Timeline of serial killer John Wayne Gacy’s life, case
This image displayed at a news conference by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, shows three photos of Francis Wayne Alexander, a North Carolina native who has been identified as one of the victims of John Wayne Gacy. Alexander’s body was one of many discovered by police in the crawl space of Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago. (Courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, authorities look through buckets containing jaw bones and teeth of victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. Authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of Gacy’s victims. (AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff’s Office, File)
FILE - This 1978 file photo shows serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s and executed in 1994. More than 40 years after a collection of decaying bodies was found beneath Gacy’s house, authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of his victims. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, authorities exhume a box with the remains of unidentified victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. Authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of Gacy’s victims. (AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff’s Office, File)
This undated photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office shows Francis Wayne Alexander. Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that Alexander has been identified as one of the six remaining unnamed victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Alexander was killed by Gacy sometime between early 1976 and early 1977. He would have been 21 or 22 years old at the time of his murder. (Courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, foreground, responds to a question, accompanied by Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, after Dart announced the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of John Wayne Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart answers a question after announcing the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of John Wayne Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran responds to a question after Sheriff Tom Dart announced the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, left, responds to a question with Sheriff Tom Dart after Dart announced the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of John Wayne Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cairenn Fullam-Binder, center, with the nonprofit organization called the DNA Doe Project, talks about the group’s involvement in helping authorities identify “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander, during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Joining Fullam-Binder are Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, left, and and Sheriff Tom Dart. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cairenn Fullam-Binder, center, with the nonprofit organization called the DNA Doe Project, talks about the group’s involvement in helping authorities identify “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander, during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Joining Fullam-Binder are Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, left, and and Sheriff Tom Dart. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
This image displayed at a news conference by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, shows three photos of Francis Wayne Alexander, a North Carolina native who has been identified as one of the victims of John Wayne Gacy. Alexander’s body was one of many discovered by police in the crawl space of Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago. (Courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
This image displayed at a news conference by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, shows three photos of Francis Wayne Alexander, a North Carolina native who has been identified as one of the victims of John Wayne Gacy. Alexander’s body was one of many discovered by police in the crawl space of Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago. (Courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, authorities look through buckets containing jaw bones and teeth of victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. Authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of Gacy’s victims. (AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff’s Office, File)
FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, authorities look through buckets containing jaw bones and teeth of victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. Authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of Gacy’s victims. (AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff’s Office, File)
FILE - This 1978 file photo shows serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s and executed in 1994. More than 40 years after a collection of decaying bodies was found beneath Gacy’s house, authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of his victims. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - This 1978 file photo shows serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s and executed in 1994. More than 40 years after a collection of decaying bodies was found beneath Gacy’s house, authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of his victims. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, authorities exhume a box with the remains of unidentified victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. Authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of Gacy’s victims. (AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff’s Office, File)
FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, authorities exhume a box with the remains of unidentified victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. Authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of Gacy’s victims. (AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff’s Office, File)
This undated photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office shows Francis Wayne Alexander. Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that Alexander has been identified as one of the six remaining unnamed victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Alexander was killed by Gacy sometime between early 1976 and early 1977. He would have been 21 or 22 years old at the time of his murder. (Courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
This undated photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office shows Francis Wayne Alexander. Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that Alexander has been identified as one of the six remaining unnamed victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Alexander was killed by Gacy sometime between early 1976 and early 1977. He would have been 21 or 22 years old at the time of his murder. (Courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, foreground, responds to a question, accompanied by Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, after Dart announced the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of John Wayne Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, foreground, responds to a question, accompanied by Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, after Dart announced the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of John Wayne Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart answers a question after announcing the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of John Wayne Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart answers a question after announcing the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of John Wayne Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran responds to a question after Sheriff Tom Dart announced the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran responds to a question after Sheriff Tom Dart announced the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, left, responds to a question with Sheriff Tom Dart after Dart announced the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of John Wayne Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, left, responds to a question with Sheriff Tom Dart after Dart announced the identity of “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Alexander’s body was among 26 discovered by police in the crawl space of John Wayne Gacy’s home more than 40 years ago, with three more found outside the house and four others found in waterways that Gacy admitted killing. Police were able to identify 25 of the victims but the final eight, Alexander among them, were buried without having ever been identified. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cairenn Fullam-Binder, center, with the nonprofit organization called the DNA Doe Project, talks about the group’s involvement in helping authorities identify “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander, during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Joining Fullam-Binder are Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, left, and and Sheriff Tom Dart. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cairenn Fullam-Binder, center, with the nonprofit organization called the DNA Doe Project, talks about the group’s involvement in helping authorities identify “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander, during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Joining Fullam-Binder are Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, left, and and Sheriff Tom Dart. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cairenn Fullam-Binder, center, with the nonprofit organization called the DNA Doe Project, talks about the group’s involvement in helping authorities identify “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander, during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Joining Fullam-Binder are Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, left, and and Sheriff Tom Dart. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cairenn Fullam-Binder, center, with the nonprofit organization called the DNA Doe Project, talks about the group’s involvement in helping authorities identify “Gacy Victim 5" as North Carolina native Francis Wayne Alexander, during a news conference Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Maywood, Ill. Joining Fullam-Binder are Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jason Moran, left, and and Sheriff Tom Dart. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
CHICAGO (AP) — John Wayne Gacy was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. Authorities found most of his victims’ remains in a crawl space under his suburban Chicago house or buried elsewhere on the property. In 2011, they exhumed the remains of eight victims in the hopes of identifying them through DNA testing. On Monday, authorities identified the third of those eight people as Francis Wayne Alexander, a North Carolina native who moved with his family to New York State as a child and then to Chicago shortly before he disappeared. That left the names of five victims still unknown. Here is a timeline of Gacy’s life and the case:
March 17, 1942: Gacy is born in Chicago.
1972-1978: Gacy, a building contractor who works as “Pogo the Clown” at children’s parties, lures young men and boys to his home just outside of Chicago for sex, then strangles them. He stabs one victim.
December 1978: Gacy comes to the authorities’ attention after 15-year-old Robert Piest goes missing in Des Plaines.
Dec. 21, 1978: Police executing a search warrant find the first set of victim remains in a crawl space under Gacy’s ranch-style house. Other Gacy victims were also found stashed under the home, buried elsewhere on his property or in waterways south of Chicago.
March 1980: Gacy is convicted of killing 33 young men and boys, which made him one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history.
May 10, 1994: Gacy is executed by lethal injection at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet.
Oct. 12, 2011: The Cook County Sheriff’s Department announces that it is undertaking a new effort to identify the remains of eight Gacy victims whose names still were not known. The agency says DNA testing that wasn’t available when the remains were found in 1978 could help.
Nov. 29, 2011: The county identifies one of the victims as William George Bundy, a 19-year-old construction worker from Chicago.
July 19, 2017: The county identifies 16-year-old James “Jimmie” Byron Haakenson as another of Gacy’s victims. The teenager had left his Minnesota home in 1976 and was last heard from in August of that year.
Oct. 25, 2021: Authorities identify another victim as Francis Wayne Alexander, a North Carolina native who moved with his family to New York State as a child and then moved to Chicago not long before he vanished. That leaves the names of five victims still unknown.
___
This story was first published on Oct. 25. It was updated on Oct. 26 to correct that Alexander moved with his family from North Carolina to New York State as a child.