Following the reopening of the case, Gacy's unidentified victims were exhumed with the hope that modern DNA technology might provide the answers that were not available in the past when authorities had little choice but to rely on dental records and fingerprints alone for identification purposes.
Authorities located and dug up the victim's jaw bones, which were separated and stored in the county medical examiner's office for years before being buried in a pauper's grave in 2009. The upper and lower jaws, as well as the victim's teeth, were maintained as evidence in case further information, such as dental records, became available.
Authorities believe that this call for public help will successfully bring forth the family members of suspected victims, thus providing crucial connections in the case. According to the DNA profiles compiled by authorities, the eight victims were white males between the ages of 14 and 32 year old.
According to the autopsy report, the victim's second molars had erupted but according to Marino's dental records, he was missing a second molar. However, the orthodontist who examined the victim stands by his findings, noting that while those molars typically come in at about 12 years of age, they can erupt later. He further asserts that Marino's x-rays showed identical dental fillings to those of the victim. At the time of his alleged death, Marino's dental records were about seven months old.
Gacy, a notorious serial killer, was convicted and executed for the murder of 33 young men and boys in the 1970s. He convinced most of his victims to enter his home on the pretext of offering them construction jobs, money, drugs, or alcohol. Seven of the unidentified victims were found in the crawlspace of his Norwood Park Township home and the eighth was discovered under the barbecue pit.
