Fox Hollow victims to be laid to rest in public funeral
(THE HAMILTON COUNTY REPORTER) — Indiana-based ministry He Knows Your Name and the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office have announced plans to hold a public funeral and monument dedication to honor victims of the Fox Hollow tragedy.
In the 1990s, authorities discovered the remains of eight individuals at Fox Hollow Farm in Westfield that have been linked to suspected serial killer Herb Baumeister. Another victim, identified just last year, has brought the total to nine.
There are 10,000 remains connected to this case that were scattered across the 18-acre Fox Hollow estate. This magnitude of remains is only second to that of the World Trade Center, which had 20,000. Thanks to major advancements in genealogy and DNA testing since the ‘90s, progress continues to be made in this ongoing investigation to identify the victims of this tragedy.
At 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 29 at the Prairie Waters Event Center, 4180 Westfield Road, Westfield, Jeffrey Allen Jones will be laid to rest and all identified nine victims will be remembered with a funeral and monument dedication to honor and celebrate their lives with dignity and honor.
The new monument was created and delivered by Canadian artist David Perrett. The monument will honor the lives lost to the Fox Hollow Tragedy, bringing those who visit into empathy and providing a place of respect, redemption, and a path for healing to begin.
Donated by He Knows Your Name, the monument will shed light on the darkness of the tragedy. It is located at Prairie Waters in Westfield, lists all nine identified Fox Hollow victims, and there is space on the stone for additional identified names to be added. There will be an ossuary by the monument so that any family member connected to the tragedy has the option, at any time, to lay to rest their loved one without any cost.
“It is time for those who lost their lives to the Fox Hollow Tragedy to be honored,” said Linda Znachko, founder of He Knows Your Name ministry. “Time for us as a community to believe that every life is worthy and matters. Together we will gather to show respect, neighborly love, support and sorrowful humility to everyone who lost a loved one in this tragedy. It is time for us to help create a path for healing to begin by humbly saying their names publicly with dignity and to memorialize their lives.”
It’s been 30 years since Fox Hollow Farms in Westfield was the site of one of the state’s most notorious series of crimes. This marks the first time the community has given the victims and their families honor and respect in a public dedication.
“While this is an ongoing investigation, we feel now is the time to properly and publicly remember these members of our community,” Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison said. “We are proud to partner with He Knows Your Name to further their mission to provide dignity and a final resting place, regardless of their circumstance.”