Presumed Victim Of John Wayne Gacy Found Alive

Harold Wayne Lovell, 53, a Chicago man who was thought to be one of the eight unidentified victims of notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy in the '70s, was discovered this week to have been living in Florida and working construction for the past three decades that he was missing.

"I never stopped thinking about my mom or my brothers and my sisters," Lovell said after he was reunited with siblings Tim Lovell and Theresa Hasselberg on Wednesday in Alabama, where the family now resides, reports the Sun Sentinel. The troubled 19-year old left his home in 1977 to find construction work, as he "didn't feel wanted" at home. It was shortly after that Gacy was arrested for killing 33 young men and boys between the ages of 14 and 21 in the general area where Lovell was last seen. Since some of Gacy's victims were not identified, Lovell's siblings assumed their brother might be among them.

"All those years, I thought for sure Gacy got him," Tim, who was 14 at the time of his brother's disappearance, said. "I thought for sure he was dead and gone. I imagine there are other families out there who have felt the way we have all those years. But maybe your loved ones out there are alive," he encouraged. "Don't quit looking."

Now that the Cook County, Illinois Sheriff's Office has reopened the Gacy case, it's possible that the unidentified victims will actually be able to be named through DNA found in their remains. In the meantime, Lovell's family is thankful that their own suspicions were not confirmed. "I always had that inkling of hope he was alive," said Tim. "I would say, 'God, let me see my brother one more time."

Many other families who suspect their loved ones may have been victims of one of America's most notorious murderers are currently submitting DNA samples to the Sheriff's Office.