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- [00:00]
Dr. Maya Shankar
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
- [00:04]
Robert Smigel
Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter.
- [00:23]
Dr. Maya Shankar
Where does your group perform?
- [00:24]
Robert Smigel
We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:35]
Dr. Maya Shankar
Hey, I'm Dr. Maya Shankar, a cognitive scientist and host of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans. A show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans. I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long. The need to change.
- [00:50]
Richard McLean Smith
We have to be willing to live with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes. You can have opinions, you can have like a strong stance.
- [01:01]
Dr. Maya Shankar
And then there's your body. Yeah, having its own program. Listen to A Slight Change of plans on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Your twenties can be so exciting, but they can also be really overwhelming, confusing, and honestly, just kind of lonely. May is mental health awareness month and the psychology of your twenties is breaking down the science behind the biggest roadblocks we face. I was six years into my career, the 80 hour weeks and just the first one in, the last one out and I ended up burning out. There was a chunk of my twenties that I like was just so wanting to like be out of that phase, out of my skin and I just like really regret not living in the present more. You don't need to have everything figured out right now. You just need to understand yourself a little bit better. Listen to the psychology of your 20s on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Wanna be a star? No problem. Anyone can shine on TikTok. Post your first video today. Real life, real story, real you. Download TikTok and get started.
- [02:10]
Richard McLean Smith
Hello, it's Richard McLean Smith here. Very excited to announce that this May I'll be heading to CrimeCon 2026 in Las Vegas, the world's number one true crime event. And I'd love to see you there. From May 29th to the 31st, thousands of true crime fans, investigators, journalists, podcasters, experts and survivors will gather at Caesars palace in Las Vegas for an unforgettable weekend of live talks, exclusive panels deep dives and behind the scenes conversations. I'll be appearing throughout the weekend on Creator Row, so please come and say hello and if you'd like to join me for my live session, Treasure, Betrayal and Death in Vegas, the Ted Binion Mystery. I'll be speaking at 10:20am on the Saturday morning. To get tickets, head to crimecon.com and use promo code unexplained for 10% off. Hope to see you there. Please note this episode contains disturbing scenes of attempted murder. Parental discretion is advised. In the winter of 1994 in eastern Indiana, a 13 year old boy plays in a patch of woodland that runs alongside his family's farm. About 50 yards from their porch, he spots something strange protruding from the ground. It's some kind of bone. As he draws near, it becomes increasingly clear that what he is looking at is in fact part of an entire human skeleton loosely covered over with red dirt. In horror, he calls for his mother to come and see it. Together, the boy, Eric, and his mother, Julie, look down at the grim specimen and wonder how on earth it came to rest on their land. The Baumeisters had lived on the property for seven years, and there'd been no mention of a graveyard or any hint of anything untoward before the skeleton appeared to be complete. Only the skull was detached. To Julie, it looked like whoever the person was, they just laid down there and died. Julie told Eric to go back inside and resolved to speak to her husband later about what to do with it. Thankfully, it was all a big misunderstanding. When Eric's father, Herb, returns to the farm that evening, he's able to explain everything. It isn't a real skeleton, he says, but an anatomical model that once belonged to his father, a professional anesthesiologist. When his old man died, he tells them, the skeleton passed down to him, but he'd always thought it was creepy, so he decided to bury it. The weather and wild animals must have unearthed it, Herb says. A reassured Eric believes his father, and so does Julie. For now, anyway. You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard Maclean Smith. On a balmy summer evening in 1994 in central Indianapolis, Mark Goodyear made his way through a hot, dimly lit bar as music throbbed all around. The 501 Club was a gay bar popular among bears and leathermen, but the man staring intently at the poster on the wall was neither of those. The poster showed a picture of Mark's friend, Roger Alan Goodlot, who had not been seen by anyone since July. Do you know him? Said Mark Leaning in to be heard over the noise, the man turned. He had soft, puppy, doggish eyes and seemed older but oddly youthful, like he'd never quite lost the child in his face. He was kind of cute, thought Mark. No, said the man. There was a brief, awkward silence before the stranger finally introduced himself. His name was Brian. Brian Smart, he said. Mark couldn't help but smile at how formal he was, but he hadn't seen him there before and was intrigued. Brian offered to buy