The Killer Clown's Last Secret: 5 Unidentified Victims And The DNA Hunt That Won't Stop

The legacy of John Wayne Gacy, the infamous "Killer Clown," remains a chilling chapter in American true crime history, but his case is far from closed. As of late 2025, the shadow of Gacy’s heinous crimes still looms, not because of the man himself—who was executed in 1994—but because of the five young men whose identities he stole, and whose remains are still classified as "unidentified victims." The current focus on this decades-old case is a testament to the relentless efforts of forensic investigators and the Cook County Sheriff's Police, who are leveraging modern DNA technology to give these final victims their names back.

The terrifying dual life of Gacy, a respected Chicago-area building contractor and a beloved children's party entertainer known as "Pogo the Clown," is the ultimate study in criminal deception. The ongoing forensic investigation, which has successfully identified several victims in the last decade, highlights a new era of accountability, proving that even after decades, the truth can still emerge from the darkness of Gacy’s infamous crawl space.

The Double Life: John Wayne Gacy Biography and Timeline

John Wayne Gacy's life was a meticulously constructed facade of normalcy that masked a violent and predatory nature. His crimes, committed between 1972 and 1978, exposed a depravity that shocked the world and earned him the moniker "The Killer Clown."

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• Full Name: John Wayne Gacy Jr.
• Date of Birth: March 17, 1942
• Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
• Spouses: Marlynn Myers (1964–1968), Carole Hoff (1972–1975)
• Occupation: Building Contractor (P.D.M. Contractors), Part-Time Clown/Entertainer
• Clown Persona: Pogo the Clown (and sometimes Patches the Clown)
• Victims: Convicted of the murder of 33 boys and young men.
• Primary Crime Location: His residence at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue, Norwood Park Township, Chicago.
• Arrest Date: December 21, 1978
• Conviction Date: March 12, 1980 (33 counts of murder)
• Execution Date: May 10, 1994 (Executed by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Center, Illinois)
• Criminal Status: Executed

The Sinister Art of Pogo the Clown

The persona of "Pogo the Clown" was more than just a costume; it was a key psychological tool in Gacy’s arsenal. Gacy used his role as a children's entertainer, often performing at local parades, hospitals, and political functions, to cultivate an image of community respectability. This facade provided him with the perfect cover, allowing him to lure victims—mostly teenage boys and young men—with promises of construction work or modeling opportunities, or simply by offering a ride.

The makeup Gacy used for Pogo was distinct, featuring a large, painted smile and expressive eyebrows, though forensic experts and criminologists have long debated the deeper meaning of the design. The very existence of "Pogo the Clown" has since tainted the profession, leading to the cultural phenomenon of "killer clown" fears and forcing organizations like the Chicago Metropolitan Clown Guild to publicly distance themselves from Gacy's horrific actions. The contrast between the cheerful, benevolent clown and the sadistic serial killer is what cemented Gacy’s place as a uniquely terrifying figure in the public consciousness.

The Crawl Space and The House of Horrors

The overwhelming majority of Gacy’s victims—29 out of 33—were found buried beneath his modest ranch house at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue in Norwood Park Township, an unincorporated area outside Chicago. The discovery in December 1978 and early 1979 revealed a chilling reality: Gacy had turned the crawl space beneath his home into a mass grave, meticulously hiding the bodies in shallow, plastic-wrapped graves. The sheer volume of victims buried in such close proximity was unprecedented in American criminal history at the time.

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The excavation process was gruesome and prolonged, with investigators having to work in cramped, foul-smelling conditions. Four other victims were later found in the Des Plaines River, having been disposed of there after Gacy ran out of space under his home. The house itself became a morbid landmark. Following the exhaustive investigation, the ranch structure was demolished in 1979, and the lot was eventually sold. A new house was built on the site, a stark contrast to the horrors that lay beneath the original foundation, a symbolic attempt to erase the memory of the "house of death."

The Ongoing Hunt: DNA Technology and The Five Nameless Victims

Despite Gacy’s execution over three decades ago, the case remains active. The most compelling and current aspect of the John Wayne Gacy story is the effort by the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department to identify the five remaining unidentified victims. This mission is driven by the belief that every victim deserves their name and a proper burial with their family.

The breakthrough came in 2011 when Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart reopened the case and ordered the exhumation of eight unidentified victims. Using advanced mitochondrial DNA and genealogical tracing, investigators began the painstaking process of matching the remains to missing persons reports from the 1970s.

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The efforts have yielded significant results:

• William Bundy: Identified in 2011, he was the first of the unidentified victims to be named.
• Francis Wayne Alexander: Identified in 2021, Alexander was known as Victim #5. He was 21 years old when Gacy murdered him in 1976. His identification was a major victory for genealogical forensic experts, including the DNA Doe Project.
• Robert Piest: While not an unidentified victim, Piest's disappearance in 1978 was the catalyst that led police to Gacy’s door, ultimately leading to Gacy's arrest.

Today, five victims recovered from the crawl space remain unnamed. Authorities are actively seeking DNA samples from families who had male relatives disappear in the Chicago area between 1970 and 1978. The identification process relies heavily on public cooperation and the ever-evolving science of genetic genealogy, offering a glimmer of hope that the final secrets of the "Killer Clown" will be uncovered. The dedication to this cold case ensures that Gacy's victims are not forgotten and that the historical record of his crimes is finally complete.