The Brief Police say five men who are unhoused were found dead from apparent violence over the past year. Four of them reportedly died from blunt trauma to the facial area, and one was stabbed. One man has been charged in connection with the stabbing case.



Police in Lansing are investigating a series of five deaths in the past year along the same river trail, and say they're looking into the possibility they're all connected.

In a press conference on Oct. 3, police detailed a few patterns from investigators.

Lansing River Trail death investigations

What we know:

Police Chief Rob Backus detailed the following patterns in the five investigations:

All victims are believed to be experiencing homelessness

Instances occurred overnight

Believe all victims were lying down, potentially even sleeping

All victims are white men

Four involve what appear to be blunt force, traumatic injuries to the facial area with no weapon being used or known

One case was a fatal stabbing

Additionally, the deaths reportedly all happened within a one-mile stretch of the Lansing River Trail.

The victims ranged in age from 22-70 years old. The victims were reportedly Gino Chouinard, 54; Denis Dunnebacke, 70; Robert Smith, 57; Daniel Lusk, 22; and Louis Woodruff, 57.

The newspaper reports the earlier incident, involving Chouinard, happened on Oct. 14, 2025, with the most recent case, involving Woodruff, happening on Aug. 30, 2026.

What we don't know:

Backus said at the press conference that medical examiner results are still pending for some cases, which will include determining the cause of deaths.

Backus also said investigators are lacking witnesses and help from surveillance footage.

What they're saying:

 One question that we're being asked is, do we have a serial killer in Lansing? What we need the public to know, is 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,  Backus said Friday.

 When I'm reporting these patterns to you, I wish I had more information to share with you. I

#fox2detroit   #CrimeInTheD ®