# 4 Disturbing Unidentified Cold Cases | 156

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 7 Jan 2026, 31 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO6833403970.mp3

Don't forget to follow and turn on all notifications. Also don't forget to drop a rating as well. Join me for ep 156 of the true crime pod. 👇 Youtube links: Lazy Chill True Crime Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8dVJtzeHcJgd_Z0bHrJTHQ Lazy Chill History Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillHistory Lazy Chill Zone Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillZone 👇 Support My Work: 🛍️ Merch: https://lazy-chill-zone-shop.fourthwall.com ❤️ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lazychillzone 👇Social Media Links: https://www.instagram.com/lazychillzone/ 👇 Podcast links: ⚡History Video Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/7km5pLWpYWEj1mrPpEfRUr?si=0FHYnZf-Qs2FY1GyLevfig ⚡True Crime Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/0klIz08pAr7wR4we0Ia4sk?si=68qZxCeAQkysXzMZrHE0Iw 🍏 True Crime Podcast on Apple 🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lazy-chill-true-crime/id1815534472 true crime, cold cases, unsolved mysteries, missing persons, murder investigation, forensic evidence, serial killers, crime scene analysis, dark history, criminal psychology, real life horror, police investigations, DNA breakthroughs, forensic genealogy, crime documentaries, criminal profiling, mysterious disappearances, solved cases, justice system, law enforcement stories, cold case files, creepy mysteries, true crime storytelling, crime reconstruction, chilling cases, investigative reporting, modern forensics, victim advocacy, unidentified remains, crime scene forensics, disturbing cases, true crime analysis, hidden clues, infamous crimes, real crime stories

## Transcript

[0:00] In the quiet early hours of June 15th, 2008, a train thundered
[0:05] down the tracks in Brielle, NJ, only to be met with a terrifying
[0:09] sight, a young woman on the rails.
[0:12] The impact was instantly fatal and a tragedy unfolded in this
[0:16] Jersey Shore town. When the sun rose, authorities
[0:20] were left with a haunting question.
[0:23] Who was she? Over 17 years have passed since
[0:27] that night, yet the woman struck by the New Jersey Transit train
[0:31] remains unidentified. Dubbed the Monmouth County Jane
[0:35] Doe, her case has become one of New Jersey's enduring mysteries.
[0:40] Shortly after 1:30 AM on June 15th, 2008, police were alerted
[0:46] that a pedestrian had been hit by a train near the Fisk Ave.
[0:49] crossing in Brielle. The location was just South of
[0:53] the Manasquan Station, along a stretch of track bordering a
[0:56] residential area. The victim was pronounced dead
[1:00] at the scene, a white female with no identification on her.
[1:05] Investigators couldn't immediately determine if this
[1:08] was a horrific accident or whether the entire thing was
[1:11] intentional, as there were no witnesses aside from the train
[1:15] crew. What they did know was that the
[1:19] young woman's life had ended on the tracks that rainy night, and
[1:23] no one stepped forward to claim her in the aftermath.
[1:27] Over the following days, an autopsy and forensic examination
[1:31] were conducted. Despite the violent nature of
[1:34] the incident, the woman's face was completely recognizable,
[1:39] which gave hope that someone might identify her quickly.
[1:43] Authorities circulated sketches and descriptions to the public,
[1:46] hoping a friend or family member might recognize the young woman.
[1:51] Despite this, though, absolutely no one came forward.
[1:56] Investigators carefully documented the Jane Doe's
[1:59] physical characteristics and belongings, piercing together
[2:02] clues about her life. She was estimated to be
[2:05] somewhere between her late teens and late 20s.
[2:09] She stood about 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed roughly 120 lbs
[2:15] and had neck length brown hair and blue grey eyes.
[2:20] She also had a distinctive scar indicating that she underwent an
[2:23] appendectomy surgery. However, due to the extreme
[2:26] force of the collision, it wasn't clear whether there were
[2:29] other distinctive marks which were missed.
[2:33] Crucially, what the Jane Doe was wearing and carrying provided A
[2:37] vivid snapshot of her circumstances.
