Editing John Wayne Gacy (section)

===Possible additional victims===
At the time of Gacy's arrest, he had claimed to investigators that the total number of murder victims could be as high as 45.{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=193–197}} However, only 33 victims were ever linked to Gacy. Investigators excavated the grounds of his property until they had exposed the [[Subsoil|substratum]] of clay beneath the foundations, finding 29 bodies.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oHdGAAAAIBAJ&pg=2520,2232357|title=29 Murder Victims Found as Gacy Waits in Prison|newspaper=The Evening News|date=March 18, 1979|access-date=February 15, 2017|via=Google News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007133254/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oHdGAAAAIBAJ&pg=2520%2C2232357|archive-date=October 7, 2020}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Shortly after his arrest, Gacy informed investigators that after he had assaulted and then released Jeffrey Rignall in March 1978, he began to throw his murder victims into the Des Plaines River. He confessed to having disposed of five bodies in this manner; however, only four bodies recovered from the Des Plaines River were linked to him.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=205–233}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110801/news/708019985/|title=Attorney: John Wayne Gacy Had 34th Victim. Gacy's Attorney Says There Was Another Victim in the Des Plaines River|newspaper=Daily Herald|date=August 1, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306163743/http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110801/news/708019985/|archive-date=March 6, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref> When asked whether there were more victims, Gacy stated, "That's for you guys to find out."<ref>{{cite news|last=Potash|first=Larry|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-bn-xpm-2011-03-18-29143715-story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709023137/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-bn-xpm-2011-03-18-29143715-story.html|archive-date=July 9, 2019|title=Retired Detective Wants Gacy Probe Reopened|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=March 18, 2011|access-date=February 15, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref>{{efn|In one audiotaped confession with his lawyer, Gacy claimed to have disposed of the body of an unidentified victim in woodland near [[Maine Township High School District 207|Maine Township High School]]. Gacy estimated this victim to be approximately twenty-four years old, with military connections.{{sfn|Nelson|2021|pp=292-293}} }}

Disputed [[DNA]] and dental tests conducted between 2012 and 2016 indicate that neither body found in the common grave in Gacy's crawl space and identified as those of Kenneth Parker and Michael Marino in 1980 was actually Marino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Valente|first=Judith|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707175737/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/03/dna-test-gacy-victim-mother-marino/2486561/|archive-date=July 7, 2013|url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/03/dna-test-gacy-victim-mother-marino/2486561/|title=DNA Test Revives Mystery of Killer Gacy's Victim No. 14|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=July 5, 2013|access-date=October 9, 2018}}</ref><ref name=alison1>{{cite web|last=True|first=Alison|url=https://johnwaynegacynews.com/2016/03/31/new-dna-test-confirms-second-false-id-in-gacy-case/|title=BREAKING: New DNA Test Confirms Second False ID in Gacy Case|work=JohnWayneGacyNews|date=March 31, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211200055/https://johnwaynegacynews.com/2016/03/31/new-dna-test-confirms-second-false-id-in-gacy-case/|archive-date=December 11, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/10/25/dna-backs-up-moms-doubt-gacy-victim-misidentified/|title=DNA Backs Up Mom's Doubt: Gacy Victim Misidentified|publisher=CBS Local|date=October 25, 2012|access-date=March 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910054104/https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/10/25/dna-backs-up-moms-doubt-gacy-victim-misidentified/|archive-date=September 10, 2017}}</ref> Marino's mother had always doubted her son's identification because the clothing found on Body 14 was inconsistent with what he had worn when she last saw him.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dna-shows-presumed-john-wayne-gacy-victim-was-misidentified-attorneys-say|title=DNA Shows Presumed John Wayne Gacy Victim was Misidentified, Attorneys Say|publisher=CBS News|date=October 26, 2012|access-date=September 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007133813/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dna-shows-presumed-john-wayne-gacy-victim-was-misidentified-attorneys-say/|archive-date=October 7, 2020}}</ref> DNA testing conducted on the exhumed body of Parker has proven that Marino's body had not been mistaken for his.{{efn|Parker's relatives refused to submit to DNA testing.<ref name=alison1/>}} In addition, the [[dental radiography|dental X-ray]] conducted on the victim identified as Michael Marino had revealed he had all of his [[second molar]]s; a dental X-ray conducted on Marino in March 1976 revealed one molar had not [[tooth eruption|erupted]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2011-10-07-ct-met-john-wayne-gacy-victim-20111007-story.html|title=Alleged Victim of John Wayne Gacy to be Exhumed|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=October 7, 2011|author1=Erika Slife|author2=Steve Mills|access-date=March 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709042645/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2011-10-07-ct-met-john-wayne-gacy-victim-20111007-story.html|archive-date=July 9, 2019}} {{Open access}}</ref> The original identification of the body has been disputed because the exhumed body had neither an upper nor lower jaw bone.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raftery|first=Isolde|url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/25/14705528-lawyers-dna-proves-john-wayne-gacy-victim-was-misidentified|title=Lawyers: DNA Proves John Wayne Gacy Victim was Misidentified|publisher=[[NBC News]]|access-date=March 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303222402/http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/25/14705528-lawyers-dna-proves-john-wayne-gacy-victim-was-misidentified|archive-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> Nonetheless, the [[orthodontist]] who had identified Marino's remains has stated his conviction in the accuracy of his findings.<ref>{{cite news|last=O'Connell|first=Patrick M.|url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-gacy-victim-20141130-story.html|title=Mother of Supposed John Wayne Gacy Victim Still Seeks Answers|newspaper=[[LA Times]]|date=November 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328093156/http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-gacy-victim-20141130-story.html|archive-date=March 28, 2015|access-date=February 23, 2015|url-status=live}} {{Open access}}</ref>

