A farm in Indiana, worth a million dollars and owned by a notorious serial killer, became the final resting place for a still unknown number of victims. Authorities are still working to identify the victims associated with 10,000 pieces of human remains found on the property of Herb Baumeister in Westfield, Indianapolis.
His 18-acre land served as the burial site for teenagers and young men believed to have been abducted and brutally murdered during the 1980s and 1990s. The Hamilton County Coroner announced last month that human remains found in 1996 at Herb Baumeister's Fox Hollow Farm have been positively identified as Jeffrey A. Jones, who went missing in 1993.
Grim Discovery
Jones is the third victim to be identified in recent months. There are four more DNA profiles from Baumeister's property that remain unidentified, bringing the total number of his victims to 12, according to Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison.
"Because many of the remains were found burnt and crushed, this investigation is extremely challenging; however, the team of law enforcement and forensic specialists working the case remain committed," Jellison said.
Baumeister, a businessman and married father of three, began targeting gay teens and men in central Indiana around 1980. He is believed to have killed at least 25 people, according to Fox News Digital.
He reportedly used the fake name "Brian Smart" to target young gay men he met at bars.
Jones was the third victim identified by the coroner's office in the last six months. Before him, officials identified Allen Livingston, who was 27 when he went missing in August 1993, and Manuel Resendez, who was 34 when he disappeared in 1996.
Complete Psychopath
Baumeister, who moved to the farmstead with his family in 1988, used the sprawling yard and adjacent trail to hide thousands of decomposed remains. The remains were discovered when his teenage son found a human skull and brought it to his mother.
His wife, who initially prevented cops from searching their property, later divorced him as more evidence emerged.
Authorities eventually searched the property while Baumeister was away and found the bodies of several victims.
In 1996, when a warrant was issued for his arrest, the 49-year-old Baumeister fled to Ontario, Canada, and fatally shot himself.
He was never charged with the murders and did not admit to any of the crimes in his suicide note. The remaining unidentified bones and bone fragments had been in storage until Jellison decided to reopen the case in 1996, according to WRTV.
The Hamilton County coroner's office, in collaboration with the FBI, Indiana State Police Laboratory, Dr. Krista Latham from the Biology & Anthropology Department at the University of Indianapolis, and DNA experts from Texas-based Othram Lab, are all working to identify the additional remains.
