The Westminster, Indiana, community publicly mourned for the first time Thursday the nine identified victims of the serial killings that took place at Indiana's notorious Fox Hollow Farm in the 1990s, as well as several others who have yet to be identified.
The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and Medical Examiner's Office have identified nine of the victims and are currently working to identify four others. A total of 10,000 human remains have been found on the 18-acre estate once home to serial killer and Sav-A-Lot shopping chain owner Herb Baumeister.
“The complexity and quantity of remains that they're storing — over 10,000 — is second only to 9/11,” said Linda Znatchko, founder of the Indiana-based organization He Knows Your Name for unidentified remains. “And the complexity and manpower that this investigation continues to require, as well as the funding for pathology and DNA testing, is just enormous.”
Znatchko told Fox News Digital that he reached out to Hamilton County Coroner Jeffrey Jellison because of their shared interest in memorializing the forgotten and unidentified dead. On Thursday, they dedicated a memorial for the Fox Hollow Farm victims, which includes plaques with the victims' names and a space to remember the unidentified victims.
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“He Knows Your Name” Ministries and the Hamilton County Coroner's Office teamed up to hold the first public dedication ceremony for the nine identified victims of the Fox Hollow tragedy on Thursday, assuring families that their loved ones will no longer be forgotten. (He knows your name.)
Linda Znatchko and Jeff Jellison worked together to create the Fox Hollow Farm Memorial for the identified and unidentified victims of the 1990s serial killings. (He knows your name.)
“My organization purchased an outdoor sculpture from a Canadian artist. [David Perrett]and today we [victims’] “They will put names on a list and if more names are added they will have the opportunity to put their names on that list and they will also have a columbarium there so that if in the future they wish to use that columbarium or if a family wishes to bury their loved one in that memorial site they can be buried in that columbarium free of charge,” she explained.
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Reporters interview police officers outside the entrance to Fox Hollow Farm in Westfield, where human remains were discovered in 1996. (Rich Miller/Indy Star/USA Today Network)
She added that Jellison took over the Fox Hollow case when he was elected coroner and has since made it his mission to identify the unidentified remains.
The nine victims who have been identified so far are Jeffrey Allen “Jeff” Jones, Allen Lee Livingston, Manuel Resendez, John Lee “Johnny” Beyer, Richard Douglas Hamilton Jr., Steven Spurlin Hale, Allen Wayne Broussard, Roger Allen Goodlett and Michael Frederick “Mike” Kahn.
The nine victims who have been identified so far are Jeffrey Allen “Jeff” Jones, Allen Lee Livingston, Manuel Resendez, John Lee “Johnny” Beyer, Richard Douglas Hamilton Jr., Steven Spurlin Hale, Allen Wayne Broussard, Roger Allen Goodlett and Michael Frederick “Mike” Kahn. (He knows your name.)
“While this is an ongoing investigation, we believe now is the time to properly and publicly memorialize these members of our community,” Jellison said at the event's press conference. “We are proud to partner with He Knows Your Name to further their mission of providing dignity and a final resting place for these men, regardless of their circumstances.”
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Nearly 10,000 remains of Indiana serial killer Herb Baumeister's victims were discovered on an 18-acre site in Westfield, Indiana. (Michelle Pemberton/USA Today Network)
Livingston's cousin, Matthew Pranger, attended Thursday's memorial service to remember him.
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Allen Livingston was one of the first Fox Hollow Farm victims identified in the 1990s. (He knows your name.)
“I believe yesterday's memorial service provided justice for those who have been identified and those who have yet to be identified,” Pranger told Fox News Digital.
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He added that one of the reasons he agreed to serve as the family's spokesman was so that other families who lost loved ones could come forward and make public the names of the unidentified victims.
“We encourage as many people who believe they may have some connection to this case to come forward and help identify other potential victims,” he explained, adding that one of the reasons the families got involved and spoke out about the Fox Hollow Farm murders and memorial was so “anyone who has family members identified can have access to a funeral and a resting place for the victims.”
Allen Livingston's cousin, Matthew Pranger, attended Thursday's memorial service in his memory. (He knows your name.)
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The ninth victim to be identified was only named last year, while the other eight were identified in the 1990s.
Authorities hope to use DNA technology, which has made significant advances in recent years, to whittle that number down to at least 12 in the near future.
Approximately 10,000 remains of Herb Baumeister's victims were exhumed across an 18-acre site in Indiana. (Google Street View/Indianapolis Police Department)
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Baumeister is believed to have killed dozens of men in the 1980s and 1990s, before fleeing to Canada and committing suicide in 1996, the same year authorities began investigating him as a serial killer.
Three decades after authorities began recovering bodies at Fox Hollow Farm, Thursday's ceremony marked the first time local residents had the opportunity to publicly commemorate the victims.
