Full Breakdown
Former Chicago Detective Identified as 1960 Child Murderer
By Drooid · · How we work
Case Overview
On the morning of a scheduled November 12, 1960, eight-year-old Gloria Kowalewicz left her West Englewood home to walk to a church mass. She never arrived; her body was discovered two hours later in the Palos Hills forest preserve, shot twice in the head and bearing bruises to the neck. Police collected a bullet, her coat, shoes, a white communion purse with a prayer book, and lifted a fingerprint from the purse’s strap. The murder remained unsolved for more than six and a half decades.
Investigation History
Chicago Police Department (CPD) formed a task force that interviewed roughly 1,300 people and administered polygraph tests to a dozen suspects, but no identification resulted. Volunteers from firefighters, Boy Scouts and military veterans assisted in the extensive search. The case stayed cold despite the preserved physical evidence.
DNA Breakthrough and Identification
In 2026, advances in DNA analysis and the use of a genetic ancestry website enabled the FBI to match DNA from the preserved evidence to Thomas F. McInerney Jr., a former CPD homicide detective. CPD’s Forensic Services division, with Illinois State Police and the FBI, confirmed the match through additional DNA, fingerprint and ballistic testing. McInerney had joined the department in 1959, retired in 1987 as a violent-crimes detective, and later worked as an investigator for federal public defender offices in Nevada before dying on August 30, 2006, at age 70.
Official Response
CPD released a statement describing McInerney’s actions as “abhorrent,” noting that his death precluded any criminal prosecution. The department expressed hope that the identification would bring closure to those who knew Gloria and her family. Adam Kowalewicz, Gloria’s brother, told the Chicago Tribune that learning the killer’s identity was a relief but voiced frustration that McInerney died without facing justice.
Significance
The resolution demonstrates how modern forensic techniques can revive long-standing cold cases, offering answers to families decades after a crime. It also underscores the importance of preserving evidence, as the items collected in 1960 proved pivotal in linking a former police officer to the murder.