A murder that went unsolved for more than 65 years has been cracked through advanced DNA technology, and the man now identified as responsible turns out to have been a detective in the very homicide unit that investigated the crime.
Thomas Francis McKinney, a former homicide detective with the Chicago Police Department, has been linked to the murder of Gloria Kozlowiec, an eight-year-old girl found dead on November 12, 1960, according to a report in the New York Post.
Gloria's body was discovered in a creek several miles from her home. She had been shot twice in the head. The killing set off a massive search involving police, firefighters, Boy Scouts and volunteers, but for decades investigators were unable to identify the killer.
The breakthrough came in early 2026, when FBI investigators connected McKinney to the crime scene using genetic information uploaded to a genealogy website. Further DNA testing, along with matching fingerprints and ballistics evidence, confirmed that he was responsible for the murder. At the time of the killing, McKinney was 24 years old and lived on a street near the girl's home.
Kevin Bruno, commander of the Chicago Police Department's detective division, praised the investigators who persisted with the case over the decades. He said the fact that the suspect was himself a police officer is particularly disturbing, but stressed that the department does not intend to ignore the matter.
McKinney will not stand trial: he died in 2006, years before the case was solved. Gloria's brother expressed frustration that the suspect died without facing justice for his actions.
