New John Wayne Gacy Victim Identified Using DNA Link

Police and investigators have identified a new victim of the notorious Chicagoland serial killer, John Wayne Gacy.

During a press conference held on Monday, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart revealed the name of the victim: Francis Wayne Alexander, formerly known as "Gacy Victim Five." Gacy is believed to have killed Alexander between 1976 and 1977 when the victim would have been 21-22 years old. Alexander's remains were among those found in the crawlspace beneath Gacy's Norwood Park home on December 26, 1978.

Dart was joined by members of the DNA Doe Project, an investigative group committed to finding the identities of "John and Jane Does" with the help of DNA and genetic genealogy. The group was able to identify the new victim by comparing a well-preserved piece of DNA to samples submitted to various genealogy sites. This same method was used to identify California's "Golden State Killer" as Joseph James DeAngelo in 2018.

"In 2019 the Cook County Sheriff's Office and the DNA Doe Project began a collaboration to consider using investigative genetic genealogy to help resolve some of Cook County's remaining unidentified victims," the DNA Doe Project explained in an official release. "Gacy Victim Five was ultimately selected as a promising first case.

"An attached molar was submitted to Astrea Forensics in Santa Cruz, California, for DNA extraction. The sample was then delivered to HudsonAlpha Discovery in Huntsville, Alabama for Whole Genome Sequencing. Once sequencing was completed the file was sent to Saber Investigations for bioinformatics, whereupon the resulting DNA file was uploaded to GEDmatch. DNA matches in the second cousin range were found, enabling DDP's team of volunteer genetic genealogists to construct family trees and identify Francis Wayne Alexander as a candidate for Gacy Victim #5."

Details of Alexander's life prior to his death are unclear. Originally from North Carolina, he is believed to have moved to New York before moving to Chicago. He was married for three months during his time there, getting a divorce in 1975. The last record of his existence, the Cook County Sheriff confirmed, was a parking ticket he received in Chicago in January 1976. Other records indicated that he had very little income during that same year.

It is also unclear how Alexander might have come into contact with Gacy. All that is known is that he lived in an area that the "Killer Clown" frequently visited and where several other victims lived.

"It is hard, even 45 years later, to know the fate of our beloved Wayne," Carolyn Sanders, Alexander's sister, wrote in a statement. "He was killed at the hands of a vile and evil man. Our hearts are heavy, and our sympathies go out to the other victims' families. ...We can now lay to rest what happened and move forward by honoring Wayne."

Following his arrest in December 1978, Gacy was found guilty of 33 murders and sentenced to death three months later. He was executed via lethal injection on May 10, 1984.

Of his confirmed victims, 26 were found in the crawlspace beneath his house. Three more were found buried elsewhere on the property. The final four people Gacy admitted to killing were found in waterways outside of Chicago.