[2:40] She was dressed in multiple layers, possibly for warmth or
[2:44] possibly because she was homeless or living a transient
[2:47] lifestyle, but more on that in a moment.
[2:52] Around her neck she had a blue rosary style bead necklace with
[2:56] a cross pendant, and on her wrist she was wearing a wooden
[3:00] bracelet featuring images of Catholic Saints.
[3:04] Unless this was a gift from a friend, this narrows down her
[3:08] identity somewhat. Most intriguingly, the Jane Doe
[3:12] had a brown tote bag with her emblazoned with the words New
[3:17] York. Inside this bag was an
[3:20] assortment of personal belongings, almost like a travel
[3:24] kit or a mobile wardrobe, which offers a poignant glimpse into
[3:28] her life. Personally, I think that based
[3:32] on the evidence as it stands, there's virtually no chance that
[3:35] she wasn't homeless. That said, I suppose she could
[3:39] have also been hitch hiking, but I don't think people really did
[3:43] that in 2008. But feel free to correct me if
[3:46] I'm wrong. She had no form of
[3:49] identification, no phone, no wallet on her, just these
[3:54] personal items to investigators. This raised the likelihood that
[3:59] she was far from home and estranged from people who would
[4:03] immediately miss her. As of 2025, it's reported that
[4:08] the Monmouth County Jane Doe's case is undergoing forensic
[4:11] genetic genealogy testing. This means that unless she was
[4:15] adopted, the authorities should now be able to resolve her case
[4:19] in the near future and restore her identity.
[4:24] As for whether she did this act herself or whether she was a
[4:27] victim of an accident, this too also remains unsolved.
[4:32] Some have speculated that given that she was likely a practicing
[4:35] Catholic, that this may have been accidental or at least
[4:39] staged by her to look accidental.
[4:45] In late October 2004, construction workers clearing an
[4:49] old racetrack in New Jersey made a grim discovery the skeletal
[4:53] remains of a young woman. The location was the former
[4:57] Malibu Grand Prix Go Kart track in Mount Laurel, Burlington
[5:00] County, a once bustling entertainment center abandoned
[5:04] for years. To this day, the victim's
[5:07] identity remains unknown and she is remembered only as the
[5:11] Burlington County Jane Doe. Now, over 2 decades later, a
[5:17] cutting edge DNA breakthrough revealing Turkic ancestry has
[5:21] injected New Hope into this cold case.
[5:26] On October 26th, 2004, an excavation crew was demolishing
[5:31] structures at the Malibu Grand Prix site when they stumbled
[5:34] upon human remains in a wooded area off Fellowship Rd.
[5:39] The property, once a go Kart racing park with arcades, had
[5:43] sat vacant for the previous six years.
[5:46] Hidden among overgrown brush and debris lay the skeletal remains
[5:50] of a female, later estimated to have been deceased for roughly
[5:53] one year. Cops believe she likely died in
[5:57] early 2003, meaning her remains had quietly weathered at least a
[6:02] full cycle of seasons before discovery.
[6:05] Investigators immediately treated the scene with
[6:08] suspicion, and finding a body in such a secluded, out of the way
[6:12] spot suggested foul play. The woman carried no
[6:16] identification, and there were no obvious personal documents or
[6:21] cell phone, only the tattered remnants of her clothing and a
[6:25] few mundane items. The Burlington County Medical
[6:29] Examiner couldn't initially determine the cause of her
[6:32] demise, and no significant clues were recovered.
[6:36] With no ID and no immediate missing person match, the case
[6:40] began as a perplexing Jane Doe investigation.
[6:46] Although her name was a mystery, investigators did gather
[6:49] valuable details about the unidentified woman.
[6:52] She was between 25 and 35 years old and stood 5 feet 5 inches
[6:57] tall. She weighed somewhere between
[7:00] 100 to 125 lbs in life, though this was just a rough estimate
[7:05] given the state of her remains. Her hair was black and she
[7:09] likely had black or brown eyes, and she was initially believed
[7:13] to be half white and half Asian, though some suggested that she
[7:17] could be Native American. No evidence of trauma has ever
[7:21] been publicly disclosed, though the location of her body
[7:25] indicated that she was likely dumped there.
