Another Presumed Gacy Victim Comes Forward; Movie On Serial Killer In Development
CHICAGO -- Another man presumed to have been a John Wayne Gacy victim has been found alive.
Theodore Szal, believed to have been one of the eight victims recently exhumed, was tracked down in Beaverton, Ore., by the Cook County Sheriff's office after no DNA matches were found among the dead.
His race, age and the date he disappeared bore so many similarities to Gacy's 33 known victims that his family's DNA had been compared to the never-identified Gacy victims.
NBC Chicago reports Szal went missing at the age of 24. His family is reportedly "ecstatic and amazed" that he is alive after disappearing in 1977.
"I believe Christmas has come early for the Szal family," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said in a statement. "Being able to tell an 88-year-old father that his son, whose picture he has been carrying around for 34 years in his breast pocket, has been found alive is something special."
In other Gacy news, the lawyer who represented the convicted serial killer in his 1980 criminal trial has sold the rights to his book about the case for a feature film, as well as a possible documentary.
"Defending a Monster," written by Sam Amirante, who represented Gacy, along with Lake Zurich attorney Danny Broderick, chronicles Gacy's conviction for 33 sexual assaults and murders. The book further features Amirante's interpretations of his client's mental state and the unique challenges presented by the trial.
The authors sold the movie option to a Hollywood production company last week, the Daily Herald reports, and shooting also began last week for a 90-minute documentary film based on the book.
A previous film on the topic, the low-budget "Gacy" starring Mark Holton that was released direct-to-video, received poor reviews, CBS Chicago reports.
The productions are kicking off at a time when new developments in the case have reinvigorated public interest. In October, the bodies of eight victims were exhumed to be reexamined for connections to the case, prompting Patrick Dati, a Gacy sexual assault victim, to come forward with his story.
The renewed focus on the case also prompted Harold Wayne Lovell, a man who had disappeared at age 19 in 1977 and was believed to have been a Gacy victim, to come forward and reconnect with his family.
WATCH a video report on Lovell, the most recent presumed Gacy victim who came forward after disappearing several decades before:
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The Huffington Post/AP First Posted: 12/21/11 11:55 AM ET Updated: 12/21/11 12:17 PM ET