John Wayne Gacy: The Killer Clown · 29 Aug 2026 · 12 min

The Crawl Space: What Police Found Beneath Gacy's House

When investigators executed a search warrant on John Wayne Gacy's suburban Chicago home in December 1978, what they found in the crawl space would shock the nation. This chapter follows Robert Piest's disappearance, the neighbors who smelled death and said nothing, and the moment the case finally broke open.

John Wayne Gacy: The Killer Clown
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The Crawl Space: What Police Found Beneath Gacy's House

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What's covered

The Question No One Could Answer

He was fifteen years old. He had just finished a shift at a pharmacy.

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The Last Shift

December thirteenth, nineteen seventy-eight. Robert Piest was working at Nisson Pharmacy in Des Plaines, Illinois.

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The Smell the Neighbors Didn't Name

Before Robert Piest disappeared, before police had any reason to look at Gacy's address, something was already wrong at 8213 West Summerdale. The smell.

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The Surveillance and the Warrant

After Piest's disappearance, police began surveillance on Gacy. They followed him.

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The Confession and the Diagrams

Gacy confessed. Not reluctantly.

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The Trial and the Verdict

In March of nineteen eighty, a jury convicted John Wayne Gacy of thirty-three murders. He was sentenced to death.

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The Eight Who Remain Unnamed

Here's what hasn't resolved. Eight of Gacy's victims have never been identified.

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What This Case Left Behind

Gacy's house at 8213 West Summerdale was demolished in April of nineteen seventy-nine. The excavation was complete.

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