[7:28] While this could theoretically suggest an accidental overdose,
[7:32] the far more probable cause, according to investigators, was
[7:35] foul play. The Burlington County Jane Doe
[7:40] case soon went cold as leads proved extremely elusive.
[7:45] Given her background, it was relatively easy to rule out
[7:49] missing individuals, but this didn't lead detectives to a
[7:52] match. She had some features that could
[7:55] cross ethnic categories, and as it would turn out, she would
[8:00] come from a background that's fairly rare in America.
[8:03] For years, the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit
[8:07] periodically revisited the file. They circulated A forensic
[8:12] sketch of the woman's face in hopes someone would recognize
[8:15] her, but no one ever did. Fast forward to 2025, nearly 21
[8:22] years after her passing, and science finally cracked open a
[8:26] new Ave. Forensic specialists managed to
[8:29] extract a usable profile from the Jane Doe's remains after
[8:33] multiple earlier attempts had failed.
[8:36] Astria Forensics, a California-based lab, performed
[8:40] advanced DNA extraction and sequencing on the degraded
[8:43] samples, achieving A genealogy ready profile.
[8:48] This genetic profile didn't end up leading to a match, but it
[8:52] revealed something fundamental about her.
[8:55] The Burlington County Jane Doe's DNA indicated that she was of
[8:59] Central EUR Asian descent, specifically of the Turkic
[9:02] ethnic group. In other words, her closest
[9:05] genetic relatives, the very distant cousins showing up in
[9:09] databases traced to populations from countries like Kazakhstan,
[9:14] Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Of course, when a Jane Doe shows
[9:19] up with both Asian and European features, investigators never
[9:23] jumped to the conclusion of well, she must have been Kazakh.
[9:29] It suddenly made sense why no local missing persons report
[9:32] matched her. Despite her distinctive
[9:34] background, She may not have originally been from the United
[9:38] States at all and may have had no family or friends to report
[9:42] her missing. The Ramapo College of New
[9:45] Jersey's Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center worked with
[9:49] state police to determine next steps.
[9:52] In September 2025, they went public with the new information,
[9:57] hoping it might reach someone who recognizes the description.
[10:02] They even created a fresh outreach campaign encouraging
[10:05] her sketch to be shared around Turkic community groups both in
[10:08] the States and abroad. With the evidence available,
[10:13] several theories have emerged about the Burlington County Jane
[10:16] Doe's life and tragic end. One theory is that she may have
[10:20] been a recent immigrant or foreign national who came to New
[10:23] Jersey not long before her passing.
[10:26] Given her Central Asian ancestry, she could have moved
[10:29] to America for work, study, or for marriage.
[10:33] If so, it's possible that no local authorities were aware she
[10:37] was missing. Because her family might be
[10:39] overseas, language barriers or immigration status could have
[10:45] prevented A timely missing persons report.
[10:48] Tragically, if she had few friends or contacts here, her
[10:52] disappearance might have gone nearly unnoticed by anyone.
[10:57] Another theory suggests that she may have been a tourist who was
[11:00] travelling solo in the United States.
[11:03] Some have theorized that she could have been on a tour of the
[11:06] entire country and that her friends and family back home may
[11:10] not have known where she was when she disappeared.
[11:13] Without knowing where exactly she was travelling and faced
[11:17] with a language barrier, there may have been no way to
[11:20] meaningfully report her missing. Another troubling possibility is
[11:26] that she was a victim of trafficking or foul play by
[11:29] someone she met after arriving in America.
[11:32] The early 2000s saw cases of trafficking rings from former
[11:36] Soviet states, and one of the claims is that the Jane Doe
[11:39] could have been caught in such a situation.
[11:42] Perhaps she trusted the wrong person, such as an employer, a
[11:46] quote UN quote boyfriend, or a smuggler who harmed her and
[11:50] dumped her body behind the abandoned racetrack.
[11:53] The Malibu Grand Prix site being deserted would have been a
[11:57] convenient hiding place for a crime.
