Victim identified in investigation into Fox Hollow Farm in Westfield • Latest release

Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison announced May 21 that another victim has been identified who is believed to have been killed by suspected serial killer Herb Baumestier 30 years ago at Fox Hollow Farm in Westfield.

Jellison said human remains originally recovered from Fox Hollow Farm in 1996 were identified as belonging to Jeffrey A. Jones of Fillmore. Jones was reported missing in August 1993.

The remains were identified through an extensive forensic genetic genealogy investigation conducted by the FBI and the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office.

Jones is now the second new victim and third positive identification in the re-examination of over 10,000 remains found at Fox Hollow Farm. Jellison said investigators have four additional DNA profiles that have not yet been identified, bringing the total number of victims to 12.

The four unidentified DNA profiles will also be sent to the FBI for genetic genealogy testing.

“As many of the remains were found burned and crushed, this investigation is extremely challenging; However, the team of law enforcement and forensic specialists working on the case remains committed,” Jellison said. “Special thanks go to the very talented and hardworking staff at the FBI, the Indiana State Police Laboratory, Dr. Krista Latham from the Department of Biology and Anthropology at the University of Indianapolis and DNA experts from the Texas-based Othram Laboratory.”

Jellison’s office renewed efforts to identify remains found on the farm in 2022.

Baumeister, a Westfield resident, died by suicide in 1996. He shot himself after a law enforcement investigation and an excavation of the wooded area behind his 156th Street property by the University of Indianapolis Department of Anthropology and Archeology uncovered more than 10,000 charred and crushed human remains, of long ones Bones to fragments as small as fingernails.

The charred remains were kept at the University of Indianapolis beginning in 1996. The investigation gained new momentum when the family of Allen Livingston of Indianapolis, who had been missing since 1993, contacted the coroner to see if there was a possibility that Livingston was one of Baumeister’s victims.

Along with Jones, Livingston was identified as one of the victims in October 2023. The remains of Manuel Resendez, one of the original eight victims, were also identified this year through DNA analysis.

Jellison said the total number of victims remains unknown.

All of Baumeister’s known victims went missing in the early to mid-1990s and were last seen in gay bars in the Indianapolis area. Jellison said anyone with missing family members who they believe may have been victims of Baumeister should come forward for a DNA swab.