On May 23, 1978, 25-year-old Charles Antonio Hattula was found drowned in the [[Pecatonica River]] near [[Freeport, Illinois]]. He had been missing since May 13.{{sfn|Berry-Dee|2007|p=336}} Hattula was an employee of PDM and had been linked to the initial investigation of Gacy after Michael Rossi informed investigators of both Godzik's disappearance and Hattula's death. Moreover, Rossi had stated that Hattula was known to have conflicts with Gacy, and when he had "failed to show up at work", Gacy had informed him and several other employees that he had drowned.{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=99–104}} At the time of Hattula's death, no more bodies could be stored in Gacy's crawl space, which leaves a possibility he had disposed of Hattula's body in the Pecatonica River. However, Des Plaines authorities had contacted Freeport during their investigation into Gacy, and were told Hattula had fallen to his death from a bridge. Hattula's death has been officially ruled as asphyxia by drowning.{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=123–127}}

Retired Chicago police officer Bill Dorsch stated he had reason to believe there might be more victims buried in the grounds of an apartment building on West Miami Avenue in Chicago, where Gacy had been the caretaker for several years.<ref name=new-dig>{{cite news|last=Mills|first=Steven|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/03/30/sheriff-barred-from-digging-for-more-gacy-victims/|title=Sheriff Barred from Digging for More Gacy Victims|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=March 30, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107052751/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-30/news/chi-sheriff-wants-new-dig-for-gacy-victims-20120329_1_bill-dorsch-gacy-victims-west-miami-avenue|archive-date=November 7, 2012}} {{Open access}}</ref> In 1975, Dorsch—then a Chicago police officer—observed Gacy (whom he knew on a casual basis) holding a shovel in the early morning. When Dorsch confronted him, Gacy said he was doing work that he was too busy to do during the day. Dorsch also said that several other residents of West Miami Avenue stated they had seen Gacy digging trenches at the property in the early to mid-1970s.<ref>{{cite web|last=Stroud|first=Matthew|url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/10/4315390/the-controversial-high-tech-search-for-john-wayne-gacy-lost-victims|title=Grave Mistake: The Controversial, High-tech Search for John Wayne Gacy's Lost Victims|website=[[The Verge]]|date=May 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001093532/https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/10/4315390/the-controversial-high-tech-search-for-john-wayne-gacy-lost-victims|archive-date=October 1, 2020}}</ref> Gacy was then still married to Carole Hoff.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zJEkAAAAIBAJ&pg=1375,1891358|title=Police May Look for More Gacy Victims|newspaper=The Southeast Missourian|date=November 12, 1998|access-date=November 20, 2015|via=Google News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007132609/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zJEkAAAAIBAJ&pg=1375%2C1891358|archive-date=October 7, 2020}} {{Open access}}</ref> In March 2012, Cook County Sheriff's officials submitted a request to excavate the grounds of this property. The [[Cook County State's Attorney]] denied the request, citing a lack of [[probable cause]], including the results of a 1998 search of the property.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mills|first=Steven|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2012-03-30-ct-met-gacy-dig-20120330-story.html|title=Criminal Justice: Sheriff's Officials Seeking More Victims of Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy Want to Excavate Chicago Backyard|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=March 30, 2012|access-date=March 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709023142/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2012-03-30-ct-met-gacy-dig-20120330-story.html|archive-date=July 9, 2019}} {{Open access}}</ref> However, the sheriff's office noted that in 1998, a radar survey suggested fourteen areas of interest within the grounds, yet only two of these had been excavated; four of those remaining were described as being "staggeringly suggestive" of human skeletons.<ref>{{cite news|last=Felshman|first=Tracy Ullman|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tracy-ullman-felshman/john-wayne-gacy-search_b_2569172.html/|title=To Parents of the Missing in Chicago: A Note About John Wayne Gacy|work=Huffington Post|access-date=March 14, 2013|date=February 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928133127/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/john-wayne-gacy-search_b_2569172?guccounter=1|archive-date=September 28, 2020}} {{Open access}}</ref> A second request to excavate the grounds was granted in January 2013, and a search of the property was conducted in the spring. Both FBI [[Detection dog|sniffer dogs]] and ground-penetrating radar equipment were used, but no human remains were found.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/search-of-killer-john-wayne-gacy-s-mother-s-home-fruitless-county-sheriff-to-keep-hunting-1.109486|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102200250/https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/search-of-killer-john-wayne-gacy-s-mother-s-home-fruitless-county-sheriff-to-keep-hunting-1.109486|archive-date=January 2, 2020|title=Search of Killer John Wayne Gacy's Mother's Home Fruitless; County Sheriff to Keep Hunting|newspaper=[[Times Colonist]]|date=April 12, 2013}} {{Open access}}</ref>{{efn|Some parties have questioned the [[integrity]] and thoroughness of the second search, citing the fact the ground of the property was still frozen on the date of the search (March 20), that the press had not been informed that the property had been searched until six days after the search had been conducted, and that the sniffer dogs used had solely been provided [[core sample]]s of soil to test.<ref>{{cite web|last=True|first=Alison|url=https://johnwaynegacynews.com/2013/04/15/something-stinks/|title=Something Stinks|work=JohnWayneGacyNews|date=April 15, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211202539/https://johnwaynegacynews.com/2013/04/15/something-stinks/|archive-date=December 11, 2016}}</ref>}}