Questions are being raised about the mysterious deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs fans who “froze to death” in a friend’s backyard after watching a playoff game.
David Harrington, Ricky Johnson and Clayton McGeeney visited an unnamed friend’s house on January 7 to watch the Chiefs’ playoff win against the Chargers, but never came home.
When the fiancée of one of the men couldn’t get a hold of him for two days, she broke into the house and discovered one of their bodies on the porch. After the police were called, they soon found the bodies of the other two men in the backyard as well.
The homeowner claimed the three men froze to death, and investigators ruled out foul play after refusing to make arrests.
Now the men’s loved ones are speaking out to demand answers, as they insist the reported circumstances of the deaths simply don’t add up.
David Harrington, Clayton McGeeney and Ricky Johnson (L-R) were found frozen to death on January 9, two days after watching a Chiefs playoff game at a friend’s house
The owner of the house (pictured) told police that the men had frozen to death in his backyard. Their loved ones have raised questions about the lack of coverage of their bodies, and the snow they say was not deep enough to submerge them
“No one believes this story,” said Harrington’s mother Jennifer Marquez. “None of his friends, none of the families, none of us believe it… Everyone is furious.”
The family of Johnson, a father of three, spoke with NewsNation this week, saying they have been left sad and confused by the sudden death of the ‘loving’ man.
“It’s very hard to keep up,” Johnson’s mother Norma said. ‘Something’s not right.’
She said police are “doing nothing” to solve the mystery of her son’s death, and called for “at least an investigation into the owner of the house, who has not been publicly identified.”
Although relatives of the men believe investigators did not pay enough attention to the case, Kansas City police previously said they are awaiting results from a medical examiner on the cause of death before proceeding.
The department did not immediately respond to a request for an update on the case.
Police have also reportedly redoubled their determination that there was no foul play in the deaths, saying they are treating the case as a death investigation and not a murder investigation.
But police responses have done little to satisfy the men’s loved ones, with Norma speculating that the trio had been ‘poisoned’. No evidence has been provided by police to support this theory.
Father-of-three Ricky Johnson was described as a “cherished son, brother, uncle and friend” who was loved by his “three beautiful daughters.” His brother said, “My brother was a smart man, and there’s no way he could just freeze to death.”
David Harrington (left) and Clayton McGeeney (right) were among three men found dead
Johnson’s grief-stricken family say they are unhappy with the investigation, with his brother Jonathan Price (centre) saying ‘freezing to death is not a cause of death I would accept’
Some who claim to know the men claimed the home owner’s circumstances were even more bizarre, with a Facebook post written by friend Kaylee La Tier reported by Inside editionclaiming he had a bizarre reaction.
‘(He) was alive in his house while my friends lay dead in his garden for God knows how long. They had all been hanging out since after Sunday’s game. He KNEW people were looking for them,” she wrote.
‘He read messages on Tuesday from people looking for him. My husband banged on his door for 20 minutes. My friend banged on his door and then broke a window and screamed and announced her presence while she was inside and still nothing from him?
“Then the police show up 10 minutes later and he casually walks out in his boxers with an empty wine glass in hand??!”
Johnson’s sister added that they haven’t heard “much at all” from investigators, and have been left in the dark about how they came to the conclusion that foul play was not involved.
The two-day delay in finding the men and the lack of any reports of their disappearance have also raised eyebrows.
Johnson’s brother Jonathan Price said he heard the home’s owner had animals that needed to get out, and claimed the city didn’t get enough snow to submerge the men so they could remain hidden for days.
“There’s a lot of different things that don’t add up, we just don’t understand how anyone would at least be investigated in any way,” he said.
“We heard he’s moving too, so we don’t know if he’ll be here for long.”
Johnson’s mother (center, with his family) believes police are “doing nothing” to solve the mystery of her son’s death, and called for an “at least investigation” into the home’s owner, which has not been publicly identified.
Amid the frustration of the men’s loved ones demanding answers, police say they are awaiting the results of a medical examiner’s report before proceeding with the investigation.
He said Johnson and his two friends were inseparable, but he didn’t know the owner of the house and hadn’t heard how his brother met him.
Price said he didn’t want to speculate about his brother’s death, but said the circumstances didn’t make sense to him at all.
‘My brother was a smart man, and there was no way he would just freeze to death. Freezing to death is not a cause of death I would accept,” he said.
In a GoFundMe before Johnson’s funeral, he was described as a “cherished son, brother, uncle and friend” who was loved by his “three beautiful daughters.”
Johnson’s father raised the possibility of legal action KSHB that he has retained an attorney and is awaiting a search warrant.
“I’m not going to step back and let it go,” he said. “I will continue until the day I die to find this out.”