Local Orthodontist Identifies Another of Gacy’s Victims
A south suburban dentist who seven years ago headed the team that identified victims of mass murderer John Wayne Gacy last week identified another of the Gacy victims. Dr. Edward Pavlik, an Olympia Fields orthodontist and specialist in forensic dentistry, identified Timothy Jack McCoy, 15, of Nebraska as one of Gacy’s victims. McCoy is the 25th of 33 victims to be identified so far. Pavlik made the identification through dental records and x-rays matched with records provided by a dentist in Florida who examined McCoy in 1968 when the victim was 10 years old.
MCCOY DISAPPEARED in January 1973, after being put on a bus by relatives in Michigan to his home in Nebraska. The bus trip included a 12-hour layover in Chicago. Most of Gacy’s victims, young boys in their teens and early 20s, were discovered buried beneath his Chicago home in December 1978. At the time, Pavlik, a consultant with the Cook’ county medical examiner’s office, was called in to head the team to identify the victims. The bodies were badly decomposed, and identification was made mainly through dental records. ” Some 22 of the victims were identified before Gacy went to trial in February 1980, and another two were identified after the trial started, according to Pavlik.
PAVLIK, WHO CURRENTLY is chief consultant with the medical examiner’s office and a consultant with the Chicago police department, has remained on the case for the past seven years. From time to time, he said, he will receive records from law enforcement officials from around the country who believe information they have might “apply to our case.” “We get two or three of these a year,” the Olympia Fields orthodontist said. The circumstances surrounding McCoy’s disappearance, particularly the 12-hour layover in Chicago on his bus trip to Nebraska, and a belt buckle found with the remains raised suspicions that McCoy might have been one of Gacy’s victims.
THOSE SUSPICIONS were confirmed recently when McCoy’s dental records were submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Florida. “Once these records came out, we put it all together,” Pavlik said. The Olympia Fields dentist said that although interest in the case is diminishing, he continues to follow through on leads provided on possible Gacy victims and that he may soon be able to identify another of the victims. While some of the remaining eight victims may never be identified, he said, “I would expect well get another couple of identifications.”
PAVLIK ALSO HEADED the team that identified victims of the American Airlines flight 191 that crashed soon after take-off from O’Hare airport in May 1979, killing all persons aboard. Although Pavlik’s practice in Olympia Fields is devoted to orthodontia, he spends much of his time outside the office in the area of forensic dentistry, including testifying in dental malpractice suits. He is one of two dentists in Illinois certified in forensic odontology.
