City gripped by serial killer fears after 19 bodies pulled from lake

Police have insisted against the theory.

Grim discoveries in Austin, Texas have led people to believe that a serial killer is on the loose.

It was revealed on Wednesday that over a dozen bodies have been pulled from the Lady Bird Lake in the last three years.

The top cause of death was drowning, followed by suicide, drug overdoses, and natural causes.

Police have insisted against the rumours of a serial killer, saying that only one case was a homicide.

They have shut down the rumours of the so-called 'Rainy Street Ripper' despite there being half a dozen deaths where the cause remains unknown.

The police have suggested that the party scene in downtown Austin has something to do with the problem.

Many of the people who have ended up in Lady Bird Lake had been partying at the city's popular bar scene, just feet away from the river.

Following the tragedies, safety measures, including lighting and fencing around the lake, have been increased by officials.

Additionally, ambulances are parked at the end of Rainey Street to treat people as well as to turn them away from the water.

Just last year, Boston man Jeff Jones flew to Austin for a bachelor party.

Shortly after 1am, the man was separated from his friends after parting on the rowdy West 6th Street.

He woke up two weeks later in the hospital and couldn't remember a thing.

Doctors explained that they found the date-rape drug Rohypnol in his system and that he had been found in the water after falling 25 feet off a bridge.

Jones thought he had been drugged and pushed by the rumoured serial killer.

Speaking to the Daily Mail last year, Jones said: "The things that lead to it being a serial killer is that it's a very specific type of victim, which I fit, they don't have anything stolen from them, they drown in the water, and they disappear in the middle of the night.

"I match all of this; I just luckily didn't end up dead," he added.

In an interview with KVUE, Mark Gillespie, former Austin Police Department forensic director stressed that the public should believe the police when they say that there is no foul play involved in the deaths.

"They're looking for foul play, and so when APD comes out with the statement that at the current time, they don't suspect foul play, I promise you they were looking for it, and they were looking very hard for it, so I respect that," he said.