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Presumed Victim of John Wayne Gacy Found Alive and in Florida

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This Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011 photo provided by Theresa Hassleberg, shows Harold Wayne Lovell, right, and his brother, Tim, posing for a photo during a family reunion in Ozark, Ala. Harold, whose family had long feared he was a victim of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, has been found living in Florida. He was 19 when he vanished from his home to look for construction work in May 1977. (AP Photo/Theresa Hasselberg)
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart's attempts to identify the remains of the eight unidentified victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy is already producing results.

Harold Wayne Lovell, long presumed to be one of Gacy's victims, was found to be living in Florida after his family submitted a DNA kit for testing.

Lovell went missing in 1979. His family stopped their search years ago after a reconstructive sketch of one of the unidentified Gacy victims resembled him. Lovell's sister, Theresa Hasselberg, was one of the families that requested a DNA kit in the weeks following the exhumation of the unidentified victims.

What they received instead was a hit for an online booking photo and a police record for Lovell. Here's a mugshot of Lovell, taken during a pot bust in Pinellas County, FL.

The 53-year-old Lovell was reunited with his family yesterday. Lovell said in an interview, "I've gone from having nothing to having all this. It's awesome." We can only assume that Lovell and his family, who didn't have the best relationship with each other growing up, probably have a ton questions to ask each other.

A family that, today, has closure.

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Comments [rss]

  • HymietownHero

    So, ah, why did this guy run away and cut off contact with his family for 32 years? Kind of a dick move.

  • My suspicion is that there are underlying issues besides being a dick.

  • chee1rs

    wow , what strange stuff

  • rnrnys

    See, John Wayne Gacy wasn't such a bad guy after all. Talk about rush to judgement!

    Score one for that sad clown.

  • My first thought when Dart started this was that surely there were some crimes committed by people who haven't already been punished permanently that could stand some extra attention. This outcome tells me I was too quick to criticise. One family finding a loved one and getting closure justifies the expense.

  • twocee

    I wouldn't go so far as to say it completely justifies the expense, but it certainly does bring some logic to the entire enterprise.

  • slickpoetry

    Did everyone born in that era have the middle name Wayne or what?

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