Forty Years Later, New John Wayne Gacy Victim Identified
Authorities in Cook County have identified Francis Wayne Alexander, a native of North Carolina who was living in Chicago at the time of his death, as another victim of John Wayne Gacy by using DNA evidence and expanding genealogical databases.
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Authorities in Cook County have identified Francis Wayne Alexander, a native of North Carolina who was living in Chicago at the time of his death, as another victim of John Wayne Gacy by using DNA evidence and expanding genealogical databases, reports the New York Times. Gacy was arrested in 1978. When officials searched his home in Norwood Park Township, Ill., they found 29 bodies in or near his house, most of them in the home’s crawl space. Four other victims were found in the nearby Des Plaines River.
Detectives in Cook County have painstakingly worked to identify victims who remained unknown, solving three cold cases since 2011. Five victims are still unidentified. The investigation into Victim No. 5 — the fifth victim discovered at the Gacy house, now found to be Alexander — began about one year ago. Using DNA from one of Victim No. 5’s molars, the DNA Doe Project found connections to Alexander’s family, then detectives followed up with research, interviews and further DNA testing before confirming that they had found the identity of the victim.
