Robert Hutton, John Wayne Gacy 'Victim,' Found Alive After 4 Decades, Reunited With Family
Robert Hutton was recently found alive and living in Montana after more than 40 years of his family believing he had been one the many victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
The discovery comes after Chicago-area authorities conducted another investigation of Gacy's crimes. The Cook County Sheriff's office reopened the Gacy files in an effort to identify eight victims. Hutton fit one of the profile of Gacy's victims, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Authorities followed tips and other evidence and found Hutton who is now 62, living in Montana. Hutton's sister had contacted the sheriff's office in February 2012 interested in learning about the ongoing efforts in identifying more of Gacy victims. Gacy was executed in 1994.
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"I said, 'Well your sister thinks you could have been killed by John Gacy and that's why you haven't been around,'" Cook County Sheriff Deputy Jason Moran told the Chicago Sun-Times. "He was very surprised. He was surprised that they were still looking for him. 'You mean they're still looking for me?' and I said, 'Yes they are.'"
He had been traveling around the region looking for construction work and other odd jobs. His identity was confirmed after a Cook County deputy traveled to Montana this past April and has since reunited with his family.
"Back in those days, missing people -- I don't want to say it was dismissed. If it was a high-profile one, obviously there was a lot of attention there, but, by and large, people thought, okay, he walked away," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart told WLS-TV. "He took off. He'll come back."
The sheriff's department has identified one victim since reopening Gacy's files in 2011. William George Bundy was positively identified as one of at least 33 people Gacy killed from 1972 to 1978, deputies said. Bundy was one of 29 bodies discovered on Gacy's property in 1978.
