An Indiana coroner examining the Fox Hollow Farm serial killings remarked that law enforcement “dropped the ball” during the initial investigation in the 1990s.
In April, Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison revealed that his office had identified human remains at Fox Hollow Farm in Westfield, Indiana, as those of Daniel Thomas Halloran, marking him as the tenth victim of the alleged serial killer Herb Baumeister, who is suspected of having at least 25 victims.
Jellison expressed to Fox News Digital that he believes law enforcement did not handle the case correctly during their original inquiry.
“I think originally in the investigation, law enforcement did a good job of excavating the remains, but I think as time went on in the investigation, our county really dropped the ball,” Jellison said.
Authorities dig for human bones in a wooded area on the Fox Hollow Farm in Westfield, July 2, 1996. (Rich Miller/Indy Star-USA Today Network/Imagn)
Jellison said he “cannot imagine” that law enforcement would push the financial burden of a DNA test onto a victim’s family in today’s world.
“These remains represent victims in a homicide, in a murder. So, to say to the families that if you want to know if your loved one was a victim of a murder, I mean, that’s a tragedy in and of its own,” Jellison said. “I think we’re better today. We’re more sensitive today to victims and family members of victims of crimes.”
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
