A frozen head was found on a park bench in Minneapolis with the word “PERV” carved in it. Who killed Adam Johnson and left the city this disturbing message?
On June 17, 2021, body parts were found strewn around a neighborhood in Northeast Minneapolis. Trash bags containing various parts of a man’s body were found by local residents. More disturbingly, a leg was found, cut into pieces, seemingly on display, outside of the Ukrainian American Community Center on Main St NE. It was like something out of Criminal Minds or Bones, deliberate and evocative.
Five days later, however, an even more gruesome sight was discovered. Between 6:15am and 6:45am on the morning of June 22, a head was placed on a park bench on a paved trail on the bank of the Mississippi River, off of Franklin Ave & West River Road. A man walked past the bench at 6:15a and saw nothing there, but by 6:45a, a jogger found the head and promptly alerted authorities.
Police confirmed to Johnson’s family not only that it was his, but that “PERV” was carved into his forehead (presumably short for “pervert”). The head had also been frozen postmortem, and was beginning to thaw when discovered. While Minnesota gets dangerously cold in the winter, the low on June 21 was only 59°F (15°C), so it was frozen offsite before being placed on the bench.
A little over a month later, in late July, more of his body parts were found in the Mississippi River. This marked the fourth separate location his body parts were found in. As far as I could tell online, some of his body parts are still missing.
Adam Johnson was a loving and dedicated parent… when he was sober. He struggled with substance use and addiction, as well as mental illness. He attempted to check himself into a hospital for suicidal thoughts just days before his death (I couldn’t find any reason as to why he was denied, but I’d guess it had to do with hospital overcrowding). He didn’t have a permanent job or address. His child’s mother and a few other former partners have gone on record to speak in his favor. He had no known enemies, according to family and friends. Adam was sober when he was found- his toxicology reports were negative for any illicit drugs.
By October, the FBI stepped in to assist the Minneapolis Police Department in seeking justice for Adam and his loved ones. But that’s where the story ends.
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