Over the years, you know, as the
years have gone by, I feel it now.
A woman tonight is determined to find
answers about her son's death that has
sparked a renewed investigation into a
suspected serial killer here in central
IN police believe Herb Baumeister killed
more than two dozen men and buried
them on his property in Westfield.
Tonight, our Emily Longnecker talked
with a woman who believes one of
those men may have been her son.
This is a story you'll only see
here on 13 news.
Emily joins us here in The Newsroom tonight,
and this woman actually fears.
I may be running out right
now, yeah, Scott Sharon Livingston's
fighting two kinds of cancers and
knows every day counts at this point.
This is a mother who has lived for
decades with the burden of not
knowing what happened to her child,
and it's a burden she hopes
she can finally put down.
Whitney animal. They're
in a world where just about everyone
has a cell phone these days.
Sharon Livingston also has held on
to the landline she's had in her
West side home for close to 40 years.
It's not because Sharon ever
uses it to make any calls,
but because of the one call she's hoped
over the past 30 years would someday come.
Ellen disappeared.
There was only a landline.
That's the only number he knew
because there was no cell phone.
Sharon's talking about her son, Alan,
who disappeared the summer of 1993.
A month before his 28th birthday,
he was always happy.
And you know, he never had a
bad word to say about anybody.
He was just a wonderful person,
not the kind of son who
didn't call her visit.
That's why when Sharon and her
partner Judy hadn't heard from Alan in
several days and couldn't find him,
they reported him missing.
close to three decades later,
they still have the card with the
case number police gave them when
they filed the missing persons report.
So I figured I should hold on
to this because. You know,
eventually it might come back
or they might find something.
And I would still have the case number.
Three years later.
While investigating the disappearance
of several Indianapolis
men from the gay community,
police discovered the remains
of 11 men on a Westfield farm.
Men police believe were the
victims of the man who lived there,
suspected serial killer.
Her baumeister.
Allen's remains were not
identified among them.
But all these years later,
I know it's there. I know he's there.
I know. Hitman got him.
I just know it. I feel that
this mother, though, needs to know for sure.
She's sick and time is not on her side.
Yes. Times running. Yeah.
So I needed closure. Absolutely.
You know, I'm 76 years old,
even without cancer.
I'm not going to live forever.
That's why Sharon's nephew called
the Hamilton County Coroner's
office a few months ago,
asking what could be done.
That phone call led to Hamilton
County coroner elect Jeff
Jellison reopening the case,
calling for families with male loved
ones who went missing from the mid
80s to early 90s to submit DNA in
the hopes police could identify
their loved ones and some of the more
than 10,000 bones and bone fragments
excavated from the Baumeister property.
Remains the University of Indianapolis
has held on to all these years.
The farm's current owner has added
to that number over the years.
Each time he's found more bones.
And earlier this month,
cadaver dogs identified several places
of interest on the property where
more remains could still be buried.
And I'm pretty sure they're going
to find them. I just know they are
a mother's intuition fueled by
her hope to finally know the
truth about her son's fate.
My son's remains. And until I
had that, it will be unfinished.
Is from me. And hopefully
get them before I pass away.
And it's already been over 20 years
that this has been going on and.
We don't have another 20 years.
I need closure before I go.
And in that search for closure,
Sharon believes other families
may get the answers they've
wanted all these years, too.
This mother knows she won't be
able to rest well until she does.
Well, your heart just goes
out to Sharon tonight.
So, Emily, I think a lot of people
want to know when will this
family know something for sure?
Well, Scott, we know that
it's going to take some time.
State police still need
to get all the DNA back.
They also need to get the bones and bone
fragments to their lab for testing.
So Sharon certainly won't be having
the answer she's looking for tomorrow.
But if they do identify Allen's remains,
the family plans to hold a memorial,
something they have never done.
Hopefully they'll get those answers
from Emily. Thanks so much.
Want to let you know that right now.
The Hamilton County coroner's.
Office collected more than 20 DNA samples
and we just talked to the corner elect,
Jeff Jellison tonight to
get that updated number.
Now he is the man who is leading this effort.
Last week, Jellison told us he's been in
contact with families all over the country,
including Florida, Nevada and Louisiana.
Thousands of remains have been
discovered on her baumeister's property,
but experts told Jellison DNA can only
be extracted from about 100 bones.
Jellison told us those.
Identifications can only be made
if more people come forward.
We've got all of these remains, but
unless we have comparison samples we
we we're going to come to a
halt pretty quickly.
So if you think someone you know could
be connected to this Baumeister case,
please call the Hamilton County coroner.
We've got that contact information
for you tonight. It's on wthr.com.