Michael Frederick "Mike" Keirn was a man who disappeared from Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 31, 1995. In June 1999, his remains were identified as those found on the property of businessman and suspected serial killer Herb Baumeister in June 1996.
Case[]
Mike Keirn was born on February 25, 1949 in Highland Park, Michigan, to Max and Frances Keirn, the former who predeceased him. He was last seen at a gay bar in downtown Indianapolis on March 31, 1995.
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 who were strangled, and their naked bodies were dumped 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 on or by June 15, 1999, one of them being Mike Keirn. A jacket belonging to Mike was also found on Baumeister's property. The remaining seven were Johnny Bayer, Jeffrey Jones, Richard Hamilton Jr., Manuel Martinez, Steven Hale, Allen Broussard, and Roger Goodlet.
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 (presumably including the original 11 victims) and encourages 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 April 2025, a tenth victim, Daniel Halloran, was identified as part of the renewed identification effort.
Mike Keirn is laid to rest at the Chili Community Cemetery in Chili, Indiana.
Mike's grave at Chili Community Cemetery
Sources[]
- WRTV
- Mike Keirn at Find a Grave
- Herb Baumeister on Wikipedia