Families Come Forward Hoping for Closure on Gacy Murders

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 18, 2011 6:50PM

Last week the Tribune broke news about the Cook County Sheriff Department exhuming the graves of the eight unidentified victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy to extract DNA samples in the hopes they can finally put names to the remains.

Since that story ran, Sheriff Tom Dart said nearly 70 families have contacted his office with information or to request DNA kits for testing.

DNA samples have been collected from two Chicago-area families and DNA swab kits have been sent to authorities to gather samples from families in Iowa and Minnesota. People who have contacted the Sheriff's Department have given information of their missing loved ones that may have placed them in the paths Gacy traveled as he killed at least 33 men between 1972 and 1978.

We've had some discussion among the Chicagoist staff about the increase in Gacy chatter the past two weeks; some of us wondered if Dart had bigger fish to fry.

Dart in many ways is more politician than law enforcement officer, but this is part of his job. If he and his department can somehow provide some closure to the eight families who have been missing loved ones for nearly 40 years, why not provide them with the closure they need?