Unintended result: Gacy probe clears 11 unrelated cold cases

Sharon Cohen
Associated Press

His task was to solve a cruel mystery decades after a serial killer's death.

Sgt. Jason Moran's work began in a graveyard, his first stop in his quest to identify the eight unknown victims of John Wayne Gacy. More than 30 years had passed since Gacy had murdered 33 young men and boys; most of their remains were found in his crawl space.

Investigators now had more sophisticated crime-solving tools, notably DNA, so the Cook County sheriff's detective was assigned to find out who was buried in eight anonymous graves.

Almost immediately, Moran had a breakthrough: He helped a family confirm what it had long suspected — Gacy killed their brother.

Since then, though, Moran's search has led him down a totally unexpected path: He's cleared 11 unrelated cold cases across America. After eliminating these young men as Gacy victims, he's pored over DNA results, autopsy reports and Social Security records, enlisted anthropologists, lab technicians, and police in Utah, Colorado, New Jersey and other states — and cracked missing person's cases that had been dormant for decades.

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