Who was Will Hurley and what happened to him? Details explored ahead of Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice

In 2009, 24-year-old Navy veteran Will Hurley disappeared from a Bruins game in Boston. His body was discovered six days later in the Charles River under suspicious circumstances. The body bore blunt force injuries, and traces of the drug GHB were found in his system.

Hurley’s case drew the attention of a team of retired NYPD detectives, who traveled to Boston to investigate whether he was murdered. Oxygen's Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice, which premiered in 2019, explores Will Hurley's mysterious disappearance and death, and it re-airs the episode this week on Thursday, September 18, 2025.

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Who was Will Hurley, and what happened to him?

On October 8, 2009, Will Hurley, a 24-year-old Navy veteran and avid hockey fan, vanished under mysterious circumstances. At that time, he was living in Boston with his fiancée, Claire Lebeau.

That night, Will went to attend the Bruins game with friends but left midway. Feeling tired, he had called Claire to pick him up outside the stadium. When she reached the area, Will was nowhere to be found. On the phone, she overheard him asking a man where he was, and the reply was “99 Nashua Street.”

Will told Claire his phone battery was dying, and moments later, the call cut out. When Claire arrived at the location, Will was not there and could not be reached on the phone. That was the last anyone heard from him.

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Will's body was discovered, and investigations unfolded

Six days later, on October 14, 2009, Will Hurley's body was pulled from the Charles River, not far from TD Garden. His death was initially explained as an accidental drowning, but details surrounding the case complicated that conclusion.

An autopsy revealed Will had blunt force trauma to his head, around one eye socket, and behind his left leg. Toxicology results showed alcohol in his system, but his blood alcohol concentration was relatively low. More troubling was the presence of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a powerful depressant sometimes referred to as a “date rape drug.”

Forensic toxicologist Sabra Botch-Jones noted that Will’s GHB levels were 18 micrograms per milliliter, which was far above the natural trace levels found in the human body. This strongly suggested the drug had been administered.

Surveillance footage captured him struggling to maintain balance outside the arena he had last called Claire. The police concluded that the blunt force injuries could have come from an accidental fall.

Investigations were led into Will's death (Image via Getty)

However, forensic pathologist Dr. Elizabeth Laposata analyzed Will’s facial injuries and concluded they were unlikely to result from a fall. Contusions under the eye and near the nose would require direct impact, such as a punch.

Adding to the mystery, Will’s cell phone was later recovered near 99 Nashua Street. It appeared to have been deliberately destroyed. Forensic testing suggested the phone had been twisted and broken before being run over.

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The connection with the Smiley Face Killers theory

Will Hurley's family, as well as a group of retired New York Police Department detectives and forensic experts, disagreed with the conclusion that Will's death was due to drowning. Underwater forensic investigator Rhonda Moniz challenged the official drowning theory, noting that Will’s body was discovered upstream from where he was last seen.

Given the Charles River’s current, it would have been impossible for his body to drift against the flow, suggesting he had either entered the water elsewhere or had been placed there.

Investigators Kevin Gannon, Michael Donovan, Anthony Duarte, and Professor of Criminal Justice Dr. Lee Gilbertson, who were all part of a team researching the controversial “Smiley Face Killers” theory, argued that Will’s death was likely foul play. They connected his death to the Smiley Face Killers.

The Smiley Face Killers theory refers to an organized group of killers that target college-aged men across the country, drugs them, murders them, and leaves their bodies in rivers or lakes. The place where their bodies were usually recovered from had a smiley emoji, hence the name.

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More than a decade later, Will Hurley’s death remains unsolved, but it has received renewed attention owing to Oxygen’s documentary series Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice, which re-airs Will's episode this Thursday.

Edited by Sneha Haldar