[12:01] Supporting this theory is the fact that her personal items
[12:03] were minimal and she was devoid of any identification, almost as
[12:08] if someone deliberately stripped her of anything traceable.
[12:12] It's easy to imagine a scenario where an assailant removed her
[12:15] wallet or papers to delay identification.
[12:20] If she was the victim of trafficking, it's been
[12:23] speculated that she's much less likely to be Kazakh or Azeri
[12:27] rather than Kyrgyz or Uzbek. This is due to the socio
[12:32] economic realities of these nations.
[12:34] While Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are upper middle income nations,
[12:38] Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are quite poor, making women from
[12:42] these countries more likely to be targeted.
[12:47] A more domestic theory speculates that the woman could
[12:50] have been American. While individuals of her
[12:52] background aren't overly common in the United States, they did
[12:57] first start arriving in the 19th century along with other
[13:00] immigrants from the Russian Empire.
[13:03] Some have speculated that she may actually be a Tatar, A
[13:07] Turkic Eurasian ethnic group found throughout Russia and
[13:10] Eastern Europe. Tatars often express traits from
[13:13] their combined European and Asian heritage, which may
[13:17] explain the Burlington Jane Doe's appearance and genetic
[13:20] results. And interestingly, while going
[13:23] down the rabbit hole on the presence of Tatar people in
[13:25] America, I found out that the iconic All American actor
[13:29] Charles Bronson was half Tatar. I'm sure that'll come in handy
[13:33] for someone watching at a bar trivia night someday.
[13:38] Ultimately, at present, this Jane Doe still doesn't have her
[13:42] name back, but with this new piece of evidence, her case may
[13:45] be resolved soon. On February 14th, 1975, a couple
[13:52] driving through rural Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana
[13:56] noticed something hanging amidst the trees.
[13:59] Stopping to investigate, they stumbled upon a tragic scene
[14:03] that would briefly capture national attention.
[14:06] At the base of the tree, they found a glass jar containing A
[14:09] handwritten note addressed to Mom and Dad.
[14:13] The boy carried no identification, and authorities
[14:16] would soon refer to him simply as the Plaque Minds Parish John
[14:20] Doe investigators recovered the note from the jar and discovered
[14:25] it was a lengthy, introspective message from the boy explaining
[14:29] his decision. He wrote that he felt he had
[14:33] never truly developed into a real person and that he was
[14:37] living in a false, empty existence he could no longer
[14:40] tolerate. The tone was one of profound
[14:43] despair and detachment. He described having a quote
[14:47] pervasive melancholy since birth and believed he had stopped
[14:51] growing emotionally long ago. In the letter, the young man
[14:56] thanked his parents for all the advantages and support they had
[15:00] given him, but implored them not to blame themselves for what he
[15:04] was about to do. He even urged them to consult a
[15:07] psychiatrist to understand his mindset, suggesting there were
[15:11] aspects of his identity or mental state that he himself
[15:15] struggled to accept. Unusually, the note also
[15:19] included a section addressed to the police, and the boy pleaded
[15:23] with authorities not to pursue his identity.
[15:27] He argued that any investigation would accomplish little except
[15:31] to shatter his parents peace by confirming their worst fears.
[15:36] In a final wish, he asked to be cremated and buried as a John
[15:41] Doe so his parents could retain hope that their missing son
[15:45] might one day return instead of knowing he was gone forever.
[15:49] Essentially, this teenager tried to erase his own identity to
[15:54] spare his loved one's pain. The content of the note
[15:59] fascinated the public and investigators alike.
[16:02] It was extremely articulate and philosophical, far beyond what
[16:06] one might expect from someone who may have still been in high
[16:09] school. He even referenced the work of
[16:12] sociologist Emile Durkheim on the subject of the ACT he was
[16:16] doing, indicating he had studied some intellectual perspectives
[16:20] on his situation. Despite the boy's plea for
[16:24] anonymity, authorities couldn't simply close the case.
