Body in River Determined to Be Sex Case Victim Piest

Morris (AP)
Authorities Monday night identified the body of 15-year-old Robert Piest, whose disappearance in December led to the arrest of John W. Gacy Jr., accused of seven sex-murders. Dr. Edward J. Pavlik, a forensic odontologist, said the identification of a body recovered earlier Monday from the Illinois River was made after it was X-rayed at a Joliet hospital. Terry Sullivan, Cook County assistant state’s attorney, said the decomposition was not severe, and that “the body was recovered by (Grundy County) sheriff’s officers intact.” Authorities said the parents of the dead Des Plaines youth were notified after the identification. Piest’s body was spotted’ in water at the Dresden Locks along the river early Monday by a crane operator.

It had been found near the same spot where another body that has been linked to Gacy turned up. The youth had been missing since December 12. Gacy had been charged with his murder, and that of six other young men, although Piest’s body had not been found. Gacy has been linked to the deaths of more than 30 sex-murder victims. The Piest youth’s disappearance triggered an investigation by Des Plaines police LL Joseph Kozenczak, now a captain, shortly before Christmas that ultimately led to the unearthing of 29 bodies on the property of Gacy, a 37-year-old building contractor. Earlier in the day, a state appellate court in Chicago denied a request by Gacy’s attorneys to delay the piecemeal demolition of his house, which is already partly disassembled.

The Illinois Appellate Court upheld Cook County Circuit Court Judge Richard Jorzak’s order that the house be torn down. Twenty-seven skeletal remains have been unearthed beneath the home itself, while one was found under the garage and another beneath a patio structure. Glenn Frederichs, Assistant Cook County Highway Department Superintendent said a six-man crew would tear the house apart board-by-board to avoid disturbing any evidence remaining inside. He said demolition probably would start today. A total of three other bodies found in the Illinois and Des Plaines rivers have been linked to Gacy. Earlier Monday, Grundy County Coroner James I. Reeves said the body was decomposed to the extent that he could not estimate the age of the victim. All the clothing was gone when the body was taken from the river. Gacy has been hospitalized for treatment of chest pains since Friday.