It will take years to identify every victim of Indiana serial killer Herb Baumeister, but the coroner overseeing the case insists that each person is a “tragedy,” not a “statistic.”
Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison provided an update on his office’s ongoing efforts to identify each victim in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
In 2022, the coroner stated that investigators believe the 10,000 human bones and fragments discovered at Baumeister’s property in the 1990s may belong to 25 victims.
The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office announced last month that 10 of the approximately 25 victims buried on the infamous Fox Hollow Farm estate in Westfield, Indiana, had been identified. According to Fox News Digital, Daniel Thomas Halloran was the most recent person identified.
The office currently has three more unidentified DNA profiles, and regardless of the exact number of victims, “several tragedies” remain in the decades-old serial killer case, Jellison told the outlet.
“We have 10,000 bones and bone fragments, so the number of victims is unknown,” the Hamilton County coroner told Fox News Digital.
“I recently heard someone say that one death is a tragedy, but two or more deaths constitute a statistic. And I believe we have several tragedies because you must treat each of these people separately,” he added. “So, when we look at it, it’s not about how many potential victims we have, but rather about continuing to work hard to identify them. And then, at the end, we’ll add it up.”
The coroner stated that, despite the office’s progress, the nature of the case — and the sheer number of victims — will most likely take years to identify everyone Baumeister killed and buried at Fox Hollow.
“This investigation will far exceed my time in this office,” Jellison stated to Fox News Digital.
Baumeister’s double life began to unravel in 1994, when his 13-year-old son discovered a human skull and a pile of bones in the Fox Hollow woods.
At the time, the serial killer, who ran a chain of thrift stores, claimed the bones came from a skeleton his late father, an anesthesiologist, obtained during medical school.
Two years later, when police discovered thousands of human bones and bone fragments at the Indiana estate, he was confronted with a slew of new questions.
Baumeister disappeared the day after authorities discovered the remains. Eight days later, he was discovered dead in a Canadian park from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Investigators soon discovered that Baumeister was likely one of the most prolific serial killers in Indiana state history. They also discovered that he stalked his victims in gay bars while his wife and three children were away at their lake house.
The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office has already identified Jeffrey Jones, of Fillmore, Ind., who was reported missing in 1993 and whose remains were discovered at Fox Hollow Farm in 1996.
In the press release announcing the news, the office stated that “because many of the remains were found burnt and crushed, this investigation is extremely challenging; however, the team of law enforcement and forensic specialists working the case remain committed.”
Allen Livingston was identified as one of Baumeister’s victims. Shannon Doughty, his sister, told the Associated Press that she was relieved to learn what had happened to her older brother after he was identified in 2023.
“Just knowing, it’s a multitude of emotions,” she told the outlet. “You wanted to know but did not want to know. But you had to know.
Relatives of missing men can provide family DNA reference samples to help identify their remains by calling the Indiana State Police missing persons hotline at 833-466-2653 or the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office at 317-770-4415.