Just like that.
Chris Jenkins disappeared one cold October night in Minneapolis in 2002. It was the start of the Jenkins family’s struggle for justice in a case that has since caught national media attention for its possible connection to other deaths of young men from around the country.

It has been a struggle for the Jenkins that has taken years of tenacious searching and fact-finding, from the initial days following his disappearance, to the discovery of his body in the Mississippi River months later and the continuing investigation into his death.

“How do we do it? We knew Chris, we knew who he was and we loved him. We would never leave one of our own behind, ever,” said his mother, Jan.

Chris was last seen alive after leaving the Lone Tree Bar in Minneapolis on Oct. 31, 2002. Jan noted that the investigation uncovered four witnesses who saw Chris being escorted out of the bar.

“If Chris was allowed to go home with his friends, he’d be alive today,” added Jan.

His family filed a missing persons report the following day but were told a police search for Chris would have to wait 72 hours because Chris was over 18. Instead friends and family scoured the streets for Chris themselves and the Jenkins family brought in their own private investigator.

The Jenkinses, who now live in Savage, had raised both Chris and his older sister Sara in Eden Prairie. Chris was co-captain of the EPHS football team and had gone on to play Lacrosse for the University of Minnesota. He was described as a kind-hearted, high-energy type of person. Not the type to just disappear.

In February of 2003, Chris’ body was recovered from the Mississippi River, victim of an apparent drowning and the case was closed in 2004. But, that was not the end of the story, especially for the Jenkinses who were convinced their son was murdered and continued to press for answers. Their work was not in vain. In 2006, the case was reopened and reclassified as a homicide and the Minneapolis police apologized to the family for the assumptions made in the case. At the time, police identified two potential suspects in the case but since then, the attorney’s office has declined to file charges because there wasn’t enough credible evidence for prosecution, noted Steve.

“They’re kind of in a wait and see mode at this point,” he added.
In a case that had already taken tumultuous twists and turns, the biggest twist of all came next – two retired police investigators approached the Jenkins family about a connection from Chris’ case to that of other disappearances of young men.
Smiley face killers
The connection to Chris’ story and that of other missing men has brought renewed attention to the case. Jan has compiled Chris’ story into a new book titled “Footprints of Courage.” A planned release event will be held in Eden Prairie from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 30 at Bremer Bank. If you haven’t heard of the mysteries surrounding Chris’ death, the release of the book may be just the start.

According to Steve, Chris will be the subject of a documentary that could air on NBC either as a pilot for a new unsolved mysteries show or on “Dateline.” Additionally, Chris’ case and that of three other young men will be the subject of an article in GQ magazine, he said.

The case caught nation attention in 2008 when KSTP reporter Kristi Piehl reported on the connection between the Jenkins case to what has been dubbed the “Smiley Face Killers.” The theory stems from the work of Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, two investigators from New York State who say they have found connections among cases in the drowning deaths of young men from around the country that could point to the work of a serial killer or killers (who reportedly leave smiley face graffiti at sites where bodies are dumped into water, according to Piehl’s report). Piehl, no longer at KSTP, has started a Web site (sfkillers.com) to track new missing person cases in relation to a possible Smiley Face connection.
“There’s definitely a group of people that are murdering healthy young men and that has to stop,” said Steve Jenkins.

All they’ve wanted from day one is for local, state and national law enforcement to come together with a unilateral taskforce and investigate the different cases as a whole, he added.

In relation to the Smiley Face theory, the FBI released a statement in April of 2008 stating that, “Over the past several years, law enforcement and the FBI have received information about young, college-aged men who were found deceased in rivers in the Midwest.
“The FBI has reviewed the information about the victims provided by two retired police detectives, who have dubbed these incidents the ‘Smiley Face Murders,’ and interviewed an individual who provided information to the detectives. To date, we have not developed any evidence to support links between these tragic deaths or any evidence substantiating the theory that these deaths are the work of a serial killer or killers. The vast majority of these instances appear to be alcohol-related drowning.”

The Jenkinses are looking to change misperceptions as well, when it comes to the disappearance of young men, Jan pointed out there is a huge discrepancy between the attention that is given to missing young men and missing young women. She recalled how their own private investigator warned them that when it comes to missing person cases, “young men are ignored.”

“We didn’t want to believe that that was true,” she added.
When it comes to a missing person, the common misperception is that young men are responsible for their own demise and young women were taken advantage of, she added.

“It’s a really, really bleak situation for young men.”
Jan would like to see the disappearance of any individual taken seriously and “investigated right away.” Homicide must be considered before it can be eliminated, she added.

Of the reasons she wrote “Footprints of Courage,” Jan cites seeking accountability from community bars and law enforcement.

“Prevention is going to have to come from all of us and so to me, accountability for a community is, if you see or heard something, you speak up, you come forward.”

But the No. 1 reason she wrote the book was as a tribute to Chris and “the remarkable life that he led.”
“We also believe it’s the only justice that he will ever receive.”