2 More Bodies Tied to Gacy Identified

Two more of the 29 bodies that have been recovered by authorities and linked to accused murderer John Wayne Gacy were identified Saturday. One was identified as John Mowery of 2151 W. Sunnyside Avenue, who was reported missing to Chicago police September 25, 1977, when he was 19. The second was identified as Matthew Bowman, of 318 Maplewood Avenue, Crystal Lake, who was reported missing by his sister July 5, 1977, when he was 18. The identifications were made from dental charts by a team of forensic dentists headed by Dr. Edward Pavlik of Olympia Fields.

So far, authorities said, they have sifted through more than 100 dental charts in attempts to make identifications. The identifications Saturday brought to a total of 12 the number of bodies identified, and both bodies were among those dug up from the crawl space beneath Gacy’s home. Of the 29 bodies recovered and linked to Gacy the largest number of murder victims linked to one person in the nation’s history were found buried in the crawl space, one was buried under Gacy’s garage floor, and two were recovered from the Des Plaines River in Will County.

Three more still are sought. Gacy, a 36-year-old builder, has been indicted on charges of murdering seven young men and boys. He reportedly told investigators after his December 21 arrest that he killed 32 youths in his house in Norwood Park Township after engaging in sexual relations with them. Dr. Robert Stein, Cook County, medical examiner urged parents and friends of missing youths to come forward with dental charts so they can be checked against the remains of the 17 victims yet to be identified. Stein said the identification process was “going slow” because of the difficulty in obtaining dental charts of missing youths. He suspected that some parents might be reluctant to face the possibility that their son might have been murdered. Stein has met with George Dunne, Cook County Board president, to review the cost of the recovery and identification of the bodies so far, and Dunne assured him that funds were available, to cover the cost, Stein said.