DNA ties Thomas F. McInerney Jr. to 1960 Chicago murder
Investigators connected former Chicago detective Thomas F. McInerney Jr. to the 1960 killing of a young girl. Forensic testing matched evidence from the crime scene decades after the girl disappeared.
Chicago police announced on Tuesday that genetic material linked Thomas F. McInerney Jr. to the death. Gloria Kowalewicz, 8, vanished on Nov. 12, 1960. She was walking to a morning Mass just a few blocks from her home.
Her body was found around four hours later. Someone dumped her in a ditch inside a forest preserve in southwest Chicago. She was shot dead, police said.
Police formed a task force right after the crime. Investigators knocked on hundreds of doors. They interviewed more than 1,300 people and questioned more than a dozen people under polygraph.
Detectives kept several items from the scene. They preserved a bullet, the victim’s coat and shoes, and a white communion purse. The purse held her prayer book.
The FBI and the Illinois State Police assisted the cold case inquiry. Modern tools linked biological material from the items to McInerney. Officials also matched a carefully preserved fingerprint lifted from the purse strap.
McInerney should never have worn the CPD star, and it is devastating to accept that he was never identified and held accountable while he was alive.
The method compares crime scene evidence with genetic profiles uploaded to genealogical websites. The Golden State Killer was identified through the same process. That matter involved DNA from a discarded tissue.
The FBI stated it is pursuing every investigative lead. Federal agents want to resolve other potential unsolved crimes from that period in the Chicago area.
McInerney joined the Chicago Police Department in 1959. He worked violent crimes cases and retired in 1987. A Chicago Tribune obituary stated he worked for the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Reno and Las Vegas. He retired again in 2004. McInerney died in 2006.
Cold case units review old physical evidence with modern forensic tools. Analysts upload genetic data to consumer databases to locate relatives of unidentified suspects. Investigators then trace family trees to find specific individuals.
Police said the suspect avoided detection during his entire career. He was never held accountable before his death.