Mark a drink, and before long the pair had fallen into easy conversation. As closing time approached, the older man asked Mark if he'd like to go on somewhere else. As it turned out, Brian's boss was away, but he had a key to his home. They could sneak in and use the pool if he liked. Mark wasn't in the habit of going off with random strangers, but it did seem like a fun idea. There was just one thing, though. It was just a rumour, really, but some people in the community had begun to wonder if they were being targeted by a serial killer, since a number of gay men seem to have gone missing from the area in the past few years, including Mark's friend Roger. Mark looked at Brian and his sparkly puppy dog eyes. What the hell? He thought. The pair were soon heading north out of the city in Brian's car and into the suburbs of Hamilton County. But as the roads got narrower and darker, Mark began to get nervous until eventually Brian turned onto an unpaved rural road. Mark glimpsed a sign bearing the word farm, but before he could read it all, Brian turned again into a long driveway which led up to the house. Getting out of the car, Mark was relieved to see it was every inch as impressive as Brian had made it seem. It was practically a mansion and entirely dark inside. Brian, perhaps sensing Mark's nerves, gave him a smile and nodded for him to follow. Brian led Mark toward the garage, explaining that the power to most of the house was off, but the basement where the pool was would be well lit. Mark felt another pang of anxiety as he followed Brian through the darkness into the bowels of the mansion, where, to his immense relief, Brian finally flicked on the lights to reveal a swimming pool. Mark's anxiety turned to excitement as he stripped off and jumped into the pool. When he came up, a dense cloud of fog hung around him above the heated water. The men fooled about for a bit, then Brian suddenly turned to Mark and said, hey, do you want to see a trick? Sure, said Mark, a little confused as Brian reached for a length of pool hose floating nearby. Brian drifted closer to Mark, then told him to turn around. Mark laughed nervously as Brian draped the rubber hose around his neck. Brian asked Mark if he'd ever tried auto asphyxiation, how cutting off blood supply to the brain could intensify an orgasm. Then slowly, it began to tighten the hose around Mark's neck. Feeling more uncomfortable than aroused, Mark went with it at first, but Brian kept squeezing tighter and tighter until Mark began struggling to breathe. He grabbed at the hose and fought to tell Brian to stop, but he couldn't get the words out. He flailed frantically in the water, desperate to get free, but Brian held firm. Finally, in a moment of terror struck lucidity. Mark allowed his body to fall limp and pretended to pass out. Then Brian released him. Mark's mind was racing, convinced he was in the company of a very dangerous man and miles away from safety. He determined that the best way to get through to dawn was just to play along. So when he feigned coming back to consciousness, he just smiled as if nothing had happened. For the next few hours, he pretended to drink and returned Brian's flirtations until at last the older man passed out on a couch. In the morning, Brian drove Mark back to his car in the city.
- [10:39]
Robert Smigel
Dish has been connecting communities like yours for the last 45 years, providing the TV you love at a price you can trust. Watch live sports news and the latest movies, plus your favorite streaming apps all in one place. Switch to DISH today and lock in the lowest price in satellite TV, starting at $89.99 a month with our two year price guarantee. Call 888-dish or visit dish.com today another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you the funnier this week. My guests SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Sidel, help an acapella band with their between songs. Banter where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts
- [11:39]
Dr. Maya Shankar
agency the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast. Cultivating her space Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where Black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30, you shouldn't have to share a room with anybody. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real, honest conversations we don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them. Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing realistic. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment and resilience aren't just ideas, they're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [12:41]
Richard McLean Smith
You can have opinions, you can have like a strong stance.
- [12:46]
Dr. Maya Shankar
And then there's your body having its own program. I'm Dr. Maya Shankar, a cognitive scientist and host of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans. We share stories and scientific insights to help us all better navigate these periods of turbulence and transformation. There is one finding that is consistent and that is that our resilience remains rests on our relationships. I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long the need to change.
- [13:20]
Richard McLean Smith
We have to be willing to live with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes.
