The Case of Tommy Joseph Boling

Tommy Joseph Boling, 20, disappeared from Chicago on November 18, 1977, during the rapidly escalating final phase of John Wayne Gacy's murders. His remains were later recovered from beneath Gacy's Norwood Park Township home, where investigators discovered the bodies of numerous young men and boys. Boling was subsequently identified as one of Gacy's 33 victims.

Tommy Boling was 20 years old and lived in the Chicago area. He disappeared on November 18, 1977, only eight days after 16-year-old Robert Winch disappeared. His disappearance came during one of the most concentrated periods of Gacy's known offending. By November 1977, Gacy had already murdered numerous young men, while continuing to maintain his construction business and outward appearance as a respected member of the community. Boling's disappearance initially had no apparent connection to the other young men who had vanished around Chicago. His family would not learn what had happened to him until investigators uncovered Gacy's burial site more than a year later.

Boling was murdered by Gacy and his body was concealed beneath 8213 West Summerdale Avenue in Norwood Park Township. Gacy used the crawl space beneath his home as a burial site for many of his victims. The area contained multiple bodies by the time investigators finally searched the property in December 1978. Boling's remains were among those recovered during the excavation.

Boling's disappearance remained unresolved until the investigation into Gacy began in December 1978. The investigation was triggered by the disappearance of 15-year-old Robert Piest, who had been seen speaking with Gacy at a Des Plaines pharmacy shortly before vanishing. Police began examining Gacy's movements and obtained access to his home. Suspicious evidence led investigators to the crawl space, where they discovered human remains. The excavation continued as additional bodies were uncovered. Investigators compared the unidentified remains against missing-person cases from Chicago and surrounding communities, eventually establishing Boling's identity. His identification connected another young man's disappearance to Gacy and added to the extraordinary scale of the investigation.

John Wayne Gacy was convicted of Tommy Boling's murder in 1980, along with 32 other murders, and sentenced to death. Boling's remains were recovered from Gacy's home during the December 1978 excavation and subsequently identified. Gacy was executed by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Center on May 10, 1994.

Tommy Boling was Gacy's twenty-first identified victim in our chronological sequence. His murder occurred only eight days after Robert Winch's disappearance, continuing the exceptionally rapid succession of killings during November 1977. The chronology at this stage is particularly striking: Russell Nelson: October 17 → Robert Winch: November 10 → Tommy Boling: November 18. The killings were occurring within weeks of one another, with Gacy continuing to operate undetected.