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Subscribe to RSSCHICAGO - A man feared to have been murdered by a serial killer has been found alive after more than three decades, officials said Wednesday.
Theodore Szal disappeared from the Chicago area in 1977 when he was 24, according to the Cook County Sheriff's office in Illinois. His race, age and the date he vanished bore similarities to the 33 victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, eight of whom were never identified, leading his family to believe he was dead.
On Wednesday, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced Szal, 59, was found living in Beaverton, Ore.
“I believe Christmas has come early for the Szal family,” said Dart in a statement. “Being able to tell an 88-year-old father that his son, whose picture he has been carrying around for 34 years in his breast pocket, has been found alive is something special.”
Szal had decided to leave Illinois when he was 24, Dart said. He was going through a divorce, and wasn't reported missing because he had a history of dinsengaging from his family for extended periods of time, reported NBCChicago.com. But when they didn't hear from him for years, they worried he was dead.
Szal's vehicle had been found near O'Hare airport, close to Gacy's house, according to NBCChicago.com, and he had a construction-related job at the time of his disappearance, fitting the description of the killer's victims.
AP file
This 1978 file photo shows serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
The Cook County Sheriff's detectives renewed efforts in October to identify the eight unknown Gacy victims, NBCChicago.com reported. A check of Szal's name, date of birth and social security number revealed he was alive; his family was told the good news on Tuesday.
“While we are so relieved to have discovered that Ted is alive and well, our thoughts and prayers are also with the families of the victims – both known and yet to be determined – of John Wayne Gacy," Szal’s family said in a statement. "We are so thankful to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and Detective Jason Moran. The work they are doing is meaningful and important. With the news they were able to bring us, we do ask that our privacy be respected while we sort through the next steps with our family. Thank you."
When Szal was told his family had been searching for him, NBCChicago.com reported there was silence on the phone as a "completely surprised" Szal searched for words and said he left the area because of his divorce and a misunderstanding with the family.
This is the second time a man presumed killed by Gacy has been found alive: In late October, another former construction worker, Harold Wayne Lovell, was discovered living in Florida.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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Wonderful news. I hope this family can get past what ever ripples in their past separated them and get back to reuniting.
How do these people just "disappear" from their families like this for so long?
Not all familys are like the Cleavers and Waltons.
If Sam Walton was my Daddy, there would be no way I'd disappear.
I guess the Devil's Son would probably know that better than most ;)
Wonderful ?!?!?! I don't think the guy who made his family suffer all those years thinks it's so wonderful. If he had wanted to let his family know he was okay he could have done that a long time ago. What a selfish jerk.
Yes, great news. I hope things go well for this guy.
Great news for the family who suffered more than 3 decades thinking he'd been murdered. But, this dude sounds like a selfish a$$hole. Couldn't pick up a phone to let them know he was alive?
We have no idea what his story is. We are in no position to judge. No matter what, these people have been given the rare gift of a second chance and I wish them the best of luck, love and peace now and always.
I guess you're right, AngieS. I was just so shocked by the circumstances that were reported. Besides, it's so much more gratifying to condemn strangers for their actions ;)
Why is the onus on this guy to notify his family of his whereabouts? If the family was so concerned why weren't they looking?
Certainly fair questions, thinker. I guess my thought would be that if he was the one who disappeared - and apparently had a history of doing so w. his family - they may have assumed he would get back in touch at some point. We also don't know that they weren't looking for him, and the means available for such a search back in the '70's were far more limited than today. I mean, a missing person can legally be declared deceased after 7 years, and it's been more than 30 since the guy dropped out.
Again, this is all speculation, since there's very little detail provided with the article.
Perhaps you don't understand that even in the 70s divorce was a huge deal. Many families were torn apart when something like that happened, especially when older or adult children are involved. I had an Aunt and Uncle divorce in 1976. The two adult boys originally split each siding with the other parent, their 16 year old sister was caught in the middle. My Aunt started drinking heavily, my uncle resented his kids. They all wound up splitting up to all corners of the country and didn't speak to each other for over 30 years. It wasn't until my Aunt died in 2007 that the brothers saw each other. They eventually found their Dad, but no one knows where the girl wound up.
Originally they were that perfect family, all very close. I hope they can reconcile before its too late. People can hold on to hurt and anger way too long.
So they found a guy that didn't want to be found, and reunited him with a family he didn't want to be reunited with. That sound about right?
Pretty much!
But what was really interesting is how msnbc included a photo of the suspected killer instead of who the article was about. I guess that they needed to include at least one photo no matter how remotely tied to the story.
How does a presumed gay guy end up in a town called "Beaverton"?
Coulrophobia is a good thing......
That is a new one on me. What does it stand for?
Fear of clowns. I had to look it up.
For 34 years he never thought about once calling them? or any friends from the area? no one who could have told him what was going on?
What is with construction workers up and leaving their families with no contact?
I love how these articles are supposed to be so heart warming and inspiring when in a way the truth is worse than the alternative. This person deliberately CHOSE not to speak with the family or even let them know he was alive. I know if one of my really close family members did that to me, I'd feel even worse knowing that they weren't dead.
The inspiration lies in their opportunity to change their paths and heal their hearts. May a similar chance befall you, someday, as it seems you have much to learn about the love and forgiveness that binds families together.
What is there to forgive if a person doesn't want to associate with a particular group?
The old saying is "you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family." That is true. But you can choose to not associate with your family. Your reasons don't need to be known.
