Walk onto the grounds of Fox Hollow Farm today and it feels... still. It’s an 18-acre estate in Westfield, Indiana, with a beautiful Tudor-style home and a sprawling woods. But back in the mid-90s, this place was a graveyard. It’s one of the most chilling serial killer cases in American history, and yet, when people talk about the Fox Hollow murders, Mark Goodyear is a name that often pops up in the periphery, leaving folks wondering how he fits into the grim puzzle of Herb Baumeister.
Herb was a family man. Or so it seemed. He owned the Sav-A-Lot thrift stores, had a wife and kids, and lived this picture-perfect suburban life. But while his family was away at their lake house, Herb was cruising the bars of Indianapolis, hunting for men. What followed was a nightmare of bone fragments and shallow graves.
The Role of Mark Goodyear in the Fox Hollow Investigation
You can't really talk about the Fox Hollow murders without talking about the neighbors. Mark Goodyear lived right next door to the Baumeister estate. For a long time, he was just a guy living his life, but then things started getting weird. Really weird.
In 1996, everything blew up. Baumeister’s wife, Julie, finally let investigators search the property while Herb was gone. They found thousands of human bone fragments. We aren't talking about a few bodies; we’re talking about a massive, horrific collection of remains scattered in the woods behind the house. Mark Goodyear became a vital witness because he saw things that didn't make sense at the time.
He saw the smoke.
Imagine sitting in your backyard and seeing your neighbor constantly burning things in a massive fire pit. You’d think they were just cleaning up brush, right? That’s what Goodyear thought. But the smell was off. It was thick. It was different. Later, it became clear that Herb wasn't just burning wood; he was trying to dispose of evidence. Goodyear’s observations helped investigators piece together the timeline of when Herb was most active. He wasn't just a bystander; he was the eyes and ears of a community that had a monster living right in the middle of it.
Why the "Neighbor" Perspective Still Haunts Indiana
The Fox Hollow murders weren't just about Herb Baumeister. They were about the failure of people to see what was right in front of them. People often ask, "How did Mark Goodyear or the other neighbors not know?"
Honestly? Because you don't expect your neighbor to be a serial killer.
Herb was eccentric. He was known for being a bit "off" at his thrift stores, sometimes acting erratic or rude to customers. But killing dozens of men? That’s a leap most people's brains won't take. Mark Goodyear’s experience is a sobering reminder of the "banality of evil." It looks like a guy in a sweater vest tending to a bonfire on a Tuesday night.
The Grimmer Reality of the Bone Fragments
When the task force moved in, the scale of the Fox Hollow murders became a logistical nightmare. They didn't find intact skeletons. They found fragments. Roughly 10,000 of them.
- The remains were charred.
- Many were found in a "discard area" near a creek.
- DNA technology in the 90s wasn't what it is now.
Because of this, many victims remained unidentified for decades. It’s actually a story that is still evolving today. In 2023 and 2024, the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office renewed efforts to identify the remaining fragments using modern genetic genealogy. They've been identifying new victims—men who disappeared thirty years ago—giving families answers they never thought they’d get. Mark Goodyear’s old backyard is now adjacent to a site of ongoing forensic breakthroughs.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Case
A lot of true crime fans get the Fox Hollow murders mixed up with the "I-70 Strangler" cases. While Herb Baumeister is the primary suspect for the bodies found at Fox Hollow, many investigators believe he was also responsible for a string of murders where bodies were dumped along Interstate 70 in the early 80s.
This is where the timeline gets messy.
If Herb was the I-70 Strangler, he stopped for a while before starting again at Fox Hollow. Or did he? Some think he never stopped. He just got a bigger property with more privacy. Mark Goodyear moved in next door during the later years, the Fox Hollow years. By that time, Herb was seemingly more confident, or perhaps just more careless. He was bringing men back to the house, using the indoor pool—which was reportedly quite creepy—and then disposing of them in the woods.
The psychological toll on a neighbor like Goodyear is hard to wrap your head around. You share a property line with a man who is literally burying a crowd in his backyard. It changes how you look at every "quiet" neighbor you'll ever have for the rest of your life.
The Haunting of Fox Hollow Farm
We have to talk about the "haunting" aspect because it’s a huge part of the Fox Hollow murders lore. Mark Goodyear actually participated in several documentaries and paranormal investigations concerning the property.
Is the place haunted?
Look, whether you believe in ghosts or not, the history of the land is heavy. Goodyear reported seeing figures in the woods. He told stories about a "man in a red shirt" wandering the property line—a description that matched one of the suspected victims.
Some people roll their eyes at the ghost stories, but for the people living there, it was their reality. They weren't looking for fame; they were trying to explain the oppressive feeling of the land. The Mark Goodyear interviews in specials like Ghost Adventures or The Dead Files added a layer of supernatural dread to an already horrific true crime story. It shifted the narrative from a police procedural to a gothic horror story set in the Midwest.
Lessons from the Fox Hollow Investigation
The Fox Hollow murders and the involvement of people like Mark Goodyear teach us a few hard truths about suburban safety and investigative blind spots.
- Jurisdiction is a killer. The Indianapolis police were looking at missing persons in the city. The Fox Hollow Farm was in a different county. Information didn't flow. This is why Herb got away with it for so long.
- Trust your gut. Neighbors often noticed things—the smells, the late-night activity, the weird behavior. If something feels profoundly "off," it usually is.
- DNA is a long game. The fact that we are still identifying victims in 2026 is a testament to the persistence of forensic teams.
Moving Forward: What You Can Do
If you’re following the Fox Hollow murders case or the Mark Goodyear story, the most important thing is the victims. This isn't just a spooky story; it's a tragedy involving dozens of families.
First, support the ongoing identification efforts. The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office in Indiana occasionally reaches out for DNA samples from families of men who went missing in the Midwest between the late 80s and mid-90s. If you know a family in that situation, encourage them to reach out to the authorities.
Second, if you're interested in the forensic side, look into the work of the University of Indianapolis Archeology & Forensics Team. They were instrumental in the original recovery and continue to be leaders in the field.
Finally, stay skeptical of "sensationalist" true crime. Focus on the facts of the Fox Hollow murders. Mark Goodyear was a man caught in the middle of a historical horror, and his accounts provide a ground-level view of how serial killers hide in plain sight. Read the primary sources, the police reports, and the coroner’s updates. The truth is much more haunting than any dramatized version could ever be.