DEKALB, Ill., May 8 (UPI) -- A Northern Illinois University student may be one of several college students slain by a suspected "Smiley Face" killer, authorities said.

The body of Brian Welzien, 21, was found on the shore of Lake Michigan in Gary, Ind., some 10 weeks after he disappeared from outside a hotel in Chicago Jan. 1, 2000, the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald reported Wednesday.

Investigators Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte of Nationwide Investigations have looked at the deaths of 40 young, athletic male college students who disappeared from the Great Lakes area while consuming alcohol with buddies.

Gannon and Duarte said the men could have all been killed by one person or a group of people who mark their work with a spray-painted smiley face.

Investigators said they found the smiley face at death sites in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio.

Police have not said whether a smiley face was seen at Welzien's death site.