WESTFIELD, Ind. — It was an emotional morning in Westfield where for the first time, victims in the Fox Hollow Tragedy were honored and remembered in a public dedication ceremony.
This included the reading of the nine identified victims and laying to rest two of the men. They include Jeffrey Allen “Jeff” Jones, Allen Lee Livingston, Manuel Resendez, John Lee “Johnny” Bayer, Richard Douglas Hamilton Jr., Steven Spurlin Hale, Allen Wayne Broussard, Roger Allen Goodlet and Michael Frederick “Mike” Keirn.
These nine men are the ones who have been identified so far in an ongoing investigation into Herb Baumeister, a suspected serial killer in central Indiana.
“It’s nice to be able to look forward to peace and closure opposed to living in that darkness of the unknown,” said Matthew Pranger, the cousin of Allen Livingston, one of the victims.
For decades these families had no answers, no idea what happened to their loved ones and now, they have a spot not only to remember them but to bring honor to their names.
“Now we can focus on the life itself and not the tragedy,” Pranger said.
He Knows Your Name Ministries and the Hamilton County Coroner partnered to make this happen.
“I like to say yes, closure, but also it’s a beginning,” said Linda Znachko, the founder of He Knows Your Name Ministry. “It’s a beginning. It’s a pathway to healing.”
It’s a pathway to healing after many years of shame often hiding these stories in the darkness.
“When they feel a community become family and come around them, and hold this with them together, the shame is lifted, the judgment has been lifted off this story for them and the gratitude is all they are feeling,” Znachko said.
The families who loved those victims said this monument is a symbol, showing that even in the darkest times there can be hope and healing.
“To see it [the monument] in person, it’s more than you could ever imagine,” Pranger said. “It definitely does solidify or put into the picture of what you would hope to have as a final resting place.”
Even as this chapter of the story closes, there are still unanswered questions, especially for the victims who haven’t been identified yet. That work continues now.
“We got 10,000 bone and bone fragments,” said Jeff Jellison, the Hamilton County coroner. “We are looking at many, many years. Today really just represented the start.”
Going forward as more of the remains are identified, those families will be able to lay their loved ones to rest at this site too.
