Detective work, utilizing expanded DNA databases, continues to unravel mysterious surrounding the victims of John Wayne Gacy, decades after the famous serial killer was executed for his crimes.
Just this October, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office announced they used new technology to help solve an old case involving one of the most infamous serial killers in U.S. history.
Gacy confessed to torturing, sodomizing and murdering 33 young men between 1972 and 1978. He buried most of his victims on his property, but threw five bodies into area rivers. Investigators initially referred to the remains by a number, based on the order in which they were removed from Gacy’s property.
Eventually, the team was able to locate eight wooden boxes containing the victims’ lower jaw bones and teeth. In June 2011, Moran took the remains to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, where the DNA was extracted. They sent the DNA to a second laboratory for sequencing. Vollmer’s team took over the file and uploaded the genetic information to GEDMatch.com, a database where the public can share the results of their ancestry DNA tests in order to access more analytical tools. The team quickly identified a user with associated DNA — likely the victim’s second cousin.
The case with Victim Number Five, fortunately, was easier to track. “There were no surprises in [his] tree. His case was pretty straightforward,” Vollmer says.Once Vollmer’s team identified their Doe candidate, they passed the file back to Moran. He needed to investigate whether the Doe’s circumstance matched that of Victim Number Five.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Report: SFPD has more people's DNA than previously thoughtAn expert said the practice was 'contradictory to any professional ethics.'
Read more »
Africa’s Oldest DNA Is Helping Address Science’s Racial BiasScientists have way more DNA from ancient Europeans than Africans. Now analysis of a genome from nearly 20,000 years ago is answering questions about the continent’s past.
Read more »
Donald Trump's DNA, not deposition sought in defamation suit'This is about principle. It's about a powerful man assaulting and raping a woman and then getting away with it. That's not right,' E. Jean Carroll said.
Read more »
San Francisco Police To Stop Using Victims’ DNA To Link Them To CrimesThe California police force caused a national uproar after a sexual assault survivor was matched to a property crime through a DNA sample in her rape kit.
Read more »
SF Police to Stop Using Rape Victims' DNA to Investigate CrimesOfficials say the San Francisco Police Department is no longer using DNA from sexual assault survivors and other victims to investigate unrelated crimes.
Read more »
Africa’s oldest human DNA helps unveil an ancient population shiftLong-distance mate seekers started staying closer to home about 20,000 years ago.
Read more »