A RAINEY Street bartender has said she believes there is a serial killer on the loose, despite police insisting that no foul play is involved.
Eight people have drowned in Ladybird Lake in the past 10 months after enjoying nights out on nearby Rainey Street in Austin, Texas.
The number of drownings in recent months has prompted speculation that the deaths are no accident.
Multiple Facebook pages have been set up to find what some are calling the "Rainey Street Killer."
Those found dead have all been 30 to 40-year-old men.
Some social media users have used this fact as evidence that a particular demographic is being targeted.
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The Austin Police Department (APD) has said that they do not regard any of the deaths as suspicious, however.
Despite this, a bartender who works in the center of Rainey Street exclusively told The U.S. Sun that she believes there is indeed a killer on the loose.
The bartender, whose identity The U.S. Sun is withholding, cited three reasons as to why she and her colleagues believe The Rainey Street Killer exists.
"The amount of people who have been found dead is huge," she said.
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"We now have police patrols on the street pretty regularly," she continued, suggesting that their presence implies something more is going on.
Finally, she said the fact that bodies are being found in Ladybird Lake is suspect, due to its distance from Rainey Street.
"It's an odd place for people to go, too. I find it hard to see how people could leave Rainey, and end up at the lake," she told The US Sun.
"You have to walk blocks to get there," she explained, suggesting that it would be difficult for party-goers to accidentally stumble across the body of water.
Four men have been found dead in the lake this year, after nights out on the busy street.
The most recent death was that of John Christopher Hays-Clark, 30, who was pulled from the lake on April 15.
Jonathon Honey, 33, was found dead on April 1.
He was last seen at a taco truck on Rainey Street around 2am on Friday, March 31.
Cliff Axel, 40, was discovered on March 5.
Jason John, 30, was celebrating a job promotion with a night out on Rainey Street on February 5.
His body was found in Ladybird Lake a week later.
Christain Pugh, 21, was found alive in the lake in 2019.
He had suffered a blow to the head and had bruised hands.
Speaking at an Austin City Council meeting this month, Pugh's father asked: "What is going on and why can we not find any answers about what happened to our children?"
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In a statement earlier this month, the APD said: "There is no evidence in any of these cases to suspect foul play. While each incident has occurred at the lake, the circumstances, exact locations, and demographics surrounding these cases vary."
They indicated that the deaths were accidental drownings.
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