In the wake of a series of unexplained deaths in Houston’s shadowy bayous, speculation lingers about the potential presence of a serial killer, a possibility that remains open according to a local private investigator. Despite official statements, some are not ready to dismiss the idea entirely.

“Authorities claim there’s no serial killer at play, but I’m uncertain,” shared Colman Ryan, who is assisting the family of 22-year-old Kenneth Cutting Jr., during a conversation with Fox News Digital. “The motive may not be sexual assault or robbery, but rather the act of discarding individuals into the bayou,” he suggested.

Ryan noted that investigators have yet to examine Cutting’s phone records or location data, which he believes could be key to understanding the circumstances surrounding Cutting’s death.

Although the autopsy for Cutting did not determine a cause or manner of death, and toxicology reports came back negative, Ryan argues that digital evidence might provide vital insights into his final moments.

In a chilling scene, Houston fire and police personnel were seen recovering a body from White Oak Bayou in the Heights neighborhood on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, as captured by Jill Karnicki for the Houston Chronicle.

Despite these unsettling events, Houston officials, including Mayor John Whitmire, have been quick to downplay the serial killer theory. Instead, they attribute the recent fatalities to issues such as homelessness and substance abuse, pointing out the challenges posed by the city’s extensive network of 2,500 miles of bayous.

Sixteen bodies have been recovered from the bayous so far this year, including a University of Houston student named Jade McKissic, who was last seen leaving a downtown bar on Sept. 11.

The 20-year-old McKissic was found dead in Brays Bayou days later.

Jade McKissic, a 20-year-old University of Houston student, was found dead in a bayou after vanishing from a city bar last month. (Texas Center for the Missing)

Neither McKissic nor Cutting was homeless, Ryan said, and neither of them had signs of trauma.

“I think they’re too quickly dismissing it,” Ryan said.

Cutting was seen leaving Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar on June 28, 2024, after an apparent argument with one of his roommates. They reunited that evening, and at around 2 a.m., his roommates texted his father to say he had gone “crazy” and got out of their car on a highway outside town.

Kenneth Cutting Jr. in this undated family photo. He was last seen alive on June 28, 2024, and later washed up in Houston’s Buffalo Bayou on July 1 of that year. His cause and manner of death were undetermined after an autopsy, and the toxicology report found no drugs in his system. (Courtesy of the Cutting family)

Days later, police recovered his remains from the Buffalo Bayou, about a mile from where the roommates said he got out. A toxicology report found no drugs in his system.

But alleged discrepancies in his autopsy have raised additional questions from relatives.

Lauren Freeman, his cousin, told Fox News Digital earlier this month that a reference to orthopedic hardware in his neck had perplexed the family. No one was aware of him ever undergoing a surgery that would have placed it there, she said.

The Bayou running through Piney Point Village on Friday, April 18, 2025, in Houston. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Now, she claims that someone from the medical examiner’s office told her the line was the result of a clerical error and that no such hardware had been found in Cutting’s neck.

A spokesperson for the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, which conducted the autopsy, did not immediately respond to questions about the allegations.

“After looking over everything in detail there are other things odd,” Freeman said.

The Sims Bayou Greenway near the Houston Botanic Garden and the Glenbrook Park is shown in Houston, Friday, April 4, 2025. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

For example, her cousin stood at 5 feet, 3 inches tall, but was listed as 4 feet, 8 inches tall in the autopsy report, she said. Although he was small, she also took issue with the official weight of his remains as 89 pounds, she said.

According to his father, Kenneth Cutting Sr., the victim weighed around 115 pounds when he went missing, three days before being found in the bayou.

HPD Police Chief Noe Diaz listens as Mayor John Whitmire comments on a recent number of bodies found in Houston bayous during a news conference in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

“To me, his credibility is shot,” Freeman said.

Neither Whitmire’s office nor the Houston Police Department has responded to multiple requests for comment from Fox News Digital regarding the Cutting case over the past two weeks.

“Each case has to be dissected on its own merits — timeliness, reinterviews and autopsy reports,” said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and criminal justice professor at Penn State Lehigh Valley. “Those reports and autopsies now come with a whole host of new problems.”