In a chilling case that has haunted Indiana for nearly three decades, authorities are still working to identify the victims of serial killer Herb Baumeister, whose property yielded a staggering 10,000 pieces of human remains. The Hamilton County Coroner’s office, along with a team of forensic experts, has recently identified Jeffrey A. Jones as one of the victims whose remains were discovered on Baumeister’s Fox Hollow Farm in 1996.
Jones, who went missing in 1993, is the third victim to be identified in the past six months, following the identification of Allen Livingston and Manuel Resendez. However, four additional DNA profiles found at the scene have yet to be matched to any missing persons, suggesting that Baumeister’s victim count may be even higher than previously thought.
Baumeister, a seemingly ordinary businessman and family man, is suspected of killing at least 25 people, primarily targeting gay teens and young men he met at bars in central Indiana during the 1980s and 1990s. The gruesome remains of his victims were discovered on his sprawling 18-acre property, many of them crushed and burned.
The identification process has been arduous, as the condition of the remains has made traditional identification methods difficult. However, a collaborative effort between the Hamilton County Coroner’s office, the FBI, Indiana State Police Laboratory, and DNA experts from Othram Lab has yielded promising results.
Baumeister himself never faced justice for his crimes, as he fled to Canada and took his own life in 1996 after a warrant was issued for his arrest.