The mystery began when a child stumbled upon human bones buried on an 18-acre farm and deepened when police found the remains of five adults, handcuffs and shotgun shells on the property.
On Thursday, the case grew even stranger when the estate's owner shot himself to death in Canada, leaving many unanswered questions.Herbert R. Baumeister was "a suspect big-time" in the investigation of the bones believed to be buried for nine to 18 months on his farm, an unidentified source close to the investigation told the Indianapolis Star.
Police near Toronto found Baumeister's body, and Hamilton County Sheriff Joe Cook in Indiana told the newspaper that Baumeister, 48, killed himself.
Police had been trying to question Baumeister about the bones found last month on his Fox Hollow Farm estate in Westfield, 20 miles north of Indianapolis. Baumeister did not appear earlier this week at a divorce hearing, although he was not officially reported missing, his lawyer said.
Baumeister's son found the bones June 24 while playing in a wooded area. The remains of five adults - including a jaw bone, several teeth and three left wrists - remnants of 12-gauge shotgun shells and a pair of handcuffs have been found in subsequent searches of three locations on the property. Some of the bones were charred. Police planned to finish the search today.
Indianapolis forensic anthropologist Stephen Nawrocki said it could take more than a month to figure out the identities of the dead. Authorities are studying missing persons records to try to match the remains.
Baumeister and his estranged wife, Juliana, who owned two thrift stores in Indianapolis, moved onto the property five years ago.
Baumeister has lived in Indianapolis since he and his wife began divorce proceedings in January. Juliana Baumeister and their three children - ages 16, 14 and 11 - have remained at the estate.
William Wendling, Juliana Baumeister's divorce lawyer, said Herbert Baumeister's suicide could explain the five deaths.
"We can only hope that there will be something that he may have left, said, written, whatever that would help sort out this situation on their property," he said. "It isn't too great a leap to think that something is there."
Baumeister had obtained a protective order against her husband and was granted emergency custody of her children.
Wendling said she obtained the order because she was worried about how her husband would react to the investigation.