Smiley Face Drownings, Trevor Boehm Drowning

First reported Dec. 6, 2008

On Nov. 16, 2008, the body of 20-year-old Northwestern University freshman Trevor J. Boehm, was pulled from Lake Michigan. Boehm was last seen Nov. 5 at a frat house party and was reported missing Nov. 9.

An unidentified passer-by found Boehm's jacket and personal belongings Nov. 13 on rocks along the shoreline near the school's Evanston campus.

Trevor J. Boehm

A man called police around 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 16 to report a body in the lake in the 4500 block of North Simonds Drive near Montrose Harbor.

Boehm's body was found near the water line on the beach.

Boehm, from Monument, Colorado, was a freshman in Northwestern's School of Communication.

Boehm was last seen Nov. 5 at a frat house party. He mysteriously became separated from friends. People at the party do not know when he left the party. "He was here, then he wasn't," said friends.

An autopsy by the Cook County Medical Examiner found that Boehm died from drowning, but the manner of death, whether it was an accident, suicide or homicide was not determined.

On Nov. 8, 2005, the parents of Northwestern University freshman Trevor Boehm arrived on campus for Family Weekend. It was suppose to be a fun visit, but they discovered that their son was missing.

According to the university, Boehm hadn't been in his residence hall, attended classes or used his student ID in the dining halls since Nov. 5, four days before he was reported missing. His body was found in Lake Michigan on Nov. 16. 

The Search

Northwestern University police began an immediate investigation following the report of a missing person, and the school notified students two days later.

During their investigation, they discovered that Boehm had not used his student ID (WildCard) or his Marlock key since Nov. 5, when he was last seen returning to his dorm room.

On Nov. 13, about 11:30 a.m., Boehm's brown suede jacket containing his Northwestern identification card, keys, and cell phone were found on rocks on the shore of Lake Michigan in an area called the lakefill.

Boehm's family is then notified of the discovery and the Coast Guard begins searching the lake with a boat and a helicopter. The water had been too choppy for a search earlier in the week, according to the Coast Guard.

The Recovery

On Sunday, Nov. 16, the body of Trevor Boehm was spotted in Lake Michigan around 7:30 a.m.

The body, which was positively identified as Boehm, was found about seven miles south of Northwestern University near Montrose Harbor in the 4500 block of North Simonds Drive.

An autopsy on Monday, Nov. 17 revealed that Boehm died from drowning. The manner of death - e.g., accident, suicide, homicide - was not determined.

Unanswered Question

• Boehm's green Schwinn bicycle, with oversized seat and tires, was never found.

• One day before Boehm's disappearance, Nov. 4, Election Day, Chicago and surrounding areas, including Evanston, were extremely over crowded because of Election Day and the high-volume of supporters at the Obama rally in Grant Park. Several streets were closed off. Most people would have noticed something out of the ordinary.

Timeline

Nov 5 - Trevor Boehm disappears.

Nov. 8 - Boehm's parents arive at Northwestern University for Family Weekend and are unable to find their son. They notify campus police.

Nov. 9 - The university discovers that Boehm's student identification card had not been used since Nov. 5. A missing person's report is filed.

Nov. 10 - Students are notified about the disappearance.

Nov. 16 - Boehm's body is recovered from Lake Michigan

Nov. 17 - An autopsy finds Boehm had drown, but the manner of death was not determined. Coroner could not determine exact cause of death.

About Trevor Boehm

Boehm graduated from Colorado Springs School, a private high school with a concentration on the arts, where he was involved in the school's theater program. He enrolled at Northwestern in the fall of 2007 as a theater major and lived on the fifth floor of Willard Residential College

At the time, he was a freshman board representative for the Purple Crayon Players, an on-campus theater group. According to Registrar, Boehm completed his first term in 2007 before leaving NU sometime during Winter Quarter.

He re-enrolled in the fall of 2008 and was living in a single room on the fourth floor of South Mid-Quads Halls.

Friends described Boehm as "vibrant, caring, compassionate" and from a "tight-knit family." They added that it wasn't like him to simply disappear.

Sasha Puchalla, a student at Northwestern, who had known Boehm since they attended the same high school in Colorado, said he "really enjoyed being around people and had a lot of fun with life in general."

Facts of Interest in the Trevor Boehm case

Name: Trevor Boehm

Age: 20

Hometown: Monument, CO

College: Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Major: Communications

Residence: South Mid-Quads in a single room (no roommate)

Reported Missing: Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008

Recovered: Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008

Physical Description: 5' 10", 145 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, clean cut, small birthmark on his right forearm.

A painted smiley face was on the rocks where Boehm's jacket was found.

The smiley face symbol was not faded indicating that it had been painted within a week or two.

Boehm's bicycle, a green Schwinn with oversized tiresand ooersized seat, was never located.

Addtional Notes: One day before Boehm's disappearance, Nov. 4, Election Day, Chicago and surrounding areas, including Evanston, were extremely over crowded because of Election Day and the high-volume of supporters at the Obama rally in Grant Park. Several streets were closed off. Most people would not have noticed something out of the ordinary.

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The Trevor Boehm case fits the patterns of 'Smiley Face' victims

• Victim is young, good-looking, fit and popular
• Victim mysteriously became missing
• Smiley face symbol at the scene

'Smiley Face' Patterns:

• The men are fit, good-looking, Caucasian, in their 20s and mysteriously become separated from friends or disappear during a night of drinking in a bar or at a party.
• Drownings occur during the winter months when college is in session.
• All victims have nearly the same physical description and are around the same age.
• None of the victims are ugly, middle aged or overweight. They are young, physically fit and good-looking.
• Smiley face symbol and distinguishable markings are left at the scene.
• 94 percent of the deaths have occurred within 100 miles of Interstate 94.

Special Note: Drownings usually occur during the summer and involve boating accidents. The very small number of drownings that occur during winter usually involve ice fishing or ice skating.

There are too many coincidences for the Boehm case not to be connected to the others.

Leslie Boehm, Trevor's mother, says that Trevor suffered from depression as a boy. She says Trevor was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2007 and thinks he committed suicide.

People who want to commit suicide normally don't, if ever, choose to kill themselves by swimming. There are a lot more quicker and easier ways to do it. It doesn't seem plausible that Trevor committed suicide.

Brian Blackwell