Manuel Martinez Resendez was a man who disappeared from Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 6, 1993. In August 1996, his remains were identified as those found on the property of businessman and suspected serial killer Herb Baumeister in June 1996.
Additional remains located on the property were identified as his in January 2024.
Case[]
Manuel Martinez was born in San Antonio, Texas, on September 12, 1961. He attended Frankfort High School between 1977 and 1980. At the time of his disappearance, he lived in Lafayette, Indiana, and worked as a children's counselor. He was last seen at a gay bar in downtown Indianapolis on August 6, 1993.
On June 24, 1996, Herb Baumeister, a local businessman whose behavior had drawn concern, was discovered to have sexually assaulted, killed, and disposed of the remains of at least 11 young gay and bisexual men at his Fox Hollow Farm estate in the Westfield suburb of Indianapolis. After an arrest warrant was issued for the murders at his estate, Baumeister fled to Ontario, Canada, and died by suicide in Pinery Provincial Park before he could be brought to trial. He did not confess to killing anyone in his suicide note and blamed his failing marriage and business for his death.
Baumeister is also suspected of being the I-70 Strangler who, between 1980 and 1991, killed 12 young boys and men and dumped their naked bodies near Interstate 70 in Indiana and Ohio. Most of those victims were members of the LGBTQ community who disappeared within a four-block radius in Indianapolis, including Maurice Taylor and Mike Glenn.
In the original investigation, authorities gathered 11 DNA samples out of 10,000 charred and destroyed bone fragments at Fox Hollow Farm. Eight of the men were identified, with Manuel's remains being identified on August 7, 1996. The remaining seven were Johnny Bayer, Jeffrey Jones, Richard Hamilton Jr., Steven Hale, Allen Broussard, Roger Goodlet, and Mike Keirn.
A ninth victim, Allen Livingston, was identified in October 2023. Following Livingston's identification, Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison reported that four additional DNA samples were developed and that the remains found on the property could represent at least 25 people and encouraged families who had someone disappear between the 1980s and mid-1990s to contact the Hamilton County Coroner's Office. More than 30 families have come forward and provided DNA samples.
In January 2024, more remains discovered on the property in 1996 were identified as belonging to Manuel via a DNA sample submitted by his family in 2023. This is the second identification to have occurred since renewed efforts in 2022.
In April 2025, a tenth victim, Daniel Halloran, was identified as part of the renewed identification effort.
Manuel rests at the Greenlawn Cemetery in Frankfort, Indiana.
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- Manuel Resendez at Find a Grave
- Herb Baumeister on Wikipedia
- Investigative Reports POSTMORTEM WARNING
- WISHTV