Steven Spurlin Hale was a man who disappeared from Indianapolis, Indiana, on April 1, 1994. In September 1996, his remains were identified as those found on the property of businessman and serial killer Herb Baumeister in June 1996.
Case[]
Steven Hale was born in Indianapolis on November 14, 1967 to Donald Hale and Thelma Spurlin. At the time of his disappearance, he was living in Indianapolis and was working as a custodian at a restaurant. He was last seen on April 1, 1994 at the Indianapolis Central Library, which was a known gay cruising area.
On June 24, 1996, Herb Baumeister, a businessman with a history of bizarre and disturbing behavior, was discovered to have sexually assaulted, killed, and pulverized the remains of 11 young gay 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 pulverized bone fragments at Fox Hollow Farm. Eight of the men were identified, with Steven's remains being identified on September 12, 1996. The remaining seven were Johnny Bayer, Jeff Jones, Richard Hamilton Jr., Manuel Martinez, 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 (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.
Steven Hale is laid to rest at the Hamilton Memorial Park in Noblesville, Indiana.
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- Steven Hale at Find a Grave
- Investigative Reports POSTMORTEM WARNING
- Herb Baumeister on Wikipedia
- WRTV