Exhumed Remains To Be Tested For DNA Identification

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(NEW ALBANY) - It’s been 13 years, but officials are hoping the remains exhumed from a Southern Indiana grave this week will be finally identified.

Floyd County Police Detective Jeff Topping says there is reason to believe the remains dug up from a New Albany cemetery are those of 34-year-old Jerry Williams-Comer, who disappeared from Indianapolis in August 1995.

Topping said the possible link between the body and Williams-Comer was brought to his attention by the Doe Network, a web site run by volunteers who seek to solve cold cases and unexplained disappearances.

According to the Doe Network web site, police suspect that Williams-Comer may have been a victim of Herbert Baumeister, a suspected serial killer from Hamilton County whose victims included gay men he met in bars.

Baumeister killed himself in Canada in 1996 about a week after police found human remains on his property. He has been linked to the deaths of at least 16 men.

Because police have no DNA from Williams-Comer, a sample has been taken from his mother. Tests will be performed to see if they match.

Topping said the process could take a year.

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