The effort to identify the remains was reinitiated by the coroner’s office in 2022.
Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison believes that Baumeister is just as prolific as Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy. Unfortunately, Baumeister took his own life in Canada before the police could question him. Jellison expresses his opinion that the community will eventually realize the full extent of Baumeister’s actions.
The coroner’s office has initiated a campaign to collect DNA samples from the family members of potential victims. This is done in order to compare and match them with the DNA profiles extracted from the remains. The Indiana State Police Laboratory and Dr. Krista Latham from the Biology & Anthropology Department at the University of Indianapolis are responsible for conducting this important task.
Five more victims have recently come to light, bringing the total number of known victims to six. In October 2023, the investigation made its initial breakthrough when it identified Livingston as a match to one of the five newly discovered victims.
According to Jellison, there are currently four profiles that have not been matched to family reference samples. This suggests that there are four additional victims who have not been identified yet. Allen Livingston was the ninth victim, which means that there have been a total of 13 victims recovered from Fox Hollow.
The DNA profiles from the remains, which do not correspond to any family reference samples, are submitted to CODIS, the national DNA database. These unidentified remains are then transferred to a private laboratory for additional sampling before being sent to the FBI.
According to Jellison, he believes that although not all individuals who submitted family reference samples had a family member who was a victim at Fox Hollow, they will still be able to solve cases across the country through their efforts.
The Hamilton County taxpayers are not burdened with the cost of DNA profiling as it is already provided by the ISP. However, there is a cost involved when it comes to private laboratory testing. To cover this expense, the coroner’s office secured a federal Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grant.
Jellison mentioned that the funds will eventually deplete, given the vast amount of remains that still need to be examined. In response, his office plans to seek out alternative sources of funding.
Baumeister is believed to have targeted his victims in the early- to mid-90s, specifically at gay bars in the Indianapolis area. Jellison is urging anyone who has missing family members and suspects they may have been victims of Baumeister to come forward and provide a DNA swab for investigation.
“They are no longer forgotten. I won’t let that happen,” Jellison expressed, emphasizing the importance of recognizing the unknown victims. “These are individuals who fell victim to a horrifying serial killer. These are families who have endured a 30-year wait, and would have endured even longer, seeking closure and longing for answers. It is truly disheartening that no one within the law enforcement of this county, or any previous coroner, took the initiative to identify these individuals. It is not just a matter of moral responsibility, but also an ethical one. They have failed in their duties as a coroner, which includes the statutory obligation to identify the deceased.”