The Mysterious “I-70 Strangler”: Midwest Serial Killer Remains Unidentified Despite New Theories
At least 12 bodies, found partially unclothed, strangled, and discarded in streams, gullies, and trenches along Interstate 70 in Indiana and Ohio, are linked to this enigmatic killer.
Over the years, authorities have considered two infamous serial killers—Larry William Eyler and Herb Baumeister—as potential suspects for the “I-70 Strangler.” However, no conclusive evidence has emerged to confirm these theories.
Herb Baumeister, who owned a property filled with 10,000 “burnt and crushed” skeletal remains, is often associated with this elusive figure. This link was strengthened when a retired sheriff, turned private investigator, connected him to the murders.
Virgil Vandagriff, after retiring as Marion County Sheriff in Indiana, received calls in the mid-1990s about suspicious disappearances. These missing persons cases led to a search for a serial killer.
The missing men were gay and shared similar physical characteristics. They disappeared on their way to bars, prompting Vandagriff to distribute flyers there.
During his investigation, a magazine publisher alerted Vandagriff to a string of missing men in Indianapolis who matched the same profile.
“It became clear there was a serial killer,” Vandagriff said in a December 2022 interview with WTHR. “We just needed to find out who it was, where they were, and how to stop them.”
Vandagriff took his findings to the police, but at the time, cases involving gay victims received low priority from law enforcement.
“The number of missing gay individuals that were ignored was shocking,” Vandagriff stated in the 2022 interview.
Determined to solve the case, Vandagriff developed a profile of the killer. During this process, an informant using a fake name reported meeting a man named “Brian Smart,” a pseudonym Baumeister used in local bars.
The informant survived an encounter with Baumeister and later identified him at a bar, shouting, “This guy’s a serial killer. Someone get his license plate number,” according to Vandagriff.
The license plate led authorities to Baumeister and his secluded 18-acre property, Fox Hollow Farm, in Westfield, Indiana.
In the 1990s, law enforcement uncovered 10,000 “burnt and crushed” skeletal remains at Baumeister’s home, including those of Vandagriff’s missing persons.
Investigators believe that before purchasing the property in 1991, Baumeister disposed of his victims along I-70. However, he fled to Canada and committed suicide in July 1996 as his life unraveled—his marriage failed, his businesses collapsed, and he faced an arrest warrant.
Baumeister took his secrets to the grave. However, the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office has partnered with Othram, a leading forensic genetic genealogy lab, to identify his victims three decades later.
To date, the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office has identified eight victims and has four more unidentified DNA profiles, bringing the confirmed total to 12, according to Coroner Jeff Jellison.
Although investigators have linked Baumeister to at least 25 victims, neither he nor Eyler—who was believed to have killed at least 21 victims and was executed by lethal injection—were definitively named the “I-70 Strangler.”
The “I-70 Strangler” and the “I-70 Killer” are believed to be two separate, yet unidentified, serial killers who operated in the same area. The “Strangler” targeted male victims with sexually motivated killings, while the “I-70 Killer’s” victims, typically young women, showed no signs of sexual assault.