Decades later, DNA tests ID Gacy victim

CHICAGO -- After her older brother disappeared in 1976, Laura O'Leary suspected that the 19-year-old construction worker had probably died at the hands of John Wayne Gacy. But the family was never able to prove it.

They got little help from authorities. And they couldn't locate any dental records to compare with the skeletal remains found beneath the serial killer's house.

O'Leary clung for more than 30 years to a few items that once belonged to William George Bundy -- a bracelet she'd given him for his 18th birthday, a high school photo ID and an autographed schoolbook.

Her worst suspicions were confirmed yesterday, when Bundy was identified as one of eight young men found under Gacy's home.

The identification of Bundy came weeks after the sheriff's office issued a public appeal for families of young men who disappeared in the 1970s to submit DNA samples for comparison with victims' remains.

Investigators exhumed the remains earlier this year, hoping that the passage of time and advancement of technology would work in their favor. They established a hotline and a website for people to file reports.

Det. Jason Moran said investigators were learning more about Gacy, his victims and gaps in police work in the 1970s and '80s, including missing-persons reports that were never followed up or pursued.

Gacy is remembered as one of history's most bizarre killers, largely because of his work as an amateur clown. He was convicted of murdering 33 young men, sometimes luring them to his Chicago-area home for sex by impersonating a police officer or promising them construction work. Gacy was executed in 1994.

-- AP