Child Murder Cold Case From 1960 Now Tied to Chicago Cop

An infamous Chicago cold case has ended with an accusation against a man who once investigated killings for the city. The Guardian reports that Chicago police have now named former homicide detective Thomas McInerney as the person who abducted and fatally shot 8-year-old Gloria Kowalewicz in 1960—more than 65 years after her body was found in a forest preserve ditch. McInerney, a US Army veteran who lived near Gloria's home and joined the force a year before her killing, worked on homicide cases in Chicago before retiring to Las Vegas, reports CBS News. He later served as an investigator for federal public defenders in Nevada before dying in 2006, per the Guardian.

Police say newly analyzed DNA from a genealogy website, along with fingerprint and ballistic testing, linked McInerney, who was in his mid-20s at the time of the killing, to the crime scene evidence, including Gloria's purse. Authorities called his actions "abhorrent" and said he should never have worn a Chicago police badge. Gloria's parents, meanwhile, died without learning who killed their daughter. Her brother told the Chicago Tribune he feels relief at the announcement, as well as anger that McInerney "never paid his dues."