Cook County authorities say John Wayne Gacy killed 33 teenage boys and young men in the Chicago area between 1972 and 1978. Five victims remain unidentified, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Police; DNA profiles suitable for comparison have been obtained for all five. The “killer clown” label is a sensational detail of the case, but the unresolved work is about restoring names to people whose identities are still unknown.
How many of Gacy’s victims remain unidentified?
The current public count from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police is five. The agency says their remains were recovered from Gacy’s residence in late 1978 and early 1979, and that suitable DNA profiles are now available for comparison for each of them.
Counts in older reports reflect the status at the time, rather than today’s total. In 2011, the National Institute of Justice reported eight unidentified victims. In July 2017, Cook County said six remained after identifying James “Jimmie” Byron Haakenson; William Bundy had already been identified. The Sheriff’s current page lists five.
What is established about the victims?
Cook County describes the 33 victims as teenage boys and young men killed in the Chicago area from 1972 through 1978. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) says the bodies were recovered from Gacy’s property and the Des Plaines River. The NIJ account names people identified through later work, including Bundy and Haakenson, but it is not a complete, current victim-by-victim record. A full list of names or biographies cannot be established from these agency accounts alone.
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How have victims been identified decades later?
The original investigation faced limits that later forensic work could address. In an NIJ interview, Cook County Sheriff’s Police Commander Jason Moran said, “DNA was not available to aid in identifying Gacy’s unidentified victims.” Some remains were markedly decomposed or skeletal, according to the interview, and investigators relied on methods such as reviewing dental records and available case records.
Later cold-case work added DNA analysis and family reference samples, alongside investigative and historical records. DNA can provide a comparison, but identifying a person also depends on suitable reference material and investigative corroboration.
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Haakenson: a documented identification
Cook County reported that Haakenson left St. Paul for Chicago in 1976 and was never heard from again after calling his mother on August 5. Sibling DNA samples showed a strong genetic association with the remains designated Victim #24. Detectives corroborated the identification by reviewing missing-person, Social Security and post-mortem records, according to the Sheriff’s Office’s 2017 announcement.
The NIJ also describes Bundy’s identification through analysis of family reference samples and later grant-funded DNA analysis that identified Haakenson. Haakenson’s case demonstrates how forensic comparison and documentary investigation can work together; it does not establish that every identification followed the same sequence.
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How can relatives help identify the five?
The Sheriff’s Office says it is seeking living blood relatives of male family members who went missing in the United States between 1970 and 1979 and are willing to provide a DNA sample for direct comparison with the unidentified victims’ profiles. The agency says samples are collected by cheek swab and results usually take about three months. Because procedures and contact details can change, use the current Sheriff’s Office instructions; the page lists the Sheriff’s Police number as (708) 865-6244.
This is a law-enforcement family-reference process, not a request to purchase or submit a consumer DNA test. Relatives should contact the Sheriff’s Office for instructions rather than send a sample independently.
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