The family of one of the three football fans found dead at the back of their friend’s house has hired a private detective to try and uncover the truth.

On January 9, the bodies of David Harrington, Ricky Johnson and Clayton McGeeney were found in the backyard of their friend, Jordan Willis, an HIV scientist who lives in Kansas City, Missouri. They had been there since January 7, when the three men visited Willis to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the Los Angeles Chargers.

Ricky Johnson’s family has now hired a private detective amid a stalled police investigation and an intense public debate about what happened to the men.

Willis said that he hadn’t been at the back of his house for two days and didn’t know the men were there until he was alerted by McGeeney’s fiancee.

Stephanie Walling, a niece of Johnson, announced on Facebook on Monday that his family had hired the detective. She wrote that his father, Ricky Johnson Snr., had set up a GoFundMe fundraising page to pay for the investigator, a lawyer and other expenses while the family searches for the truth.

“That [GoFundMe] was created by Ricky’s father. Linda was Ricky’s step mother. They have hired a PI and a lawyer and need help paying for that,” she said in response to a query from a supporter.

Walling added that there is now a separate GoFundMe page for each of the three deceased friends.

Police have said they are not treating the deaths as homicides.

Willis’ attorney, John Picerno, said his client “had absolutely nothing to do with the deaths of his three friends,” two of whom he’s known since high school.

“He’s grieving, he’s had to move out of his home, he’s had to shut down his social media, he’s taking leave of absence from his job, so it’s really affected him,” Picerno told KCTV in Kansas City.

Picerno said that after the friends went to his house following the Chiefs game, Willis decided to sleep on his couch and said goodnight to his friends at around 2 a.m.

“He thought that they left out the front door,” Picerno told KCTV.

Asked why Willis didn’t check for them in the backyard, Picerno said he had no reason to go out into the backyard, and he didn’t know anyone was there.

The medical examiner’s office has yet to determine a cause of death.

April Mahoney, McGeeney’s fiancée went to the house on January 9 and found the first body. She then called police. A neighbor’s video showed the police arriving and questioning Willis at his front door.

On January 9, Captain Jake Becchina of the Kansas City Police Department said in a statement: “First and foremost, this case is 100% NOT being investigated as a homicide. There have not been any arrests [or] charges, and no one is in custody.

“There are no specific threats or concerns for the surrounding community at this time.

“The resident at the house was cooperative with detectives the day the deceased were discovered.”