Brother Believed to be Dead Reunited with Siblings
This week's reunion is a little different than the people search articles we normally read in the news. In this story, a reunion occurred without any previous search activity. The siblings were reunited with their long lost brother; however, they were not looking for him because they thought he was dead.
In May 1977, Harold Wayne Lovell, 19 years old and dealing with some life struggles, left his home and told his family he was leaving to look for some construction jobs. That’s the last time his family saw him.
Lovell’s brother and sister, Tim Lovell and Theresa Hasselberg, gave up looking for him and were convinced he was the victim of John Wayne Gacy, a local serial killer. Both Gacy and Lovell had worked in the same town so Lovell’s disappearance occurring at the same time had the siblings convinced.
After some unexpected leads surfaced, thirty-four years later, Sheriff Tom Dart of Cook County, Illinois, requested all family members of Gacy’s victims to submit genetic details for the victims. The Sheriff was in the process of identifying the remaining victims, eight young men. “Because of the quality of these leads, what we thought was going to just be a roll of the dice has turned into some very strong possibilities for identifying these victims from DNA,” Dart said.
Lovell’s siblings were awaiting word of a confirmation that he was a victim of the murders. Instead, they were told that not only was their brother not one of the victims, but he was also alive and living in south Florida.
The three shared a heartfelt reunion strewn with shock and emotion. “A lot of crying and hugging,” said sister Hasselberg. The trio spent days catching up on the last 34 years they were separated.
Lovell explained what had happened to him after he left the house 34 years ago never to return. He had $56 dollars to his name and ran away from home after engaging in an argument with his parents. Lovell moved to Florida where he spent most of his life. He ended up with a few run-ins with the law which actually helped him since the police used his mugshot to discover he was alive.
“He’s back,” proclaimed Theresa Hasselberg.