ON THE RUN FOR 30 YEARS, MAN MAY BE LIVING AS A WOMAN

1 MISSING FOR 33 YEARS

The last time anybody heard from John Kelly Gentry Jr. was in a postcard from Southern California. It was 1983 and the 30-year-old Michigan man had recently disappeared after his 25-year-old girlfriend, Barbara Gerber, was discovered stabbed to death at her home in Summerfield Township, Mich., according to Reuters. Days later, police discovered the bludgeoned body of William Veith, an Ohio man who investigators believe was also in a relationship with Gentry.

2 MAY BE LIVING AS A WOMAN

Investigators eventually decided Gentry was responsible for both killings. He has eluded police for more than three decades and now investigators believe they know, in part, how he avoided detection so successfully. “The U.S. Marshals Service received information in the last five years that Gentry was possibly living in California as a woman, that dresses as a woman,” Monroe County, Mich., Sheriff’s Detective Jeff Smith said.

3 THOUGH HE COULD ALSO BE DEAD

Smith told the Los Angeles Times that investigators suspect Gentry began using his middle name and may have been a regular in West Hollywood at one point. But he told Reuters there’s another possible reason that would explain why Gentry’s fingerprints and DNA — which remain in an FBI database — have never been flagged by authorities: He’s dead.

4 HE’S ABIDING THE LAW, SOMEWHAT

“If he’s alive he’s obviously living somewhat of a law-abiding life, because otherwise the prints should come back a match,” Smith said. Authorities described Gentry as 5-feet-7 inches, and around 154 pounds, according to the Times. He is white, has brown eyes and hair, with a circular burn scar on his left elbow and the letters “LCI” burned into his upper part of the same arm, the paper reported.