Another mystifying and tragic true crime case could be coming to a close after two decades. Here’s hoping that its potential conclusion brings closure to everyone involved.
Serial killer Herb Baumeister took his own life in Canada in 1996 as authorities were closing in on his location. As far as history is concerned, this event brought an end to his reign of terror which saw nearly 25 gay men strangled and mutilated in the 80s and 90s.
Herb was a Republican, a successful business owner and a married father of three children. However, behind the picture-perfect facade was a mass murderer who cruised gay bars in Indiana looking for his next victims.
His downfall was brought forth by one of his own children, who found skeletal remains outside the Fox Hollow Farms estate. Luckily, the 13-year-old had hindsight to alert his mother – who would later alert authorities after her husband’s behavior became more erratic.
When investigators searched the property, they discovered “charred remains” of twelve men, eight of whom were initially identified using dental records.
It was only then that investigators started theorizing that Herb Baumeister could be the I-70 Strangler. This connection fell into place due to proximity, the victims all being gay men, all the victims being found nude or nearly nude, all the victims being strangled and the fact that the I-70 Strangler seemingly disappeared once Herb brought the property where his son initially discovered human remains.
Investigators believed that Herb used the Fox Hollow property as a home-base and dumping ground, which allowed him to carry on murdering gay men for several more years while remaining mostly undetected.
Should Herb truly be the I-70 Strangler, this would push the number of potential victims up past 25.
Is 45 Years in Prison Enough for Murdering 5 Gay Men? – Instinct Magazine
Unfortunately, the fight to identify more of the victims ended in 2001 when Indiana closed the case due to funding issues. And with that, a number of men – aged between 14 and 42 – were left as nothing more than a “what if” in true crime journalism.
Circumstances changed recently when Eric Pranger sent the Hamilton County Coroner a lead stating he believed his cousin, Allen Livingston, was one of the unidentified victims of Herb Baumeister. His reasoning was that his cousin was bisexual and went missing at the height of Herb’s murder spree after entering the car with “someone” in Indiana.
The reason Eric reached out to officials after almost twenty years was simple – his mother was on her death bed, and he wanted to give her closure before she passed away.
After Eric and his mother submitted DNA to investigators, results returned stating that they matched with one of remains, thus proving that Allen was one of Herb’s long unidentified victims.
Another victim, Jeffrey Jones, was identified in the same way in May 2024.
Now, authorities have reopened the Herb Baumeister case and are urging other families to submit DNA if they have a missing loved one who was gay or bisexual and in proximity to Herb’s hunting grounds.
It’s their hope that the remaining victims can be identified in the coming years.
Why has true crime overlooked Herb Baumeister?
I’m wondering why this is the first time I’m hearing about Herb Baumeister or the I-70 Strangler. My only thought is that Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy were doing something similar in the years prior, and the media was tired of reporting on Caucasian men killing gay men due to being in the closet.
This echos back to homophobia, though, as closeted men – who were obviously unstable – were filled with so much self-hated that they went on rape and murder sprees. Gay men were targeted frequently, of course, so again – homophobia was a leading factor in all of these true crime events.
Maybe everyone involved – predators and victims – would have led more successful lives if only they had safe, kind support systems in place.
Regardless, I hope further victims are identified in Herb’s case because everyone deserves to be more than a highlight in a Wikipedia article.
May everyone involved in these tragic events find peace in the coming months, as I’m sure re-opening the investigation brings back memories they hoped to suppress.