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Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice opens with the case of Dakota James, a 23-year-old graduate student whose disappearance and recovery raised hard questions that were never fully settled. The episode lays out the evidence on both sides, from the night he vanished to the debates that followed.
A re-air is listed on Oxygen at 12:30 am on Wednesday, September 17. The installment is Season 1, Episode 1, titled Dakota James.
Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice - The true story behind Dakota James' death
On January 25, 2017, Dakota James left friends on Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh and started toward the North Side. Cameras caught him walking through Katz Plaza and into an alley leading toward Fort Duquesne Boulevard. This footage is the last confirmed sighting. According to CBS Pittsburgh, this route lined up with his path home.
The working theory from local officials held that he reached the riverfront near the Clemente Bridge steps, entered the Allegheny, and drowned. His body was recovered 40 days later in the Ohio River near the I-79 bridge by Neville Island. The medical examiner ruled the death an accidental drowning, a position that guided police follow-up at the time, per KDKA (February 2019).
The medical examiner ruled the death an accidental drowning (Image via Pexels)Family and friends pushed back. They pointed to an earlier incident, reported by a friend, that he may have been drugged and targeted about six weeks before he disappeared. That detail, paired with the long gap between disappearance and recovery, fueled calls for a closer look, reported KDKA (February 2019).
Access to the autopsy file sharpened the dispute. After the Allegheny County district attorney allowed the family to review materials, retired investigators working with the show flagged marks on the back of the neck and color changes in several fingernail beds in recovery photos.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht said the marks were consistent with a ligature and that the fingernails could reflect someone pulling at something around the neck. Oxygen reported that, in an off-camera meeting, the district attorney’s team reportedly agreed the photos could indicate strangulation, pending medical examiner concurrence.
County officials offered a different interpretation. The medical examiner’s office said the neck markings in an initial set of images were dried blood that washed off during the autopsy cleaning process. In a statement carried by WTAE, the office stated that its ruling relied on the available evidence and remained open to new information.
Smiley face symbol from Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice (Image via Oxygen)Those points left two scenarios in play. One places an intoxicated student alone by cold water late at night. The other suggests abduction, a period off the grid, and a later placement into the river system, a view advanced by the retired detectives featured in Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice (Oxygen, 2019).
A debate over a broader pattern surfaced, too. The show examines cases of young men found in waterways with deaths labeled accidental or undetermined and asks whether any share common markers. Even so, local coverage stressed that key officials and the family doubted a single serial group while still suspecting foul play in Dakota’s case, reported KDKA.
As of the latest reporting, the medical examiner’s manner of death remains accidental, while the district attorney’s office indicated willingness to review credible new evidence. That split keeps the file technically open, while practical next steps hinge on fresh, verifiable material.
Also read: The true story behind the murder of the hibiscus tattoo girl ahead of Dateline
Where to watch Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice - Dakota James
The Oxygen docuseries Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice originally aired in early 2019 and spans six cases, each centered on a college-age male who was last seen after a night out and later found in a body of water. A team of retired NYPD detectives and an academic researcher reconstructs timelines, checks scene conditions, and compares case features.
Oxygen lists a re-air for the Dakota James episode of Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice at 12:30 am ET on Wednesday, September 17. Local listings may vary by provider. The episode can also be streamed on the Oxygen app or website.
Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice episodes can also be digitally purchased on Amazon Video, Apple TV, and Fandango At Home.
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About the author
Edited by Preethika Vijayakumar
English (US)