[16:28] The plaque means Parish Sheriff's Office launched an
[16:31] effort to identify the victim, distributing his physical
[16:34] description and fingerprints nationwide in hopes of matching
[16:38] a missing person. The Associated Press picked up
[16:42] the story of this mystery teen, and newspapers around the
[16:46] country ran articles about the unknown youth.
[16:48] With the poignant note, tips and leads began to flow in as
[16:54] families of missing sons wondered if this could be their
[16:57] child. Over 300 families contacted law
[17:02] enforcement and many traveled to Louisiana to view the body at a
[17:06] New Orleans area Funeral Home. Despite this extensive effort,
[17:10] in the end, every lead in comparison turned up empty.
[17:15] By June 1975, with no identification uncovered,
[17:20] authorities felt they had done all they could.
[17:23] The unknown boy was laid to rest in an unmarked grave at a
[17:26] cemetery in Gretna, LA. His funeral was simple and
[17:31] anonymous, in keeping with his own wishes.
[17:36] After the burial, this John Doe case quickly slipped from the
[17:40] spotlight, becoming yet another unsolved mystery.
[17:44] With no actual crime to investigate, there was little
[17:47] incentive for officials to pursue it further.
[17:51] In 2005, Hurricane Katrina's devastation reportedly destroyed
[17:55] many local records, and the John Doe's case file and the exact
[18:00] location of his burial were lost.
[18:03] In 2022, despite the lost case file, he was finally added to
[18:08] the Name US database, a repository of John and Jane Doe
[18:12] cases as well as missing people. With his case now on the radar,
[18:18] there remains hope that modern forensic techniques might
[18:20] provide answers eventually. However, without a known DNA
[18:25] sample or an excumation, identifying him will be
[18:29] challenging. While it's known that he was
[18:31] buried in Gretna, the unfortunate reality is that no
[18:35] one knows exactly where he was laid to rest.
[18:39] While he had requested to be cremated in his note,
[18:42] contemporary reports indicate that this wasn't done.
[18:47] His remains do lay somewhere in that cemetery though, and if
[18:51] someone is able to remember where he was buried, there is
[18:54] the potential to resolve his case once and for all.
[19:00] Many theories have been proposed to explain who this young man
[19:03] was and why he felt compelled to do what he did.
[19:07] Most believe that he suffered from serious depression or
[19:10] another mental illness that left him feeling numb and isolated.
[19:14] He described himself as living a detached, hollow life without
[19:18] real friendships. Some have speculated that this
[19:21] aligns with severe depression or perhaps even high functioning
[19:25] autism. Another theory is that he was
[19:30] grappling with issues of identity.
[19:32] Being gay had only been removed from the psychiatric list of
[19:35] disorders a year earlier, in 1974, and prejudice remained
[19:41] extremely strong. It's speculated that he might
[19:44] have been very concerned about the grief this reality would
[19:47] have brought to his parents. His suggestion that his parents
[19:51] see a psychiatrist to understand what was going on with him hints
[19:55] that there was something fundamental about himself that
[19:58] he felt they didn't understand. Another theory suggests that he
[20:03] may have been a first year university student living far
[20:06] away from home who suffered from a mental break.
[20:10] This could explain why he was quoting Durkheim in his letter,
[20:13] and the upper end of his estimated age range puts him
[20:17] well within the range of being a student.
[20:22] Another theory about who he was centers on the national
[20:25] attention the case received in the wake of his passing.
[20:29] The news articles were very clear that the John Doe really
[20:32] didn't want to be identified. Perhaps his parents were one of
[20:36] the families who came to see his body and, recognizing it was
[20:39] him, didn't identify him to the police.
[20:43] After all, the absolute last thing this young man seems to
[20:46] have wanted was a media circus surrounding himself.
[20:50] Given his desire to be buried as a John Doe.
[20:54] Under this theory, his parents quietly made their peace and
[20:58] fearing the national attention that would be brought by his
[21:01] identification, chose to respect his wishes.
[21:06] And I can see why they may have done this.
