Decades later investigators traced thousands of human bones and bone fragments to a suspect Indiana serial killer's estateA fresh search is underway in laboratories to solve a long-standing mystery: who were they?
A new team working to identify the unidentified dead says the key to their success will be finding relatives of the men who disappeared between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s. samples of their own DNA,
Those samples can then be tested against the DNA profile that scientists are extracting from the remains, which were found in 1996 on Herbert Baumeister's sprawling suburban Indianapolis estate.
Original investigators believed at least 25 people were buried at Baumeister's 18-acre Fox Hollow Farm property in Westfield, based on evidence that included 10,000 bones and bone fragments, as well as handguns and firearms. Shells included.
Baumeister, a 49-year-old thrift store owner and married father of three, committed suicide in Canada in July 1996 before police could question him, taking with him many secrets, including the names of his supposed victims.
Investigators believe that while his family was away on trips, Baumeister, who frequented gay bars in Indianapolis, lured men to his home, where he killed and buried them.
By the late 1990s, authorities had identified eight men using dental records and available DNA technologies. But then those efforts stopped, although the remains of at least 17 people may still be unidentified.
Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison said the renewed identification effort revealed that county officials at the time decided not to fund additional DNA testing, which “essentially halted efforts to identify the victims.” And put the cost of the murder investigation on the family members of the missing.”
“I can't speak for those investigators, but it was simply game over,” Jellison said.
an unfinished business
As the decades passed, the bones and fragments remained in boxes at the University of Indianapolis' Center for Human Identification, whose staff helped excavate the remains.
That changed after Eric Pronger sent Jellison a Facebook message in late 2022. The Indianapolis man's family had long believed his older cousin, alan livingstonWas one of Baumeister's victims. according to doe networkLivingston disappeared the same day as Resendez.
Darron Cummings/AP
Livingston was 27 when he disappeared in August 1993 after getting into someone else's car in downtown Indianapolis. After hearing about Baumeister three years later, his mother, Sharon Livingston, and other relatives began to suspect that Allen, who was bisexual, was among the dead.
Jellison was about to take over when Pronger asked if he could help get some answers for his aunt, who had serious health problems.
Jellison said, “How can you refuse this? By law, it is our job to identify the deceased.”
In late 2022, police took DNA samples from Sharon Livingston and one of her daughters. Jellison began working with a team that included the Indiana State Police, the FBI, the Center for Human Identification, local law enforcement, and a private company specializing in forensic genetic genealogy.
A family gets some closure
Staff at the Human Identification Center, where the remains are stored in a temperature- and humidity-controlled space, selected some of the most promising bones for DNA analysis.
At the Indiana State Police Laboratory, scientists cut up parts of the bone, froze them with liquid nitrogen and ground them into a fine powder. They then used heat and chemicals to break open bone cells in the first step toward extracting a complete DNA profile.
Prenger, almost a year after hearing from Jellison Announced in October 2023 A ninth Baumeister victim was identified: Alan Livingston.
Sharon Livingston finally got some kind of closure. He died in November 2024.
“I was happy to be able to do this for my aunt,” said Pronger, 34. “I am the one who took it upon myself to bring my son home after 30 years and I feel privileged.”
“I was so excited after Alan was identified and then after the fact I asked myself, 'Now what? I found the answer, but what about all the other families?'” Pronger said.
other victims
Jellison said about 40 DNA samples have been submitted by people who believe a missing male relative may have been murdered by Baumeister. They are entered into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, but are only used to identify missing people, he said.
The coroner and his colleagues hope to obtain more DNA samples from across the United States from relatives of men who disappeared between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s. He noted that the men were probably traveling and stopped in Indianapolis to visit friends or sample the nightlife there.
To date, scientists have extracted eight unique DNA profiles from more than 70 of the 100 bones – all men – that were sent to the Indiana State Police Laboratory by Dr. Christa Latham, director of the Human Identification Center.
One of the DNA samples provided by Livingston's mother and sister matched. Of the eight individuals first identified in the 1990s, four were matched: Jeffrey Jones, manuel rezendezJohnny Baer and Richard Hamilton.
Three other DNA profiles are unknown and two are still undergoing testing. Those three bring Baumeister's estimated victims to 12.
“Unusual place to find bodies”
cbs affiliate WTTV reported The case began in June 1996 when Baumeister's 15-year-old son found a human skull about 60 yards from the home.
The investigation began when Baumeister and his wife of 24 years were in the midst of divorce proceedings, WTTV reports. The day after his son's bones were found, Baumeister's wife was granted an emergency protective order and custody to keep him away from her and their three children.
At the time, Baumeister explained the discovery, saying it was part of his late father's medical practice, the station reported.
Three days after the boy's remains were discovered, Hamilton County firefighters found more remains, which puzzled investigators, the station reports.
“It's an unusual place to find bodies,” then-Sheriff Joe Cook was quoted as telling The Indianapolis Star.
What will happen next?
Jellison and his partners say their identification effort may take several more years to complete.
Most of the bones were crushed and burned, reducing their ability to yield useful DNA. Latham, a professor of biology and anthropology, said bone fragments considered to be in poor condition are being spared the destructive testing process in the hope that future DNA technologies can unlock their secrets.
He said some men may have been ostracized or ostracized by relatives because of their sexuality. Perhaps no one knew when he disappeared.
“These are individuals who were marginalized in life. And we just need to make sure that doesn't continue in death,” Latham said.
For ongoing work, Jellison has obtained DNA reference samples from relatives of seven of the eight men originally identified in the 1990s. The eighth person, Steven Hale, was adopted and efforts to locate biological relatives have so far failed, the coroner said.
Relatives of missing persons who wish to provide familial DNA reference samples to attempt to identify the remains may contact the Indiana State Police Missing Persons Hotline at 833-466-2653 or the Hamilton County Coroner's Office at 317-770-4415 Are.
As soon as the remains are identified piece by piece, families can choose to have them cremated and buried in a memorial dedicated at Westfield in August. It includes a plaque bearing the names of nine identified victims, with room for more.
Linda Znachko, whose nonprofit Indianapolis-based ministry paid for the memorial, said at the memorial's dedication that the recognition campaign “will honor those who lost their lives in the Fox Hollow tragedy.” The remains of Livingston and Jeffrey Jones were added to the memorial's urn and white doves were released during the dedication.
Rick Callahan/AP
Livingston's younger sister, Shannon Doughty, was joined by several relatives, including Pronger. She said that despite the tragic ending, it was a relief to finally learn what happened to her brother.
“At least you know,” Doughty, 46, said. To know.”