Do these Auburn deaths look like one connected pattern?

The count is a reason to ask questions, but it cannot establish a connection by itself. We would need to know how many people use those canals and tracks, how often deaths occur in comparable places, and whether the incidents share meaningful details beyond being in the same area.

A useful next step would be a case-by-case timeline using verified records. If the dates, circumstances, and forensic findings do not line up, the overall number may look more striking than the evidence for a single cause.

I would separate the canal deaths from the train deaths first, then look for specific overlaps. The locations and circumstances may be quite different, so grouping them together could create a pattern that is not actually there.

For each case, the most useful questions are what investigators documented, what physical evidence was available, and whether any detail independently links one incident to another. Family doubts deserve to be heard, but they are not the same as evidence of a shared offender.

There is a human side to this that can get lost when cases become a mystery story. Families may have good reasons to question an official finding, and a documentary can bring those concerns into view. Still, a dramatic presentation is a starting point for checking claims, not proof that the deaths were connected.