Wayne Lovell, right, poses with long-lost brother Tim
Two siblings thought the worst when their brother disappeared in 1977.
For decades, Tim Lovell and Theresa Hasselberg suspected that their brother was murdered by notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The brother, Harold Lovell (who goes by his middle name, Wayne), left their family’s home in Chicago to look for construction work around the same time that Gacy, a contractor, lured young men by offering them jobs before killing them.
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Eight of the 33 bodies found on Gacy’s property were never identified, and the brother and sister had planned to submit DNA to test if Lovell was among these victims. But they learned that their brother, now 53, was alive and living in Florida, when they came upon an online police booking photo of him. It might not be the best way to discover the whereabouts of your long-lost brother, but no one in the family seems to be complaining.
The family has since been reunited. Lovell said he went to Florida years ago because he wasn’t getting along with his mother and stepfather. He’s since had run-ins with law, including charges for buying marijuana — but his mug shot came in handy in the end.