Five men turned up dead along one Michigan river trail, and now police are asking if one killer is moving under the cover of night.
Story Snapshot
- Lansing police are probing whether five trail deaths are connected.
- All victims were unhoused White men found along the River Trail.
- Three deaths are classified as homicides; two remain unresolved.
- A Michigan State professor urged students to avoid the trail for now.
Police test links across five River Trail deaths
Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus said detectives are examining whether five deaths along the Lansing River Trail tie together. He confirmed each case remains open and that investigators are testing the possibility of related attacks. The time window spans about eleven months. Police believe injuries likely happened overnight or in the early morning hours. The cluster has pushed patrols, canvassing, and evidence reviews into high gear as officers sort coincidence from pattern.
Detectives identified common ground across the scenes and the victims. Reporting based on police statements described five unhoused White men, ages 22 to 70, discovered along the trail with severe injuries. Three deaths are homicides. Two cases await final medical findings or remain undetermined. That mix demands caution. It also leaves the core question open: are we looking at one offender, separate offenders, or some mix of targeted and unrelated crimes?
Professor urges caution while facts are gathered
Karen Holt, an associate professor of criminal justice at Michigan State University, told Fox News Digital that people should think clearly and stay safe. Her advice was direct: skip the River Trail for now and pick a different route. That message landed amid midterms and morning workouts. The professor did not claim insider access to police files. She voiced a risk call based on the public pattern and standard safety logic, which tracks with common sense.
City leaders stressed a narrower risk profile. Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said the attacks involved unhoused men sleeping outdoors along the trail and that the general public had not been targeted. That reassurance matters for daily life. It also sets a boundary for fear. Families walking at noon face a different risk than someone sleeping alone at 2 a.m. under a dark bridge. Both things can be true: vigilance for everyone, focused protection for those most exposed.
One arrest, several unknowns, and how patterns get built
One case already includes a named suspect. Police arrested a 23-year-old man in the fatal stabbing of 22-year-old Daniel Lusk beneath the East Michigan Avenue bridge. That arrest complicates any single-offender theory. It does not end it. Serial murder, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines it, involves two or more unlawful killings by the same offender in separate events; proof hinges on linkage, not headlines. Investigators must test weapon matches, timelines, and any shared forensic clues.
Crime clusters invite fast labels. They require slower work. Detectives compare wound patterns, canvass for cameras, pull phone location pings, and cross-check witness tips for repeats. Medical examiners pin down cause and manner. Prosecutors watch the chain of custody. That grind turns rumors into facts. The Lansing team is doing that grind now. The public role is simpler: let the process run and use clear safety steps that cost little and pay off big.
Practical safety for students, runners, and the unhoused
Trail users can stack the odds in their favor. Avoid isolated stretches at night. Walk or run with a partner. Keep earbuds low so you hear footsteps and bikes. Use brighter, busier paths. Tell someone your route and your return time. These moves are small but real force multipliers. They reflect the professor’s core point without stoking panic: reduce exposure until police close the gap and the medical findings lock in.
"If we have a community where people can be attacked in this way, then I don't necessarily know that we can call it a safe community."
That's a Michigan State University criminology professor reacting to the possibility that a serial killer is targeting homeless men along the… pic.twitter.com/DuzyHDUEG7
— Fox True Crime (@FoxTrueCrime) October 14, 2026
City and campus services should aim to help where risk is highest. Lighting, patrol checks at encampments, and safe-sleep options give unhoused residents better choices than a dark bend of trail. That is not hand-wringing. It is basic public safety. It aligns with conservative priorities: protect life, enforce the law, and target resources where they move the needle. Police will sort the who and how. The rest of us can make the where and when less friendly to violence.
Sources:
foxnews.com, nbcnews.com, cnn.com, ourmidland.com, yahoo.com, abcnews4.com, britannica.com, synapse.koreamed.org, arxiv.org