- [13:26]
Dr. Maya Shankar
Listen to A Slight Change of Plans on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [13:41]
Richard McLean Smith
Once free from Brian, Mark went straight to the police to report his assault and to tell them that the man responsible might have something to do with all the men who'd gone missing recently. But the police seemed to have little interest in getting involved. It didn't help that Mark couldn't give accurate directions to the house or any important details. In the end, they simply told Mark to keep an eye out for the man and noticed license plate number if he got the chance. It was a long shot, but almost a full year later, in August 1995, the man calling himself Brian Smart came back to the 501 Club, and Mark was there to note his license plate. The police traced the car to one Herbert Richard Baumeister, or Herb, to his friend, the owner of a police patch of land in nearby Westfield, where he lived with his wife Julie and son Eric. It was called Fox Hollow Farm. When the police first tried to search the farm without a warrant, Herb and Julie denied them entry. But by then, Julie was becoming increasingly frightened of Herb's behaviour, and in 1996 she filed for divorce. Though the image of that supposed model skeleton that Eric had found in the woods back in 1994 had never quite left her. It was only then that she felt brave enough to do something about it. While Herb was away, she called the police and gave them permission to search the property. Over several days, the authorities unearthed over 5,000 separate bone fragments from the grounds, including complete skeletons of 11 men. Eight of them were identified as men reported missing and last seen in bars in Indianapolis. It turned out that Herb had been bringing men back to his house for years. Whenever Julie and Eric were elsewhere visiting family, he strangled them all to death in the pool room. When the news got out, Herb fled across the border to Ontario. In a park on the shore of Lake Huron, he put a bullet through his brain. He left a note that he felt terrible about his failed marriage, that he was sorry for making a disturbance in the park, and that he had intended to take his own life elsewhere but didn't want to upset a gang of children playing nearby. Over the next decade, Fox Hollow Farm languished empty and abandoned under the ownership of an anonymous developer. In 2001, it was listed on the market for $2.8 million, just over 5 million by today's money. By 2006, it had been dropped to 1 million. But no matter how low the asking price felt, no one in the local community was willing to make a home amid such hideous history. Vicky and Rob Graves were a married couple on the cusp of middle age, looking for a country base to raise their two teenage sons. While searching for prospects close to the site of Rob's new car dealership, they came across a listing for Fox Hollow Farm and couldn't believe that it hadn't already been snapped up. They cooed over its 11,000 square feet of rooms, along with its several outbuildings. Built from solid stone and finished in an ornate mock Tudor style, the manicured lawns were dotted with sculpted hedges and flowed into the surrounding 18 acres of prime horse pasture. But as Vicky and Rob toured the property with the realtor, they shared a knowing look. What's the catch? Viki asked. Rob was about to ask the same question when something came to him. A fragment of memory, a story he'd seen on the news about a farm outside the city and the bones of missing men. This is that killer's house, isn't it? He said. With nowhere to hide, the realtor confirmed Rob's suspicions. For some, the farm's history might have been a rare red line, but for the graves, both sceptical, practical people, the debate was more economic than spiritual. Dickie and Rob discussed it over the following days before finally making an offer. It was eagerly accepted and the graves soon moved in. Compared to the frenzy of city life, Fox Hollow Farm was idyllic at first. The kids loved the expansive grounds and the heated indoor pool, which they'd often come into straight from playing outside, much to Vicki's annoyance. One morning, just a few weeks after moving in, Vicki was once more hoovering dirt from the pool site when her vacuum cleaner cut out. Tracing the line of the power cable to the wall, she saw that the plug had come out of the socket. She pushed it back in and returned to the task, ensuring there was plenty of slack this time for her to work with. But seconds later, the vacuum cut out again. Viki stared at the plug that was once again lying several inches from the wall, though the cable had never tightened and she'd not moved anywhere near far enough for it to fall out. Confused, Viki once more reinserted the plug and returned to the Hoover as it was told. Later, when she switched it on again, she kept her gaze fixed on the socket and watched aghast as the plug flew out of it and skidded across the tiles, having seemingly been wrenched out by an invisible force. Vicki almost didn't believe it herself as she explained it all to a sceptical Rob. Later that day, realising how silly it sounded, Vicky tried to forget about it, unsure what it was she'd seen exactly. A few days later, Vicki and Rob are said to have been in the garden making a list of all the work that needed to be done to the house's exterior. Rob was at the top of a ladder inspecting the gutters when Vicky suddenly sensed something moving fast toward the tree light, as it was claimed. Later, she looked over to see a young man dressed in a striking red shirt. Vicky called out to him, but the man didn't flinch, just kept moving in a straight line toward the woods. She was about to call out again in irritation when she felt a sudden rush of adrenaline. The man's legs were missing from the thighs down just a few inches below the untucked hem of his