[21:08] And after all, identifying him wouldn't have brought him back
[21:12] and no crime was committed that they needed to get justice for
[21:15] their son. In a tragic irony, the young man
[21:21] achieved his wish to remain a nameless enigma, but
[21:24] paradoxically, this status has since captured the hearts and
[21:28] minds of millions of people. I can relate to that in a huge
[21:32] way, since I had previously very briefly covered his story last
[21:37] year. It was just a very short
[21:39] segment, just about two minutes, and I couldn't get his story out
[21:43] of my mind. Every few months since that
[21:46] point, I've gone back and looked to see if there was any
[21:50] breakthroughs in his case. And honestly, I'm going to keep
[21:54] doing that. Perhaps one day we'll know who
[21:58] he was and why he did what he did.
[22:00] But for now, his story will remain one of the most
[22:04] compelling and heartbreaking John Doe cases I've covered.
[22:09] In the bitter Chicago winter of December 1978, the air around
[22:14] 8213 W Somerdale Ave. was thick with more than just frost.
[22:19] For years, neighbors had complained about a foul smell
[22:22] they couldn't place. Now they knew why.
[22:26] Inside the quiet suburban home, investigators were engaged in a
[22:30] methodical, grim excavation, trying to find remains.
[22:34] One by one, they emerged from the cramped crawl space, the
[22:38] forgotten sons, brothers and friends who had vanished into
[22:43] the orbit of John Wayne Gacy. As the count climbed to a
[22:47] staggering 33, a second, more enduring tragedy came into
[22:51] focus. While some victims were quickly
[22:55] identified by wallets left in their pockets or by dental
[22:58] records, many were just skeletons, their identities
[23:02] seemingly erased forever. They were assigned numbers, cold
[23:07] designations for an unspeakable horror.
[23:10] This is the story of one of them, the young man known only
[23:14] as victim #28 a boy who disappeared in the earliest days
[23:19] of Gacy's reign of terror. John Wayne Gacy was a master of
[23:24] the double life. In public, he was a pillar of
[23:27] his Norwood Park Community. He was a successful contractor
[23:31] running his own business, an active Democratic precinct
[23:35] captain, and a friendly neighbor known for hosting lively
[23:38] parties. He was perhaps most famous for
[23:41] his alter ego, Pogo the Clown, performing at children's parties
[23:46] and charity events. This respectable facade was the
[23:50] perfect cover for the monster beneath.
[23:53] Between 1972 and 1978, Gacy lured at least 33 boys and young
[24:00] men ranging in age from 14 to 21 to his home.
[24:05] His method was a horrifyingly consistent pattern of predation.
[24:09] He targeted vulnerable youths, hitch hikers, runaways, boys and
[24:15] young men he met at bus stations or those simply looking for a
[24:19] job at his construction company. Once they were at his house,
[24:23] he'd often use alcohol or drugs to lower their inhibitions
[24:27] before introducing his quote UN quote magic trick.
[24:32] This was a ruse that involved convincing them to put on
[24:35] handcuffs. Little did his victims know that
[24:38] once the cuffs were on, Gacy's true evil nature emerged.
[24:44] From there, he would commit unspeakable acts before slaying
[24:47] them, usually by strangulation. He buried 29 of his victims on
[24:52] his property, most of them crammed into the crawl space,
[24:57] and dumped the last four in a nearby river.
[25:00] For six years, his spree went unchecked, aided by a system
[25:05] that often dismissed the concerns of frantic parents.
[25:09] It wasn't until the disappearance of 15 year old
[25:12] Robert Peased in December 1978 that a determined police
[25:16] investigation finally led to Gacy's door.
[25:20] With this, the authorities would unearth the very literal
[25:23] graveyard he had built beneath his very own home.
[25:28] Pulled from the earth, Victim 28 was little more than a
[25:32] collection of bones and unanswered questions.
[25:36] Forensic analysis provided A sparse but crucial profile.
[25:40] He was a white male between 14 and 18 years old at the time of
[25:44] his death and stood somewhere between 5 feet 6 and 5 foot 11.
[25:50] But the most significant clue was the time frame investigators
[25:53] assigned to his disappearance sometime between January 3rd,
[25:58] 1972 and July 31st, 1975. This places this slaying
[26:06] squarely in the nascent phase of Gacy's career as a predator.
