Chicago police say advances in DNA technology and a preserved fingerprint linked a former department detective to the 1960 abduction and killing of an 8-year-old girl.
Chicago police confirmed to Fox News Digital that the evidence tied Thomas F. McInerney Jr. to the death of Gloria Kowalewicz. McInerney joined the Chicago Police Department in 1959, later became a detective and retired from the department in 1987, Fox News reported. According to The Associated Press, he later worked for the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Nevada, retired in 2004 and died in 2006 at age 70.
Gloria disappeared Nov. 12, 1960, after leaving home shortly before 8 a.m. to attend morning Mass at St. Mary of Mt. Carmel Church, Fox News reported. Her body was found about four hours later in a ditch at a forest preserve southwest of Chicago; she had been shot, the report said.
Investigators preserved evidence from the scene and surrounding area, including a bullet, Gloria’s coat and shoes, and a white communion purse containing her prayer book. A fingerprint was recovered from the purse’s strap, and modern forensic testing later linked that material to McInerney, Fox News reported. The earlier investigation had included interviews with more than 1,300 people and hundreds of door knocks, the report said.
“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,” Chicago police said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office is working to identify other cases that may have involved McInerney, according to The Associated Press. Police told Fox News that Gloria’s parents died before learning who killed their daughter and expressed hope the identification would bring some closure to those who knew her.
McInerney died in 2006 without facing charges in Gloria Kowalewicz’s murder, the reports said. The Associated Press contributed to the Fox News report.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
