DNA genealogy links 1960 Chicago child murder to former homicide detective

A Chicago cold-case murder of 8-year-old Gloria Kowalewicz, whose body was discovered in a ravine in 1960, has been solved through DNA submitted to a genetic ancestry website. The analysis pointed to former Chicago homicide detective Thomas Francis McInerney, then 24, as the perpetrator. Gloria had been shot twice in the head after leaving home for communion, prompting a massive manhunt that failed to produce a suspect.

Further forensic testing, including fingerprints and ballistics, confirmed McInerney’s involvement; he lived near the victim’s home and was an Army veteran. McInerney spent 28 years on the police force, later working as an investigator for the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Las Vegas and Reno, and was honored as Outstanding Federal Defender Investigator in 2003. He died in 2006, leaving the Kowalewicz family without justice, though brother Adam expressed relief at the identification. Police officials called the revelation “deeply troubling” given the offender’s role as a law-enforcement officer.