WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — A third set of human remains recovered at the former home of Herb Baumeister, the man largely considered Indiana’s most prolific serial killer, have been identified.

The remains were recovered in 1996 at the Fox Hollow Farm estate of Baumeister and found to match Jeffery A. Jones, who was reported missing in August 1993, Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison said on Tuesday.

The remains of Jones was the third to be identified since Jellison renewed the investigation in 2022 to identify the charred bones and fragments by asking relatives of young men who vanished between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s to submit DNA samples.

The first set of remains were identified in Oct. 2023 as 27-year-old Allen Livingston, who was reported missing from Indianapolis in 1993. The second, identified earlier this year in January, matched Manuel Resendez, who was 34 when he disappeared. Resendez was identified through a family reference sample provided in early 2023, Jellison said.

Jellison is urging others who may suspect their loved ones disappeared in Indiana to submit a DNA sample: “The most efficient way to identify these remains is through a family reference sample, just a simple DNA cheek swab.”

Baumeister, the founder of the local Save-A-Lot thrift store chain, was a suspect in a series of killings when he took his own life in 1996. Authorities believe he lured young men to his Westfield home in the 1980s and 1990s and murdered them there.

Approximately 10,000 charred bones and bone fragments have been found at Baumeister’s 18-acre estate in Westfield, about 16 miles miles north of Indianapolis.

According to Jellison, investigators have four additional DNA profiles that have not yet been identified, bringing the number of victims to 12. The four unidentified remains will also be sent to the FBI for genetic genealogy investigation.

“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.  A special thanks goes to the very talented and hardworking people at the FBI, Indiana State Police Laboratory, Dr. Krista Latham of the Biology & Anthropology Department at the University of Indianapolis, and DNA experts from Texas based Othram Laboratory,” Jellison said in a release.

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