Police officials have identified one of serial killer John Wayne Gacy Jr.’s remaining unidentified victims.
Gacy, who has been labeled the “clown killer” due to his hobby as an event clown, killed 33 young men between 1972 and 1978. Most of his victims were identified after being discovered buried in the crawlspace of Gacy’s home.
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The newly-identified victim, Jimmy Haakenson, was 16 at the time of his death. He had traveled from St. Paul, Minnesota to Chicago on Aug. 5, 1976. He called his mother upon his arrival, but authorities believe he was killed shortly after the call was made.
Many of Haakenson’s family members believed he was one of Gacy’s victims, but it couldn’t be proven due to a lack of dental records. The identification was made after one of Haakenson’s nephews (who never met Jimmy) sought out an advanced DNA test to help make an identification.
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“We know where my brother is,” Haakenson’s older sister, Lorie Sisterman, told the Pioneer Press. “We know what happened to him.”
The exact nature of Haakenson’s death is not known, but it’s likely it occurred after he had an encounter with Gacy on Aug. 5. Authorities said the call home could have possibly even have been made from Gacy’s home.
“This man was a horrible monster, and my brother somehow ran into him,” Sisterman said. “Somehow, on the bus or on a street corner, just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Along with the other unidentified victims, Haakenson’s body was buried in Chicago, with a headstone that reads “We Remembered.” Haakenson’s family plans to update the stone with his name and birth and death dates.
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NEW YORK CITY – DECEMBER 19: "Toil and Trouble" – Elsbeth is thrown into the world of television after the showrunner of a long-running police procedural is brutally murdered in his office, and although it appears to be the act of a disgruntled fan, she begins to suspect the show's longtime star Regina Coburn (Laurie Metcalf) who yearns for artistic fulfillment. Meanwhile, Judge Crawford (Michael Emerson) continues to be a thorn in Elsbeth's side, on the CBS original series ELSBETH, Thursday, Dec. 19 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured (L-R): Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Carra Patterson as Kaya Blanke. (Photo by Michael Parmelee/CBS via Getty Images)







