Joseph Smedley was a childhood friend of Nicolai’s. This weekend we learned that he died late last year. A student at Indiana University, his body was discovered floating in Griffy Lake near the Bloomington campus. The police have ruled his death a suicide but after reviewing the details of the case with his sister and brother-in-law this weekend, I am 100% certain that this was not the case. A note (image below) was found in the apartment he shared with brothers of the Sigma Pi fraternity. According to his sister, this is not Joseph’s handwriting. To my way of thinking it reads like an attempt to discourage a search for a missing person rather than a suicide note. Furthermore, Joseph did not have a passport or the financial means to leave the country. This blog entry would grow quite lengthy if I conveyed all the additional information suggesting that Joseph did not take his own life. Given the note was likely a forgery and was placed in his apartment it seems obvious to me that his roommates were involved in his disappearance. Jeanine has introduced Joseph’s sister to several of our contacts in Indianapolis who should be of help in reopening the investigation and solving the mystery of his death.