Vanished in 1975: New DNA could reveal whether a San Antonio man was a victim of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. His family needs anyone who remembers him to speak up
SAN ANTONIO — Fifty years after a young man from San Antonio vanished from Chicago, his family is renewing their search for answers — and they believe someone in the Alamo City may still hold a missing piece of the story.
Roger Aguirre was 22 years old when he disappeared on November 20, 1975. He was last seen standing outside his apartment building on Chicago’s Northwest Side — an area known at the time to be frequented by LGBTQ residents. No one has seen or heard from him since.
Aguirre spent his childhood in San Antonio, growing up on the West Side and attending Lanier High School before moving to Chicago with his family at age 16.
His half-sister, Heather Aguirre Poff, said she grew up knowing of Roger but never had the chance to meet him.
“I was born in Chicago in 1974 and my brother was missing in 1975,” she said. “I never really got to meet him, not that I know of. No pictures, no memories.”
She described Roger as “family folklore” — a relative who was always mentioned but almost never discussed openly.
“We didn’t really talk about it very much at all just because it was a sensitive subject and it was so long ago,” she said.
Heather said she wishes she could have spoken to her father about Roger before he died.
“My dad passed away not knowing what happened to Roger,” she said. “I’d like to be able to have that closure.”
The family has held on to the few details they know. Around the time he vanished, Roger may have been upset about the end of a relationship.
“My mom said he was kind of upset, I guess maybe had broken up with a boyfriend,” Heather said.
Another relative once believed they spotted Roger after he disappeared — but when they called his name, the man did not respond.
For decades, rumors persisted within the family about the neighborhood where Roger was last seen.
“There was always talk in our family about where he went missing was really close to where John Wayne Gacy frequented,” Heather said.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office reopened the investigation into the remaining unidentified victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who murdered at least 33 young men in the 1970s.
“Detective Moran in the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, he’s recently opened up the cases and is trying to find the identity of the five remaining bodies,” Heather said.
Cook County investigators are conducting new DNA testing to determine whether Roger is one of the unidentified victims.
Heather and her husband took an Ancestry DNA test, which connected them with two relatives — Becky and Carol — who have assisted in the search. Carol previously submitted a DNA sample, but investigators are not yet 100% confident they’ve made a definitive match.
Their only option now is to test maternal DNA; Roger’s paternal DNA was destroyed decades ago when the remains were cleaned.
“Right now there’s a lot of markers that match,” Heather said of the DNA similarities between a relative and one of the unidentified bodies. “So when we get the results from my other sister, we’ll see if it’s a match.”
The results could come back any day.
Heather says the possibility brings conflicting emotions.
“I know the unidentified bodies are buried, but they’re not marked,” she said. “To be able to put [Roger’s] name there is something that would bring a lot of joy. It’s a weird emotion.”
She added, “Something terrible might have happened to him. I’m hoping not, but I feel in my heart of hearts he’s probably not alive anymore. But maybe… maybe…”
Because Roger spent his childhood and early teenage years in San Antonio, his family believes former classmates, neighbors or coworkers may still recall him — and that even the smallest detail could help investigators compare him to the unidentified remains.
“It would be nice if anybody could remember him, share pictures, stories,” Heather said. “Some of the Gacy victims have markings on them. Some have broken wrists, some have crooked teeth.”
The family has found no photographs of Roger in Lanier High School yearbooks and hopes someone who knew him can fill in those gaps.
Roger was described in 1975 as between 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-11, with black hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about Roger Aguirre — personal memories, photos, school connections or details about his early life in San Antonio — is urged to contact the Cook County Sheriff’s Office at 708-865-4700.
Memories or family stories can also be sent directly to the family at helpfindroger1975@gmail.com.
Additional information about the case is available through the non-profit Light the Way at LightTheWayMissing.com/RogerAguirre, and through the Cook County Sheriff’s Office database of unidentified Gacy victims.