[1] The killer would choose young boys and adolescents as victims, whom he met in popular gay bars and other similar establishments within a four-block radius in Indianapolis.
[2][3] In total, 12 men were recorded as his official victims: A task force of 8 officers was created by Indianapolis Police in 1982 to investigate the crimes.
Following the discovery of Riley's body in June 1983, four more men were included in the list of potential victims: 25-year-old Gary Davis, 27-year-old Dennis Brotzge, 21-year-old John Roach and 22-year-old Daniel McNeive.
[7] According to the FBI, Davis, Brotzge, Roach and McNeive's killer was a white man between the ages of 20 and 30, worked in job requiring low skilled-labor, was a fan of military paraphernalia and led a healthy lifestyle.
Likely because of his attraction to adolescent boys and young men, he feels shame and guilt that, in addition to possibly destroying his career and reputation, would result in a deep hatred and subsequent murder.
[14][15] In 1983, a resident of Carmel, August 'Gus' Caito, was briefly detained and interrogated for the murders in Indianapolis, but was quickly released after investigators found no evidence linking him to any of the crimes.
Shortly thereafter, the Vermillion County Attorney's Office reopened its investigation into the murder of 23-year-old Steven Agan, who had been stabbed to death on December 19, 1982.
[16][17] In February 1998, an Indianapolis resident contacted the police and claimed that a local businessman, Herb Baumeister, was the mysterious man photographed leaving The Vogue Theater with one of the I-70 Strangler's victims, Michael Riley.
[2] Prior to his suicide in 1996, Baumeister was the prime suspect in the murders of at least seven men who were killed between 1993 and 1995 in Indianapolis, whose remains were later found buried on his property.