Honestly, the whole story of what happened to the John Wayne Gacy body—and the bodies of the people he killed—is way weirder than the documentaries usually let on. People tend to focus on the clown makeup and the "Pogo" persona. But if you actually look at the forensic aftermath, it’s a messy, decades-long puzzle that still hasn't been fully solved.
It's been over fifty years since the first victim was buried under that ranch house in Norwood Park, and yet, we're still finding things out. Just a few years ago, we finally got a name for "Victim Number Five." It’s kinda haunting to think that even after the guy was executed in '94, his house (or at least the soil where it stood) was still keeping secrets.
🔗 Read more: What Really Happened With How Lincoln Was Assassinated: The Messy Truth
The Crawl Space: A Forensic Nightmare
When the police first went into Gacy’s house at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue, they weren't prepared for the smell. It wasn't just old house smell; it was the heavy, cloying scent of 26 bodies decomposing in a 40-foot crawl space. The ground was basically a swamp of human remains.
Gacy actually had a diagram. Can you imagine that? He drew a map for the investigators to show where he’d tucked everyone away. He’d buried them so close together that the bones were often intermingled. Because the crawl space was so damp and the bodies were stacked, many of the remains were essentially "skeletal soup" by the time they were recovered in 1978.
The logistics were gruesome:
- 26 victims were found in that tiny, 4-foot-high crawl space.
- 3 more were buried elsewhere on the property.
- 4 were pulled from the Des Plaines River because the "graveyard" under the house was literally full.
When the house was eventually demolished in 1979, the lot sat empty for years. People were terrified of the ground itself. They eventually built a new house there with a different address—8215 Summerdale—but the history of what was under that dirt is something the neighbors probably never forget.
What Happened to Gacy’s Actual Body?
After his execution by lethal injection on May 10, 1994, things took a turn for the bizarre. Most people assume he’s buried in some marked grave or a secret plot, but the reality is much more clinical.
After he died, an autopsy was performed. This is standard, but in Gacy’s case, a psychiatrist named Helen Morrison actually took possession of his brain. She had spent hundreds of hours interviewing him and wanted to see if there was something—anything—physically "wrong" with his brain that could explain why he did what he did.
The results? Nothing.
✨ Don't miss: Measure 2 Los Angeles: Why This Housing Initiative Is Still Sparking Fierce Debate
Basically, his brain looked totally normal. No tumors, no massive deformities, just the brain of a man who decided to be a monster. Eventually, the brain was cremated along with the rest of the John Wayne Gacy body. His family reportedly took the ashes and scattered them in an undisclosed location to prevent people from turning his grave into some kind of macabre tourist attraction. Honestly, it's probably for the best.
The Never-Ending Identification Project
This is the part that still matters today. For decades, eight of the 33 victims were just numbers. They were "Victim #5" or "Victim #26." They didn't have names.
In 2011, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart decided to reopen the case. He didn't do it to find more Gacy crimes—though that was a possibility—he did it because DNA technology had finally caught up to the horror. They exhumed the remains of the unidentified victims to get fresh DNA samples.
It worked. Sorta.
They've managed to identify three more men since then:
👉 See also: North Korean Ballistic Missiles: What Most People Get Wrong About Kim's Latest Tech
- William Bundy (2011): His family had suspected for years, but DNA finally proved it.
- James Haakenson (2017): A 16-year-old runaway from Minnesota.
- Francis Wayne Alexander (2021): This was a huge one. He’d been missing for 45 years. Genetic genealogy (the same stuff used to find the Golden State Killer) finally gave him his name back.
There are still five unidentified victims. Five families who might still be wondering where their brother or son went in the mid-70s. The Sheriff’s office still takes DNA samples from people who had a male relative go missing in the Chicago area between 1970 and 1979.
Why We Still Talk About It
The fascination with the John Wayne Gacy body and his crimes isn't just about the "horror movie" aspect. It’s a lesson in how society failed. Gacy targeted runaways, hitchhikers, and young men who were "living on the margins." Some were never even reported missing because their families were estranged or because, back then, people just assumed a rebellious kid had "moved on."
The forensic work being done today is basically a late attempt at dignity. We’re finally realizing that these weren't just "Gacy victims"—they were people with lives and families.
Actionable Insights for the Curious or Involved
If you are researching this for more than just true crime curiosity, there are real things happening:
- Missing Person Submissions: If you have a relative who vanished in the 70s, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office still actively maintains a portal for DNA comparison.
- DNA Doe Project: You can follow their work; they are the ones who helped identify Francis Wayne Alexander and continue to work on "unsolvable" cold cases.
- FOIA Records: Many of the original crime scene photos and autopsy reports are now part of the public record for researchers, though they are incredibly graphic.
The "John Wayne Gacy body" isn't just the remains of a killer; it's a 50-year forensic case study that proves science can eventually bring the truth to light, even when it’s buried under a layer of concrete and decades of silence.