The Case of James Mazzara

James Mazzara, 20, disappeared from Chicago on November 24, 1978, during the final weeks of John Wayne Gacy's killing spree. Mazzara had recently met Gacy and was last seen after leaving a restaurant with him. His remains were later recovered from the Des Plaines River, and his identity was established after investigators connected him to Gacy.

James Mazzara was 20 years old and lived in the Chicago area. He disappeared on November 24, 1978, only three weeks before Gacy's crimes were exposed. By this stage, Gacy had already murdered dozens of young men and had begun disposing of some victims in the Des Plaines River rather than continuing to bury all of them beneath his home. Mazzara had reportedly met Gacy shortly before his disappearance. The two became acquainted through the Chicago area nightlife scene, and Mazzara subsequently accompanied Gacy. His disappearance came only 12 days after Frank Landingin, whose body was found in the Des Plaines River and whose identification provided investigators with one of the earliest direct links between Gacy and a homicide victim.

Mazzara was murdered by Gacy and his body was disposed of in the Des Plaines River. By late November 1978, Gacy had increasingly begun using the river to dispose of victims. The change was significant because investigators later determined that the burial space beneath his house was becoming insufficient to conceal additional bodies. Mazzara's remains were eventually recovered from the river during the investigation into Gacy's murders.

Mazzara's disappearance initially remained unresolved. Investigators were already beginning to examine connections between Gacy and missing young men after the discovery of Frank Landingin's body and evidence linking Landingin to Gacy. However, the investigation accelerated dramatically after 15-year-old Robert Piest disappeared on December 11, 1978. Piest had been seen speaking with Gacy at a Des Plaines pharmacy shortly before disappearing. Police subsequently focused on Gacy and searched his home. The discovery of human remains beneath the property exposed the enormous scale of his crimes. Investigators then began examining missing-person cases and unsolved homicides that could be connected to Gacy. Mazzara was eventually identified as one of his victims.

John Wayne Gacy was convicted of James Mazzara's murder in 1980, along with 32 other murders, and sentenced to death. Mazzara's remains were recovered from the Des Plaines River and identified during the investigation into Gacy's victims. Gacy was executed by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Center on May 10, 1994.

James Mazzara was Victim 27 of 33 in our chronological CrimeTrakr sequence. His murder occurred only 20 days before Robert Piest's disappearance, the event that ultimately brought Gacy's crimes to the attention of police. Mazzara is also part of the final group of Gacy victims whose bodies were disposed of in the Des Plaines River, rather than being buried beneath his home.