shirt. There was nothing. Having quickly told Rob what she'd seen, he shot down the ladder and raced over to the tree line where Vicki said the man had gone. He searched the property all the way to the garden fence, but saw no one. Just then it occurred to Vicky that whoever she'd seen had been walking toward her Baumeister's burial site. Ron wondered if it might have been one of those serial killer obsessives that their friends had warned them about macabre tourists who treated murder Scenes as sites of pilgrimage. Either that or Vicky had just seen a ghost. He joked with a smile, but Vicky didn't smile back. And it wouldn't be the last time that the man in the red shirt was apparently seen on the property. Beyond the farm renovations, life was going well for the graves. The kids couldn't have been happier, and Rob's dealership was thriving. The only problem he was having was the tardiness of one of his favourite employees, Joe LeBlanc. After one too many late showings, Rob discovered that Joe lived an hour from the dealership and had been struggling to get in on time. As he told his boss he was trying to rent somewhere closer to work, but was struggling to find anything suitable. Fox Hollow Farm had a self contained apartment above the garage on the far side of the property with its own kitchen and en suite bathroom. It was more than big enough for Joe and his dog Fred, so Rob offered it to him. The only problem was the property's history, which Rob didn't want to hide from him. Thankfully, Joe wasn't put off. If anything, as far as he was concerned, it made the place even more interesting. A few nights later, Joe was tossing and turning in his new apartment. Deep in his unconscious mind, Joe was running for his life through thick woodland. He had no idea what was chasing him, only that whatever it was was deeply malignant. Joe snapped awake and bolted out of bed before he realised where he was. He jumped halfway across the room. For the rest of the night, Joe lay on the carpet with a light on, trying to quiet his hammering heart, still fighting the pressing urge to run. Only when dawn came was he finally able to find sleep again. It was a few nights later, as Joe was washing some dishes, that he was startled by a loud, rapid knocking at the front door. Joe shouted that he was coming as he dried his hands on a dishcloth, but the knocking continued, growing more and more intense, so much so that Joe was sure it must have been Rob or Vicki with an emergency. Okay, okay, he said as the knocking kept going until he turned the handle and opened the door. Then all went quiet. There was no one there. Joe's apartment was only reachable by a switchback wooden staircase. There was no one on the landing or the stairs either. Thoroughly bewildered, Joe closed the door and turned to see his dog Fred standing in the centre of the living room, hackles raised, staring at the bedroom door. Joe followed Fred's stare and jumped at what appeared to be a figure hurriedly crossing the doorway. Keeping Fred by his side, Joe called out for whoever was there to come out. Hearing nothing in reply, he steeled himself and stepped quietly toward the bedroom door. Then he stepped inside, hugely relieved to find the room completely empty. At first he assumed he'd just been seeing things because he was tired. But then he remembered the knocking too, that he hadn't imagined. About a month into Joe's stay, he took Fred for a nighttime walk around the property. They had just turned for home when Joe noticed that Fred was no longer at his side. Then he heard him growling. Scanning the moonlit grounds, Joe saw Fred a dozen paces away on the far side of the main house, near the tree line. As was later claimed, Fred was standing in a defensive crouch, barking at a male figure in a red shirt. The man was said to be standing still and facing away from Joe, looking into the woods, when suddenly he spurred into movement and disappeared into the labyrinth of branches and shadows. Joe shuddered when he realised the man had no legs from the thighs down. Then, to his dismay, Fred gave chase with no choice but to go after him. Joe had only gone a few paces into the trees when he found Fred purposefully standing his ground, but still in some distress. And he was staring directly at Joe. Or, as Joe realised, with a chill at something behind him, Fred growled again. Slowly, Joe turned. And there, just a foot away, stood the man in the red shirt. It's said that Joe, in a panic, grabbed Fred and rushed straight back to his apartment, where he barred the door and spent another sleepless night peering out of the window at the now menacing dark of the farm. Such an incident would have been enough to send most people fleeing, but as Joe later said, it was difficult to walk away from such a convenient situation until the following night. At least once more, late in the evening, Joe claimed he heard a knocking at his door. This time, however, the door was physically shifting in its frame under the weight of the blows. When Joe finally found the courage to open it once again, he found the same empty landing on the other side of it. Then something made him freeze. The heavy metal knocker was apparently hanging suspended perpendicular to the door, as if held by an invisible hand. Joe claimed to have watched it tremble in place for several seconds, until it slammed down heavy and loud against the the wood, sending Joe jumping in fright back into the apartment and slamming the door shut behind him. Then he watched in horror as the door handle twisted and turned. For several silent seconds, a tremendous blow shattered the lock and sent the door flinging violently inward. In terror, Joe fled into the night and sprinted desperately toward the main house, turning back to look at his apartment where the broken door yawned open. He later claimed to see something standing in the doorway. A