Sheriff Barred From Digging for More Gacy Victims

Officials of the Cook County sheriff's office say they have been stymied in their effort to excavate the backyard of a Chicago apartment building in a search for additional victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

The site on the city's Northwest Side was dug up in November 1998 after a former Chicago homicide detective told authorities he saw Gacy in the yard with a shovel.

Sheriff's department spokesman Frank Bilecki says the site is "another piece of the Gacy puzzle." However, the Cook County state's attorney's office denied Sheriff Thomas Dart's request to seek a search warrant for the property, citing insufficient evidence.

Gacy was convicted of murdering 33 young men from 1972 through 1978. He buried most of the bodies in a crawl space under his home.

In November, the Cook County Sheriff's Department identified a 19th victim, labeled as such because he was the 19th victim removed from the killer's basement. The victim was identified as William "Bill" George Bundy.