Two More Bodies Linked to Gacy are Identified

by Patricia Leeds

A 20-year-old father and the 16-year-old son of a college physics professor were identified Wednesday as two of the bodies linked to John Gacy, indicted in 33 murders. The two vanished eight days apart in 1977, and their remains were found side by side in the center of the crawl space under Gacy’s former home in Norwood Park Township, south of Park Ridge. Tommy Boling Jr., whose son, Timmie, is now 3, and Robert Winch, whose father, David, teaches physics at Kalamazoo Michigan College, became the 18th and 19th of the 33 bodies to be identified. The identities of 14 bodies remain unknown.

BOLING WAS Identified through his wedding ring as well as dental charts. Winch was identified through a distinctive “tiger’s eye” belt buckle and markings on bones that had been broken in an accident and then healed. Winch was reported missing November 11, 1977. Boling was reported missing November 18, 1977. Winch was the second resident of Kalamazoo whose remains were found buried on Gacy’s property. Jon Prestidge, 20, of Kalamazoo, vanished March 15, 1977, shortly after he had moved to Chicago from Michigan. His body was identified January 6. Members of the Winch family said Robert had been in trouble before and vanished after running away from a foster home. He had a sister and four brothers.

TOMMY BOLING had been living with his wife, Jolli, and his son in an apartment near Keeler and Wabansia Avenues when he disappeared. A sister said he was using drugs at the time. Gacy, a husky 37-year-old building contractor, is under indictment for the murder of 33 young men and boys.