[26:10] Gacy's first known slaying, that of 16 year old Timothy McCoy,
[26:15] occurred on January 3rd, 1972. By the end of 1975, he had slain
[26:22] only two other known victims. The vast majority of his
[26:26] offenses, at least thirty of them, were committed after his
[26:29] second divorce in March 1976, when he was living alone and
[26:34] completely unconstrained. This early time frame is
[26:38] profoundly important because it means Victim 28 was slain while
[26:42] Gacy was still married to and living with his second wife,
[26:46] Carol Hoff. She was aware of the terrible
[26:49] smell coming from the crawl space, a stench Gacy explained
[26:53] away as moisture from a sewer pipe, which he attempted to mask
[26:57] with layers of lime and concrete.
[27:00] This context suggests that the attack on Victim 28 had to be
[27:04] carried out with a greater degree of stealth than Gacy's
[27:08] later, more frenzied slaughter. The victim was likely someone
[27:12] Gacy could plausibly bring home without raising suspicion.
[27:18] Some investigators believe he was a runaway that was offered a
[27:21] job with Gacy's contracting company, a profile that fits
[27:25] many of his victims. In the immediate aftermath of
[27:30] the discovery, identifying the victims was a monumental task,
[27:34] limited by the technology of the era.
[27:37] Given the state of the remains, investigators relied heavily on
[27:41] dental records and matching X-ray records to old, healed
[27:45] fractures on the bones. They also relied on personal
[27:49] effects found in Gacy's house that also led to names.
[27:53] But these methods were only as good as the records available,
[27:57] and for many families, such records were lost or non
[28:00] existent. For decades, 8 of Gacy's victims
[28:04] remained nameless. Then in 2011, the Cook County
[28:09] Sheriff reopened the cold case, determined to use modern science
[28:13] to finish the job his predecessors couldn't.
[28:16] Investigators exhumed the remains of the 8 unidentified
[28:20] victims to extract DNA. The effort yielded immediate,
[28:24] incredible results, and a number of the unknown victims were
[28:28] quickly identified. Unfortunately, victim 28 wasn't
[28:32] identified through this method, and his genetic information
[28:36] didn't match any known missing person reported.
[28:40] Synthesizing the evidence as we know it, there's a few things we
[28:44] can say about who this missing person was.
[28:48] Critically, it's almost certain he was never reported missing,
[28:52] or if he was, the report was lost to time or jurisdictional
[28:57] gaps. 2 primary theories have emerged from this.
[29:02] He could have been a local youth, estranged from his family
[29:05] due to the kind of dysfunction that might prevent a missing
[29:08] person report from being filed promptly, if at all.
[29:12] Or, like Gacy's first victim, Timothy McCoy, he could have
[29:17] been a traveller, A hitchhiker, or a runaway just passing
[29:21] through Chicago from another state.
[29:24] In a pre digital world, connecting a boy who vanished in
[29:27] Illinois to a family searching for him in Ohio or California
[29:31] was a near impossible task. This young man's anonymity was
[29:36] his greatest vulnerability. While later victims had families
[29:40] who grew suspicious of Gacy and hounded the police, victim, 28,
[29:45] disappeared without a ripple, making him the perfect prey.
[29:48] From Gacy's perspective. In essence, his complete
[29:52] disconnect from any social safety net is the very reason
[29:56] his case remains one of the hardest to solve.
[30:00] The most recent breakthrough in the case came from a
[30:02] revolutionary new field, forensic genetic genealogy,
[30:07] which I believe I've mentioned on my channel once or twice.
[30:11] In 2021, this method was used to identify Victim 5 as Francis
[30:15] Wayne Alexander, a young man from North Carolina who had
[30:19] recently moved to Chicago. The search for the identity of
[30:24] Victim 28 and the four other nameless boys remains extremely
[30:28] important, despite Gacy having been eliminated Old Yeller style
[30:32] in 1994. Identifying this victim as well
[30:37] as the other 4 is a refusal to let one of history's worst
[30:41] serial predators have the final word.

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