Editing John Wayne Gacy (section)

===Murder of John Butkovich===
{{main|Murder of John Butkovich}}
[[File:John Butkovich Chicago Tribune 13 March 1980 edition.jpg|upright|right|thumb|John Butkovich]]
On July 31, 1975, John Butkovich, an 18-year-old PDM employee, disappeared.<ref name=search>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PEEsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2963,232748|title=Search at Gacy Home to Resume|newspaper=[[Spartanburg Herald-Journal]]|date=January 1, 1979|access-date=April 11, 2019|via=Google News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928132210/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PEEsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2963%2C232748|archive-date=September 28, 2020}} {{Open access}}</ref> Butkovich's car was later found abandoned with his jacket and wallet inside and the keys in the ignition.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=126–133}}

The day before his disappearance, Butkovich had confronted Gacy over outstanding back pay. Butkovich's father called Gacy, who claimed he was happy to help search for his son but was sorry Butkovich had "run away". When questioned by police, Gacy said Butkovich and two friends had arrived at his house demanding the overdue pay, but they had reached a compromise and all three had left. Over the following three years, Butkovich's parents called police more than 100 times, urging them to investigate Gacy further.{{sfn|Linedecker|1980|pp=83–87}}{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=132-133}}

Gacy later admitted to encountering Butkovich exiting his car, waving to attract his attention. According to Gacy, Butkovich approached him, stating, "I wanna talk to you." Gacy invited Butkovich into his car, then invited him back to his home, ostensibly to settle the issue of his overdue wages.{{efn|Gacy's wife and stepdaughters were visiting his younger sister in [[Arkansas]] at the time.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|p=126}}}} At his home, Gacy offered Butkovich a drink, then conned him into allowing his wrists to be cuffed behind his back. Gacy later confessed to having "sat on the kid's chest for a while" before he strangled him. He stowed Butkovich's body in his garage, intending to bury the body later in the crawl space. When his wife and stepdaughters returned home earlier than expected, Gacy buried Butkovich under the concrete floor of the tool room extension of his garage in an empty space where he had intended to dig a drain tile.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=126–133}}