(CNN) — “Enough is enough of wild speculation.”

Houston Mayor John Whitmire was frustrated as he stood in front of the cameras alongside the police chief last month, trying to dispel the rumors that have cast a veil of anxiety over the vast network of bayous that crisscross his city.

“There is no evidence that there is a serial killer loose on the streets of Houston,” Whitmire said at the news conference.

A crescendo of nervous speculation reached fever pitch in the city when the body of 20-year-old University of Houston student Jade McKissic was pulled from Brays Bayou on September 15 – one of seven deaths reported in Houston area bayous last month.

The promising honors student had mysteriously vanished after spending an evening with friends at a local bar then leaving alone without

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