The Case of Michael Lawrence Bonnin

Michael Lawrence Bonnin, 17, disappeared on June 3, 1976, while travelling from Chicago toward Waukegan. John Wayne Gacy abducted and strangled him, then buried his body beneath the spare bedroom of his Norwood Park Township home. A fishing license belonging to Bonnin found inside Gacy's house helped investigators connect him to the murder, and his remains were identified in January 1979.

Michael Bonnin was 17 years old and lived in Chicago's Lakeview neighbourhood. He disappeared on June 3, 1976, while travelling from Chicago toward Waukegan to meet his stepfather's brother at a train station. Bonnin's disappearance occurred during a period when Gacy's murders were becoming increasingly frequent. Only three weeks earlier, Gacy had murdered Randall Reffett and Samuel Stapleton, and within ten days of Bonnin's disappearance he would kill William Carroll. The rapid succession of these disappearances would later become part of the extraordinary pattern investigators uncovered after Gacy's arrest.

Bonnin was murdered at Gacy's home in Norwood Park Township. Gacy later confessed to strangling Bonnin with a ligature. His body was buried beneath the floor of the spare bedroom, rather than in the common burial area of the crawl space where many of Gacy's other victims were eventually found. The ligature reportedly remained around Bonnin's neck when his remains were recovered. One of the most significant pieces of evidence connecting Bonnin to Gacy was a fishing license belonging to Michael Bonnin, which investigators found inside Gacy's home after the property was searched.

Michael was reported missing after failing to arrive at his intended destination. His disappearance remained unresolved for more than two years. The investigation changed dramatically in December 1978 after 15-year-old Robert Piest disappeared after leaving a Des Plaines pharmacy with Gacy. Police traced Piest's disappearance to Gacy, and the resulting investigation led to a search of his Norwood Park Township home. Investigators discovered suspicious materials and began excavating the property. The search uncovered numerous human remains, eventually establishing that Gacy had been operating a burial ground beneath his house. Bonnin's remains were among those recovered. His identity was established through forensic dental examination, with contemporary reporting confirming his identification in January 1979. At that point, investigators had identified eight of the bodies recovered from Gacy's property.

John Wayne Gacy was subsequently charged with 33 murders, including the murder of Michael Bonnin. He was convicted of all 33 murders in 1980 and sentenced to death. Bonnin's remains were recovered from Gacy's home and identified in January 1979, allowing his family to finally learn what had happened to him.

Michael Bonnin was Gacy's sixth identified victim in the chronological case sequence. His murder is particularly significant when viewed alongside the surrounding cases: Randall Reffett and Samuel Stapleton disappeared on May 14, Bonnin disappeared on June 3, and William Carroll disappeared only ten days later on June 13. The clustering illustrates how rapidly Gacy's offending was escalating during 1976. The discovery of Bonnin's fishing license at Gacy's home also provided investigators with an unusually direct connection between a missing person and the eventual crime scene.