The Chicago Police Department announced on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, that DNA evidence has linked a former homicide detective, Thomas F. McInerney Jr., to the 1960 murder of 8-year-old Gloria Kowalewicz. McInerney, who joined the department in 1959 and retired in 1987, died in 2006. Investigators used modern forensic technology and genealogical databases to match biological evidence and a fingerprint from the crime scene to the former officer.
Gloria Kowalewicz disappeared on Nov. 12, 1960, while walking from her home to a morning Mass in southwest Chicago. Her body was discovered approximately four hours later in a forest preserve ditch; she had been shot to death. At the time of the killing, authorities formed a task force that interviewed more than 1,300 people and conducted over a dozen polygraph tests, but the case remained unsolved for more than six decades.
The recent breakthrough resulted from a collaboration between the Chicago Police, the FBI, and the Illinois State Police. Investigators analyzed a bullet, the victim's coat and shoes, and a white communion purse recovered in 1960. A fingerprint found on the purse strap and DNA evidence from these items were matched to McInerney. Following his career in Chicago, McInerney worked for the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Nevada until 2004.
This development affects the families of victims of unsolved crimes in the Chicago area, as well as defendants whose cases were handled by McInerney during his career as a Chicago police officer. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has begun a review to identify cases that involved McInerney.
For the public and legal system, this discovery introduces a process of retroactive scrutiny. Former defendants or their families may notice new legal inquiries or filings related to past convictions if McInerney’s involvement is found to have impacted those cases. Additionally, the FBI is currently pursuing leads to determine if McInerney is linked to other unsolved crimes in the region from that era. The use of investigative genetic genealogy—which compares crime scene DNA to profiles on public genealogical websites—continues to facilitate identifications in decades-old "cold cases," though the technology remains a subject of debate regarding genetic privacy.
The investigation now moves into a phase of historical case review. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the FBI have not provided a specific deadline for their reviews, but the process of auditing McInerney’s casework is active as of October 2026. Because McInerney died two decades ago, no criminal prosecution can take place, but the findings may lead to the administrative closure of other cold cases or the potential challenge of past convictions through the court system.