A sign shows the cross streets of Rainey and River in Austin.
Rumors of a serial killer in Austin first surfaced in 2023 on social media. Credit: Shutterstock / Kelly Jobe

A new paper by Texas State University researchers dismisses the Rainey Street Ripper — a purported serial killer said to drown victims along downtown Austin’s lakeshore — as nothing more than another urban myth.

On Tuesday, Texas State’s Center for Geospatial Intelligence and Investigation released a 41-page report that analyzed 189 drownings at Lady Bird Lake between 2004 and 2025. Researchers looked into the deaths after rumors about an Austin serial killer began to circulate online.

The analysis, which cited the Current’s reporting, found that that there were no time-and-place clusters among the drowning victims, not any other indications of a serial killer at work. What’s more, over the period analyzed, 2023 — the year where the rumor built into frenzy — actually had fewer reported drownings than 2015, 2018 and 2020, when adjusted for population.

“The number of drownings in Austin is a function of population, Lady Bird Lake visitation, and the proliferation of nearby bars and nightclubs,” the report said. “While the shores of the Colorado River are not being stalked by a serial killer, the hazards of drowning in Texas remain a concern.”

As interest built in the drownings, online sleuths alleged an Austin serial killer was targeting white men in their mid-20s and 30s. However, the Texas State researchers found that fewer than half of the drowning victims in the data matched that profile.

Instead of chasing an imaginary boogeyman, Texas State researchers wrote in their report that the City of Austin should take a targeted approach to prevent drowning deaths.

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This article appears in Aug 21 – Sep 2, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...