John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (March 17, 1942 - May 10, 1994) was an American (United States) serial killer active between 1972 and 1978. Until he was arrested, Gacy raped and murdered at least 33 young men and boys, mostly teenagers. Although some of his victims bodies were found in the Des Plaines River, he buried 26 of them in the small crawl space underneath the basement of his home and three more elsewhere on his property. He became known as "Killer Clown" because of the popular block parties (block party) he would throw for his friends and neighbors, entertaining children in a clown suit and makeup as "Pogo the Clown".