October 08, 2026
DEVELOPING: Five Deaths on Lansing's River Trail — Police Probe Possible Serial Killer
Headline card by The Night Desk
What happened
LANSING, Mich. — Police are investigating whether a serial killer may be responsible for five deaths along the city's River Trail over the past year, all involving unhoused men found along a roughly one-mile stretch of the trail between Old Town and Kalamazoo Street.
Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus addressed mounting community concern at a press conference on October 2.
"Do we have a serial killer in Lansing?" Backus said, quoting the question the public is asking. "What we need the public to know is that we are investigating all of these cases. They are all active investigations. And we are looking at the idea, or the possibility, that these may be related cases."
No serial killer has been confirmed. Each death remains an active investigation.
The five victims
- Gino Chouinard, 54 — found unconscious with head trauma on October 14, 2025; died nearly two weeks later.
- Denis Dunnebacke, 70 — discovered near the Kalamazoo Street Bridge with severe brain injuries and spinal fractures on July 9; died a week later.
- Robert Smith, 57 — found with severe head trauma on July 13; died four days later. His death was ruled a homicide.
- Daniel Lusk, 22 — stabbed to death on August 20. A 23-year-old man has been charged in Lusk's death.
- Louis Woodruff, 57 — found unconscious with facial trauma on August 30; died two days later.
The pattern investigators see
Police believe the attacks occurred in the early morning hours while the victims were lying down, possibly sleeping. Four of the men sustained blunt-force trauma to the face that investigators say does not appear to have been caused by a weapon. Lusk's death was different — he was stabbed. The victims ranged in age from 22 to 70.
Criminologists note the clear victim profile: unhoused men sleeping outdoors near the bridges — a population criminologist David Hayes called particularly vulnerable to violence in exposed locations.
This is a developing story. The Night Desk will update this article as the investigation unfolds.
Source: iHeart Radio / 1031 The Beat — read the original report
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