Suspected Gacy Victim Found Alive

on October 26, 2011 in Serial Killers by Brian Combs

In my time studying serial murder, this may be the strangest story I’ve come across. According to the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago, a supposed John Wayne Gacy victim has been found alive.

Thirty-three years ago, then 19-year-old Harold Wayne Lovell told his family that he was heading to Aurora, IL for a construction job. He never returned, and the family came to believe that he had become a victim of John Wayne Gacy.

It wasn’t an unreasonable belief.

Gacy often used offers of construction jobs to lure his victims, and Harold matched Gacy’s Ideal Victim Type. Plus, a piece of jewelry was found among Gacy’s victims that Harold’s mother thought belonged to him.

What the family didn’t know is that Harold had actually left due to a fight with his step-dad, and had moved to Florida. He had no idea his family thought he was dead, and as often happens in such situations, did not reach out to them, as they had not reached out to him.

Said Harold’s younger sister Theresa Hasselberg:

He had no clue. He did nothing but cry when he found out.

With the word about DNA being collected from Gacy’s victims, Theresa’s son found a picture on the internet that they thought might be him. Theresa reached out to the man and it turned out it was his brother.

Theresa and her son live in Alabama. Within two hours of receiving the call from Theresa, Harold was on a bus to their home. They spent all day Tuesday catching up.

I expect this story gives Sherry Marino hope that her son might still be alive. I fear it’s false hope, but perhaps I’m wrong.