New Developments in 1960 Murder Case of 8-Year-Old Girl

In 1960, an 8-year-old girl from Illinois disappeared on her way to church and was later found murdered, a case that puzzled investigators for over six decades.

Recently, however, a remarkable development has emerged: detectives have identified a surprising suspect— a retired Chicago police officer who dedicated much of his career to investigating sex crimes and homicides.

“From our perspective, he’s a murderer hiding behind a badge,” was one of the harsher statements made regarding the suspect.

On November 12, 1960, Gloria Kowalewicz, who had just made her First Holy Communion, set off from her West Englewood home to attend church, which was a mere three blocks away, as reported by local news sources.

Her mother, Esther, dressed her in a pink-and-brown checkered outfit and a blue leotard, kissing her goodbye — the last time she would see her daughter alive.

Gloria never made it to the church. Several hours later, her body was discovered in a remote location. She had been shot twice in the head and showed signs of having been assaulted.

A laundry driver stumbled upon her remains in a ravine located more than 15 miles from where she lived. Investigators concluded she was murdered in that spot due to the large pool of blood found there.

At the crime scene, authorities found a trail of blood leading from a nearby road and made plaster casts of tire tracks they found in the area.

Items belonging to Gloria, such as her shoes and a bullet casing, were recovered. Fingerprints were detected on her Bible and purse strap, while her coat was located miles away.

More than 1,300 people were interviewed throughout the investigation, but the leads ultimately went cold, and the case remained unresolved.

A newspaper article from six months after Gloria’s death depicted the investigation as stuck in a cycle of false leads and dead ends. It noted that despite extensive forensic work, the perpetrator continued to roam free.

Advancements in DNA testing and genealogical methods have now changed the trajectory of this cold case. Recently, Chicago cold-case detectives pinpointed a police officer as Gloria’s murderer.

After several years of revisiting ballistics tests, fingerprints, DNA comparisons, and genealogical databases, detectives have named their suspect as Thomas Francis McInerney, who was 24 years old at the time of the crime.

Interestingly, McInerney was the child of a Cook County Jail corrections officer and lived just blocks away from the Kowalewicz family’s home.

A veteran of the U.S. Army, McInerney’s tenure with the Chicago Police Department lasted until 1987, before his death in Las Vegas in 2006. His family has not commented on the allegations.

One of the significant figures in the investigation, Kevin Bruno, Chief of Detectives at the Chicago Police Department, expressed his hopes that the decades-long investigation would finally bring closure. He noted the painful irony of the suspect being part of the force that was supposed to protect the community.

Adam Kowalewicz, Gloria’s brother, reflected on the long wait for justice, stating that now his parents could find peace knowing what happened to their daughter.