John Wayne Gacy Victim to Be Exhumed

Decades later, a longstanding John Wayne Gacy mystery may be a step closer to resolution. Doubts surrounding the identity of one of John Wayne Gacy's victims have prompted an exhumation of the body, the Chicago Tribune reports. Sherry Marino, whose son Michael disappeared in 1976, has never been certain that Gacy killed him. Though Michael's name is on a headstone, she questions whether the body below belonged to someone else, the AP notes.

A pathological report showed, for example, that the now-buried Gacy victim had once fractured his collarbone; he also had molars coming in. Neither of these attributes applied to Michael Marino, his mother says. Acknowledging the "discrepancies," a judge approved the exhumation yesterday. The Marino family, backed by funds from community supporters, will pay for the exhumation and a DNA test to put the mystery to rest. (More John Wayne Gacy stories.)