LANSING (WWJ) Lansing Police are investigating the possibility of a serial killer at large after five similar murders occurred in the past year.
Lansing Police said an unknown suspect or suspects murdered five men along the river trail, since October 2025.
"We look for information. We look for trends. We look for patterns," Lansing Police Chief Rob Backus said. "We believe that all of our victims are members of our unhoused community."
Backus said all of the victims were killed overnight.
"We believe our victims were lying down, potentially even sleeping. We don't know that," Backus said. "Based on how we found our victims, and their surroundings, (we believe) this could be a pattern."
Gino Chouinard, 54, was the first victim. He was found unconscious on East Oakland Avenue with facial wounds in October 2025, and succumbed just days later, according to police.
Investigators said the youngest victim, Daniel Lusk, 22, was the only victim where the killer used a weapon. Lusk was found dead on August 20, underneath the bridge at East Michigan Avenue and South Grand Boulevard, with multiple stab wounds.
A suspect has been charged in Lusk's death.
According to authorities, the other three victims-- Dennis Dunnebacke (70), Robert Smith (57), and Louis Woodruff (57)--all had major blunt force trauma. With the exception of Chouinard, all of the murders occurred in July and August 2026.
Backus said the remote location of the murders and the fact they occurred overnight makes it challenging for investigators, because of lack of witnesses and lack of surveillance footage.
"In law enforcement, our responsibility and our ethics, is that we approach this in the right manner," Backus said. "We also have to remember our goal, our mandate, is that someone be brought to justice."
