Walk onto the grounds of Fox Hollow Farm in Westfield, Indiana, and you’ll notice the silence first. It’s an eighteen-acre stretch of lush greenery, woods, and a Tudor-style mansion that looks like a dream home for a successful businessman. But in the mid-1990s, this property became the site of one of the most gruesome forensic investigations in American history. We aren't just talking about a couple of bodies. We are talking about thousands of bone fragments—crushed, burned, and scattered across the backyard like mulch.
The fox hollow farm murders aren't just a cold case from the 90s. They represent a massive failure of detection, a chilling look into the mind of Herb Baumeister, and a forensic puzzle that investigators are still trying to solve today. Even now, decades later, the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office is using modern DNA technology to identify remains that sat in storage for years.
The Man Behind the Mansion
Herb Baumeister was a "success" by any outward metric. He founded the Sav-A-Lot thrift store chain in Indianapolis, which did incredibly well. He had a wife, Julie, and three kids. They were the picture of suburban stability. But Herb had a secret life. He spent his nights frequenting gay bars along 16th Street in Indianapolis, often using the alias "Brian Smart."
It’s scary how normal he seemed. Honestly, that’s what allowed him to hunt for so long. Neighbors didn't suspect the successful entrepreneur. His wife didn't suspect the father of her children, at least not at first. But beneath the surface, Herb was struggling with deep-seated psychological issues and a growing obsession with death.
His "type" was specific. He targeted young, lean men, often those who might not be missed immediately or who lived on the margins of society. Between 1980 and 1996, men began disappearing from the Indianapolis area. For a long time, nobody connected the dots. The police didn't have a central database for missing persons that worked well across jurisdictions back then. It was the perfect environment for a predator to thrive.
How the Fox Hollow Farm Murders Came to Light
The break in the case didn't come from a brilliant detective's hunch. It came from a survivor. In 1992, a man named Tony Harris told police that a man calling himself "Brian Smart" had invited him to a mansion, where he was nearly strangled during a sexual encounter. Harris was smart. He took down the license plate number of the car. That plate led straight to Herb Baumeister.
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But here’s the thing: the police couldn't just barge in. Herb refused to let them search the property. His wife, Julie, also initially blocked the search, believing her husband was being harassed. It wasn't until 1996, while Herb was away and their marriage was crumbling, that Julie finally gave detectives permission to look around.
What they found was a nightmare.
In the woods behind the house, investigators found a "bone bed." They didn't find intact skeletons. They found a literal carpet of bone fragments. Herb had apparently burned the bodies and then used a tractor to crush the remains into the soil. It was a forensic disaster. The sheer volume of material was overwhelming.
- Total bone fragments recovered: over 10,000.
- Estimated number of victims: at least 11, though some believe it's higher.
- Identification status: Many remains stayed "Unknown" for 30 years.
The Suicide and the Aftermath
Herb didn't stick around to face the music. As soon as he realized the police were digging up his backyard, he fled to Ontario, Canada. On July 3, 1996, he pulled his car into Pinery Provincial Park and shot himself in the head. He left a suicide note.
Interestingly, the note didn't mention the murders. Not a single word. He talked about his failing business and his crumbling marriage. He apologized for the mess he was leaving behind but offered zero closure to the families of the men he killed. It was a final act of narcissism. He died taking his secrets with him, leaving the fox hollow farm murders as a fragmented mystery for the next generation of forensic scientists to solve.
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Why We Are Still Identifying Victims in 2026
You might wonder why this is still in the news. It’s because DNA technology has finally caught up to the horror Herb left behind. For decades, those 10,000+ bone fragments sat in the Indiana State Police laboratory and the coroner’s office. They were too charred and too degraded for 1990s technology to process.
In 2022, Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison made a bold move. He reopened the case. He asked families of men who went missing in the 80s and 90s to provide DNA samples. The results have been groundbreaking.
- Allen Livingston: Identified in 2023. He had been missing since 1993.
- Manuel Resendez: Identified via DNA after decades of being a Jane/John Doe case.
- Recent breakthroughs: Using Genetic Genealogy—the same tech used to catch the Golden State Killer—investigators are matching tiny, degraded fragments to living relatives.
It’s painstaking work. Every time they identify a new victim, it changes the timeline of the fox hollow farm murders. It proves Herb was active much longer than originally thought. It also provides a tiny bit of peace to families who spent thirty years wondering if their sons simply ran away.
The Haunting of Fox Hollow
You can't talk about this place without mentioning the paranormal claims. The house is still there. People live in it. It’s been sold multiple times. Former residents have reported seeing a man in a gray suit wandering the woods—the same clothes Herb was allegedly seen in. Others claim to hear footsteps or see shadows in the "pool room," which was allegedly where some of the killings occurred.
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, the "vibe" of the property is undeniably heavy. It’s a site of immense trauma. The fact that Herb lived there with his children while such horrors were happening just feet away in the woods is something people can't wrap their heads around. How do you grill burgers on a deck while a literal graveyard sits ten yards away?
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Actionable Insights for True Crime Researchers and Families
If you are researching the fox hollow farm murders or believe you have a connection to the case, here is what you need to know:
1. Check the Hamilton County Coroner’s Updates
The investigation is active. Coroner Jeff Jellison is frequently releasing new information as DNA matches come in. They are still looking for families of men who disappeared from the Indianapolis area between 1980 and 1996 to come forward.
2. Understanding Forensic Genetic Genealogy
If you’re interested in the science, look into companies like Othram. They specialize in "unsolvable" DNA cases. The work being done at Fox Hollow is a blueprint for how other serial killer "dumping grounds" might be processed in the future.
3. Respect the Property
Fox Hollow Farm is a private residence. While it’s a site of historical interest, the current owners are not involved in the crimes and deserve privacy. Many true crime tourists often overstep, but the real story is in the public records and the ongoing forensic work, not in trespassing on the grounds.
The tragedy of Fox Hollow isn't just about Herb Baumeister’s cruelty. It’s about the names we still don't know. Every bone fragment represents a person who had a life, a family, and a story that was cut short. As technology improves, we get closer to giving those people back their names. That is the real work being done today. It’s not just about the "horror house"—it’s about the long, slow process of justice.