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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Crime John Wayne Gacy: Not Such a Bad Guy After All

Posted by Cienna Madrid on Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 10:19 AM

It's a Christmas miracle, y'all!

Via Raw Story:

When Ted Szal disappeared in Chicago 35 years ago, his family assumed that he had fallen victim to serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

But Szal’s family got an early Christmas gift this year when they learned that he had been alive all this time and living in a suburb of Portland, Oregon.

“My family thought I was dead,” Szal told The Associated Press. “That hurt when I heard that.”

“There’s a difference between being murdered and running away, and I basically just ran away,” he explained.

For the record, Szal is the second Gacy "victim" to turn up alive. It looks like some of you clown haters out there owe someone an apology...

Comments (13) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

You mean Michele Bachmann?

Posted by Baconcat on December 22, 2011 at 10:22 AM

I'm sorry for doubting Michelle Bachmann.

Posted by seatackled on December 22, 2011 at 10:24 AM

Did airports not keep flight records back then? WTF?

Posted by Andy_Squirrel on December 22, 2011 at 10:38 AM

That reminds me of those pictures Slog had of the Republicans painted as clowns. It looked like John Wayne Gacy's circus of the damned.

Posted by Vince on December 22, 2011 at 10:40 AM

rocket scientists, those Szals.

Posted by Max Solomon on December 22, 2011 at 10:50 AM

All this means is that two families who didn't think their sons were among Gacy's victims should be pondering what happened to their boys back in the late '70s. Gacy was a monster. And @3, no airports didn't keep such great records back in the '70s. Read some fiction or watch some movies from back then: people would walk up to the counter, pay cash for a ticket, get a boarding pass, go through very minor security checks, head to the bar nearest the gate and drink and smoke before boarding a plane where they could drink and smoke. Security was minimal at best.

Posted by Chicago Fan on December 22, 2011 at 10:58 AM

I have to wonder what that dummy thought his family thought happened to him. Runaways who aren't heard from in decades have generally met a bad end. It doesn't have to be at the hands of a notorious serial killer.

Posted by Matt from Denver on December 22, 2011 at 11:06 AM

Cienna, why would you even think of writing a headline like that? I guess my sensibilities are not so tough as you all's. I'm still gasping.

Posted by Phoebe in Wallingford on December 22, 2011 at 11:14 AM

Using that ruler, I must be a great human. After all.

Posted by Geraldo Riviera on December 22, 2011 at 11:20 AM

He was a sick fuck and I hope he's roasting in hell. Those lost boys break my heart.

Posted by meowmeowkitty on December 22, 2011 at 11:52 AM

I think this may be the greatest article I have ever seen.

Cienna, I look forward to your Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

@8 Don't hate, celebrate.

Posted by JonnyH on December 22, 2011 at 11:59 AM

I'm in St. Louis for Xmas and I read this aloud to my family. We all cackled.

Posted by JonnyH on December 22, 2011 at 12:00 PM

@7 - exactly.

"I'm so hurt that my family thought I was dead instead of understanding that I had made a deliberate choice to completely cut them out of my life".

Who knows, maybe his family sucks and he was right to leave.

Posted by genevieve on December 22, 2011 at 12:08 PM