HAMILTON COUNTY, Ind. (TCD) — The remains of a missing man have been identified among 10,000 bones and fragments found in 1996 at the former home of suspected serial killer Herb Baumeister.
According to Othram Inc., in 1996, officials recovered partial skeletal remains of multiple unidentified people at Fox Hollow Farm in Westfield, Indiana. Baumeister’s 15-year-old son initially discovered bones on the 18-acre farm in June 1996, around 60 yards from the house, WXIN-TV reports.
Investigators reportedly recovered “thousands of burnt and crushed skeletal remains belonging to as many as 12 different people” and believe they were all victims of Baumeister.
Baumeister allegedly lured young gay men from bars to his property before killing them, according to the Indianapolis Star. Shortly after law enforcement launched an investigation, Baumeister reportedly fatally shot himself in Canada in 1996.
Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison, with help from the University of Indiana, reopened the investigation and submitted forensic evidence to Othram in hopes of identifying the remains.
According to Othram, in 2023, they developed a comprehensive DNA profile of one of the victims. As a result, investigators reportedly found potential relatives and identified the victim as Jeffrey Jones.
In a recent news release, Jellison said Jones went missing in August 1993 and was last known to be in Fillmore, Indiana. Jones is the third victim to be identified in Jellison’s reopened investigation into the Fox Hollow Farm remains. Investigators reportedly have four DNA profiles to identify.
In October 2023, the coroner’s office identified 27-year-old Allen Livingston as a likely victim of Baumeister. Several months later, in January 2024, Jellison announced the identification of another possible victim, Manuel Resendez.
It’s truly chilling to think about the horrors that happened on Baumeister’s property. The fact that so many lives were lost in such a gruesome way is deeply disturbing. My heart goes out to the families of the victims affected by this tragedy.