I can can fully understand not communicating with a group of people for years. My in-laws for instance are people I'd be happy to stay fully out of contact with. My wife feels the same about her family.
What I want to know is, was he a dead beat dad?
Amen to that Zeke_stryker. Actually my mother and father in law are OK in small doses, but all of her 6 brothers and sisters are absolutely useless. We moved 3000 miles away just to avoid them.
Sure would be nice if we could all just keep with the spirit of the intentions, here. Police worked hard to find out what happened to this man and they did an excellent job. The Szal family, like all families, obviously has had their ups and downs but at least, now, they have a chance to try and heal some of the hurts. When they thought he was dead there was never a chance for reconciliation. I don't know about anyone else but I, personally, recognize that second chances are few and far between. No matter what may have gone before this family has been given the greatest gift they could have ever hoped for and it was all because of some hard working cops whose hearts were in the right places. May their and, indeed, all of our Holidays be filled with peace, love, joy, hope and togetherness!
Except the cops have used tons of time and money trying to find someone who didn't want to be found. He could have contacted his family at any time over the past 3 decades.
AngieS - You missed the point of the story. They didn't try to find this man. They tried to find out who the dead people were. By default they found out who he was not. He was not one of the unidentified. They shotgunned a search engine and taa-daa - there he was.
The family may have been given a second chance at reuniting with him. But he had "second chances" every day for the past 34 years. It seems second chances weren't all that important to the guy who was "missing". But the real bottom line is that he wasn't missing at all. He knew exactly where he was.
Szal was silent when told his family was looking for him and then responded " cereal killed me?" That's why I left, they never cared or payed attention to me! They should have known I only eat bacon and eggs for breakfast! Oh, and tell the cold case team thanks for nothing!
And so the picture accompanying this article would be John Wayne Gacy? Why not Theodore Szal who was missing and found after 34 years? Really.
He disappeared on his own over 30 years ago, doesn't sound like he wanted to be found.
In just a couple minutes I found several Theodore Szals on the Web, including the correct one living in Oregon. Maybe his family didn't really want to find him, either...
Yea Lora, but you would have to know which one you were looking for, your theory doesn't really work here. You can google any name, it's the identity of the person they were looking for.
As for me here is what I gather:
a. The guy didn't want to be found.
b. The guy obviously has psychological issues to do that to his family and put his parents through that worry.
On the other hand we don't know the story, perhaps he was abused in some way by this family, verbally or worse. Or maybe he had his own issues he couldn't face up to. There are a zillion reasons, and a zillion answers. I just hope for all of them that what ever the reason was, it has been left in the past and they can go forward. At least he knows members of his family were worried about him, and they know he was not abducted. Two giant issues addressed.
That's not a very common name shouldn't of been to hard to find him. My wife on the other hand has a very common name there is 34 in my state alone. With 50 states that would be a job.
Logical flaws in your arguments: No Internet in 1977, or for about 2 decades after. They thought he was dead. They found his vehicle abandon. The father was pretty old and not likely very computer literate. Whatever destroyed this family, (Most likely the divorce), it obviously cause a great deal of pain and resentment.
Missing 34 years and his family or police thought to check his soc sec # to see if it was being used? Nice work on behalf of the police. Ever think his family may not have been really that concerned?
Well we found 2 of em. Only 32 more to go and JWG is an innocent man!
He was convicted for 33 killings but only executed for 12 of the killings. They still have 21 more chances to execute him.
If these 2 families thought their loved ones may have been victims couldn't they have given some kind of DNA sample to check? I'm sure by now they have DNA from the unidentified bodies to compare it to. They could have found out a long time ago whether any of the remaining victims were their family members.
Also it says he was divorced. Was he slipping out on alimony or child support. Happy for his parents but did he leave some woman holding the bag for his offspring.
Their offspring.
A different article in the Chicago Tribune today says "He intended to never look back. But it wasn't that easy. He wanted to reconnect, and his wife pleaded with him to try, but he was too stubborn to make the phone call".
Sometimes, the longer you wait, the harder it becomes to go back
Keep in mind that this comes from somebody most of you would classify as a liberal democrat, but why do we spend so much on the dead, when so many that are still alive need our help even more!
In the U.S., if you are over the age of 18, you have a "right" to disappear so long as there was no fraudulent purpose involved. In most cases, the police are permitted to state that the individual was found, but unless the person gives permission, they are not permitted to say where. I'm suprised that the Social Security folks, despite their policy, violated his privacy by divulging his location.
Okay Lets see. His dad is 88 probably hanging on by a tendril. He probably has money. Why not show up now. He wants MONEY. The missing man's father carries a picture of him in his pocket. My thoughts are this stuff always comes out on holidays." "Person drops $1,000,000,00 ring in Salvation Army Pot", "UFO Flies through Kansas", "The poor people freezing in the dead of winter are given a coat and sleeping bag", because we all know that good things like these only happen out of greed or guilt on holidays. It would be nice to hear about these things all through the year. Not just at Holidays. What? Too harsh? I could be wrong, LOL
This guy is a tool. He cared nothing about his family. Those wishing him well are probably lefties. I bet he rides a bike with no seat and jumps off curbs, kinda like,,,,,,,,,lefties.
Ahh the irony. Stubborn guy holding a 30 year grudge against his family, probably waiting for one of them to seek him out, and the family, believing the guy was a victim of foul play and dead. If I believed a member of my family died in the 70s, it is not likely I would seek them out on the internet.