figure dressed in white and dripping wet, his face contorted in pain or anguish. A sound was emanating from his mouth. Though it was muted. Joe had no doubt the man was screaming. Vicky and Rob are said to have been asleep when they heard Joe pounding on the front door. Clearly in distress. They invited him to take a seat in the kitchen, then drink. He apparently told them about everything he'd experienced so far. Vicky and Rob are said to have received it all with an almost eerie calm, much to Joe's surprise. But when he filled them in on his confrontation with the man in red, Vicky's face apparently went pale. The three of them are said to have come to the conclusion that it was one of Herb Baumeister's victims. There are some who believe that malignancy reverberates, that spectral aftershocks can occur as the result of seismically awful events. That perhaps that is what happened at Fox Hollow Farm. After all, who else would the apparent entities be than the victims of Herb Baumeister's crimes still lingering at the sight of their end? This theory was endorsed, at least in Joe and the Graves opinion, when a few days later, Rob was walking through the woods when just off the trail, he saw a pile of leaves that looked newly assembled, sitting plain as day. On top of them was an intact human femur. It would have been an astonishing find, as the site had been thoroughly searched over many months, with thousands of tiny bone fragments already removed and catalogued. As Rob would later write, it felt to him like a plea, like a victim was reaching out, trying to let them know he was there. Vicki and Rob reached out to the local police and arranged for the bone to be taken in for testing. The lead investigator, Virgil Vandegrift, took responsibility and even agreed to come out to the farm to talk the graves through what had occurred there in whatever detail he could to put their worries at rest in finding and offloading that bone. Rob, Vicky and Joe are said to have begun to believe that maybe they'd released whatever entity remained ensnared at the farm. They thought of it as an exorcism of sorts. But there was one more twist to come. As Rob recounts it in his book. One early afternoon, Joe was sitting at his kitchen table when he apparently heard a scratching, rattling noise coming from the counter behind him. Turning, he saw that each of his sharp knives had been somehow taken from the butcher block and laid out in a neat row on the countertop. Drawing closer, he apparently saw that deep marks had been carved underneath them. It said that Joe instinctively thought that the scored inscriptions looked desperate, emotional, even angry. On an impulse, he reached for his phone and hit the record button. And in the silent, empty kitchen, he began to ask questions. Who's there? Can we help you? But nothing came back. Then Fred began to growl, apparently convinced that someone or something was with him. In the kitchen, Joe is said to have repeated the question, Is there anyone there? Again, to no reply. Then he ended the recording. Later, Joe uploaded the file on his computer and hit playback. According to Rob, as Joe sat in the lonely quiet of his apartment, he listened as his voice repeatedly asked questions with only the slight hiss of ambience heard in between. Then Fred's growl was hurt, followed by Joe's final question. Is anyone there? Then, from out of the silence that ensued, Joe heard what sounded like a gravelly male voice. He pulled the clip back and played it out again in astonishment. It sounded like it was saying the married one. Excited and confused, Joe apparently took the recording to Rob and Vicky, who were also convinced it was a voice. But what did it mean? All the victims had been young gay men and all single or at least unmarried. Only one person involved in the Fox Hollow murders had been married. Herb Baumeister. Vicky and Rob Graves stayed at Fox Hollow Farm for several years after these apparent events. They claim to have had other strange occurrences, but nothing that matched the severity of what Joe is said to have experienced. And neither the legless man in red nor the drenched man in white were ever seen again. No one really knows how many victims Herb Baumeister killed and put in the ground. There are thousands of bone fragments, many of them too small to attribute. As of late 2025, 10 victims have been positively identified. Their names are Roger Goodlett, Daniel Howerin, Jeffrey Jones, Manuel Resendez, Alan Livingston, John Lee byer, Richard Hamilton Jr. Stephen Hale, Alan Brossard, and Michael Cairn. But that is just on the farm. Between 1980 and 1991, an unknown killer proud of four block radius of downtown Indianapolis. At least 11 boys and young men were lured from bars, strangled, and their bodies discarded in the ditches and streams along Interstate 70. They theorised that in 1991 the killer was able to stop disposing of the bodies by the side of the road, because now he had a safer place to put them. Was Fox Hollow Farm the primary setting for Herr Baumeister's depravity? Or just an epilogue to a much longer story? Like so many of the unknown horrors that occur in the nightmare shadows of human history, those questions seem destined to remain forever unexplained. This episode was written by Neil McRobert and Richard McCarthy Maclean Smith. Thank you as ever for listening. Unexplained is an AV Club Productions podcast created by Richard McLean Smith. All other elements of the podcast, including the music, are also produced by me, Richard McLean Smith unexplained the book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation or a story of your own you'd like to share. You can find out more@ unexplainedpodcast.com and reach us online through X&BLUESKY@ unexplainedpod and facebook@facebook.com unexplained podcast.
- [35:56]
Dr. Maya Shankar
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.