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From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, Herb Baumeister, a successful businessman who was a married father with three children, is believed to have killed at least 25 victims.
He hunted mostly gay men in the Indianapolis suburb of Westfield, Indiana, where he lived on an 18-acre property known as Fox Hollow Farm.
Four decades later, authorities are still uncovering gruesome secrets buried beneath the surface of the vast property.
The serial killer’s property was littered with 10,000 “burnt and crushed” skeletal remains that kept many of his victims faceless for decades. After Baumeister’s death in 1996, Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison renewed the investigation into the thousands of human remains that law enforcement recovered from his property, per Fox News.
Herb Baumeister is suspected of killing at least 25 victims, however, only 12 victims have been connected to Baumeister so far.
Image: Indianapolis Police Department
“Because many of the remains were found burnt and crushed, this investigation is extremely challenging,” the county coroner said in a statement. “However, the team of law enforcement and forensic specialists working the case remain committed.”
Investigators have four more DNA profiles that haven’t been identified yet, which brings Baumeister’s body count up to 12. Jeffrey A. Jones, who was reported missing in 1993, became the latest victim identified by the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office.
Image: Hamilton County Coroner’s Office
While Jones was Baumeister’s third victim identified in the last six months by the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office, there was also Allen Livingston, who was 27 when he went missing in August 1993, and Manuel Resendez who was 34 when he seemingly vanished in 1996.
Image: Hamilton County Coroner’s Office
Baumeister and his family moved into the now-infamous, $1 million Indiana home in May 1988. Herb used the expansive area and adjacent trail to hide thousands of decomposed remains, charred bone fragments and the human skull that was unearthed by Baumeister’s teenage son, who showed his mom (Baumeister’s wife). This moment became the end of Baumeister’s reign of terror.
Image: Google Street View
Baumeister’s wife initially blocked law enforcement from searching their property but ended up divorcing Herb as it became clearer that he was a wanted killer. When Baumeister wasn’t home, authorities were able to dig up the remains of several victims.
But the evil man was able to escape the clutches of justice when in 1996, he fled to Ontario to avoid the warrant out out for his arrest. Eventually, he just shot himself. He was 49 when he died and managed to avoid getting charged with any crimes.
Living a double life is a common trait among serial killers, according to a 2005 report by the FBI.
“The majority of serial killers are not reclusive, social misfits who live alone,” the 2005 FBI report says. “They are not monsters and may not appear strange. Many serial killers hide in plain sight within their communities.
“Serial murderers often have families and homes, are gainfully employed and appear to be normal members of the community. Because many serial murderers can blend in so effortlessly, they are oftentimes overlooked by law enforcement and the public,” the report continues.
In one life Herb was a seemingly ordinary dad and husband, while in the other he went by the fake name of “Brian Smart” and brutally murdered mostly gay men that he targeted at bars.
[source:foxnews]