Editing John Wayne Gacy (section)

====Recent identification efforts====
[[File:Gacy victims.jpg|thumb|upright=1.85|Facial reconstructions of the unidentified victims, released to the [[News media|media]] in 1980. Depicted left to right are Body 5 (later identified as Francis Alexander), Body 9 (later identified as Timothy McCoy), Body 24 (later identified as James Haakenson), Body 19 (later identified as William Bundy), Body 21, Body 28, Body 13, Body 26, and Body 10.]]

In October 2011, Cook County sheriff [[Thomas Dart]] announced that investigators, having obtained [[DNA profiling|DNA profiles]] from the unidentified victims, were to renew their efforts to identify them. At a press conference Sheriff Dart stated investigators were seeking DNA samples from across the United States related to any male missing between 1970 and 1979.<ref name=unidentified3>{{cite web|url=http://cookcountysheriff.com/sheriffs_police/gacy/gacy.html#MissingForm/|title=Unidentified Victims of John Wayne Gacy|website=Cook County Sheriff's Office|access-date=October 27, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015180420/http://www.cookcountysheriff.com/sheriffs_police/gacy/gacy.html#MissingForm/|archive-date=October 15, 2011}}</ref>

So far the identification of three victims has been confirmed, numerous other missing youths have been ruled out as being victims of Gacy,<ref>{{cite news|last=Babwin|first=Don|date=October 17, 2011|title=Sheriff: Solid Leads in Effort to ID Gacy Victims|newspaper=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/10/17/sheriff_solid_leads_in_effort_to_id_gacy_victims|access-date=October 26, 2011|archive-date=March 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303222248/http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/10/17/sheriff_solid_leads_in_effort_to_id_gacy_victims/}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=More DNA Being Analyzed To Determine IDs Of Gacy Victims|url=http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/05/07/more-dna-being-analyzed-to-determine-ids-of-gacy-victims/|date=May 7, 2012 |work=Chicago.cbslocal.com|access-date=March 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912154334/https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/05/07/more-dna-being-analyzed-to-determine-ids-of-gacy-victims/|archive-date=September 12, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref> and four unrelated [[cold case]]s dating between 1972 and 1979 have been solved.<ref>{{cite news|date=September 21, 2012|title=John Wayne Gacy Investigation Helps Solve Missing Daniel Noe Case|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412012336/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/john-wayne-gacy-investigation_n_1904401|archive-date=April 12, 2019 |work=Huffingtonpost.com|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/21/john-wayne-gacy-investigation_n_1904401.html/|access-date=March 14, 2013}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cook County Sheriff Press – Sheriff's Gacy Investigation Solves 1979 Cold Case|url=http://www.cookcountysheriff.org/press_page/press_%20ColdCaseSolved_09_23_2015.html|publisher=Cook County Sheriff's Department|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927025637/http://www.cookcountysheriff.org/press_page/press_%20ColdCaseSolved_09_23_2015.html|archive-date=September 27, 2015|access-date=September 26, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=September 20, 2012|title=Remains Found in Utah Identified Through John Wayne Gacy Investigation|newspaper=Deseret News|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562848/Remains-found-in-Utah-identified-through-John-Wayne-Gacy-investigation.html|access-date=February 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928134434/https://www.deseret.com/2012/9/20/20506968/remains-found-in-utah-identified-through-john-wayne-gacy-investigation|archive-date=September 28, 2020}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Mills|first=Steve|date=October 26, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028160613/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-10-26/news/ct-met-gacy-victims-20111026_1_gacy-case-john-wayne-gacy-serial-killer|archive-date=October 28, 2011|title=Long-lost Relation, Thought Slain by John Wayne Gacy, Alive and Well and Living in South Florida|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/10/26/long-lost-relation-thought-slain-by-john-wayne-gacy-alive-and-well-and-living-in-south-florida/|url-status=live|access-date=October 26, 2011}} {{Open access}}</ref> Updated facial reconstructions of Bodies 10 and 13 were released in 2018.<ref name=newimg>{{cite web|url=https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/07/23/john-wayne-gacy-unidentified-victims-new-images/|title=New Images Of Unidentified John Wayne Gacy Victims Released|date=July 23, 2018|access-date=October 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819164214/https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/07/23/john-wayne-gacy-unidentified-victims-new-images/|archive-date=August 19, 2018}}</ref>

In November 2011, William Bundy was identified through [[DNA testing]].<ref name=bundy/> Shortly after Gacy's arrest, Bundy's family had contacted his dentist in the hope of submitting his dental records for comparison with the unidentified bodies, but the records had been destroyed after his dentist had retired.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.torontosun.com/2011/11/29/gacys-victim-19-identified-illinois-cops/|title=Gacy's Victim 19 identified: Illinois cops|newspaper=Toronto Sun|date=November 29, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714115951/http://www.torontosun.com/2011/11/29/gacys-victim-19-identified-illinois-cops/|archive-date=July 14, 2014}} {{Open access}}</ref> In July 2017, 16-year-old James Haakenson was identified using DNA testing.<ref>{{cite news|last=Crepeau|first=Megan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525194008/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-john-wayne-gacy-victim-haakenson-20170719-story.html|archive-date=May 25, 2019 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-john-wayne-gacy-victim-haakenson-20170719-story.html|title=Second Long-unknown Gacy Victim Identified as Boy from Minnesota|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=July 19, 2017|access-date=July 20, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref> Francis Wayne Alexander was identified via [[Investigative genetic genealogy|forensic genealogy]] in October 2021.<ref>{{cite news|title=New Victim of Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy Identified Using DNA|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/25/serial-killer-john-wayne-gacy-victim-identified-francis-wayne-alexander|access-date=October 25, 2021|work=The Guardian|date=October 25, 2021|archive-date=October 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025185554/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/25/serial-killer-john-wayne-gacy-victim-identified-francis-wayne-alexander|url-status=live}}</ref>