hi guys how are you today

my name is Bailey Syrian

and today is Monday

which means it’s murder mystery and makeup Monday

if you’re new here

every Monday I sit down

I talk about a true crime story

that’s been on my noggin

and I put on my makeup

at the same time

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every Monday

I’m here story

so today’s story is unsolved

and takes place in Speedway Indiana

and it involves 4 young employees

of this fast food joint called Burger Burger Chef

burger Chef

I’m so sorry

oh my gosh this is not appropriate

no I’m not on drugs or anything

I was just having a conversation today

how I can’t pronounce anything

how embarrassing it is burger Chef

oh man I was laugh crying

okay back to the story

these 4 young employees worked at a local burger joint

it was called Burger Chef

they just vanished and then later sadly they were found

all 4 of them murdered on November 17th 1978

4 young people were closing up a burger chef restaurant

we have Jane Friede

she’s 20 years old

and she was the assistant manager on duty that night

we had Ruth Shelton

she was 17 years old

Daniel Davis he was 16

and Mark Flemons who was also 16

they were scheduled to stay a couple hours past

closing and clean up

and get things ready for the morning shift

the Burger Chef chain

it doesn’t exist anymore

but at the time it was an Indianapolis based company

with about 600 restaurants naturally

and then in the early 1980s

it was absorbed by hardy’s or carl’s Jr

Around midnight

one of them open the back door

to take out the garbage

what happened next is not even fully known

so speculation and theories and stuff like that

but somebody open the back door

that’s what we know for sure

sadly none of the kids made it out that night

so Jane Freed

she was 20 years old

she was described as a leader

with a sense of humor and a heart of gold

then we have Daniel Davis

he’s 16 years old

he was described as a talented photographer

who made loved ones smile

we have Mark Flemons also 16

she was described as friendly

selfless with a good sense of style

Ruth Shelton

she was 17 years old

some articles

I read said that she was 18 years old

so 17 or 18

she was described as creative

honest and kind

and with a love for music

so I mean everyone involved is just very young right

I’m sure it’s probably some of their first jobs

so at around midnight

another employee went by the restaurant to visit the 4

and he realized that okay

no one’s around

where is everybody

he goes and he checks the back area

and he sees that

the back door has been slightly left ajar

so the 4 employees that were working

they’re missing

the back doors open

also notices that there’s money missing

there was roughly about 500

that was missing from the safe

so the police were called

but the police didn’t take this case seriously

there’s only 500 missing

that’s it okay backtrack

so the police were called

and they come out there

and they see okay

there’s money missing

the police also found 2 empty currency bags

they also saw that 2 women’s purses were left behind

some of the employee’s jackets were left behind as well

and also Jane

the manager

that was on duty

her 1974 Chevrolet Vega

that was left

but I mean that was missing as well

so police did not take this case seriously

because there was only 500 missing from the safe

and also because that

there was no physical sign of struggle at all

it just seemed like walked out the back door

and that was it

the police thought that this was petty embezzlement

with the assumption that the 4 missing employees

stole the cash

to go party that night

so the police thought this

even though that the 2 purses were left behind

I mean they assumed that they just went out to party

frustratingly enough

you’ll never guess what happens

because it was seen as

like nothing happened

the next day

the restaurant still has to it

still has to open right

it’s a business

so if you’ve worked

like retail

or you weren’t

if you work

I’m sure maybe

one of your duties is to clean

so the next morning

people come in to to work

and they clean

and so they clean the back area

they clean the front area

they get it

all ready for just another day of business

and this is frustrating

because they essentially

got rid of any evidence

that may have been left behind

but the next day

people started to

maybe worry

because nobody that was scheduled to work that day

that went missing

they didn’t show up

that same day

they found jane’s car

Chevrolet Vega

it was parked on the street

near the Speedway police station

it was only a short drive from

the restaurant

but also it showed no signs of her

after her car was found

this is when people really started to worry

a little bit more

so speedway

police told the media

that it was quote

a very peculiar case

media meaning newspapers

there were no leads

and neither they

nor the employees

families had received a ransom call

which I guess was weird

at the time

I don’t I don’t know

but for some reason

that made it strange

so on Sunday afternoon

November 19th

some people were out

like in the woods

no it’s not

like a wooded area

which is kind of

like a little trail

or hiking trail

some hikers

came across

all 4 of the missing employees

their bodies

sorry I didn’t say that

they came across their bodies

could you imagine

just on a nice

little hot hike

with your loved one

and you come across for kids

this area was over 20

miles from the Burger Chef

a 40 minute drive

from the location

and it was right

next to like

a high school

Daniel Davis

and Ruth Shelton

they were found first

both of them were shot

execution style

multiple times

with a point

38 caliber firearm

Jane she was

found nearby

she had been

stabbed in the chest

the handle of the

knife was broken off

so it was just like

the blade itself was in her

but the handle was gone

it was missing

it was never located

the blade itself

later recovered

during the autopsy

lastly Mark Flemons was found

75 yards away

he suffered

blunt force

trauma to the head

and they believe

this is a result of

running into something

possibly a tree trunk

you see what they think

had happened

was that Mark actually escaped

like he somehow

got free or like

got away from the people

and he was making a run for it

and when he was making a run for it

they think that

he must have like

run into a tree

or tree trunk

hitting his head

which then knocked him

unconscious

and then he kind of

fell downhill

and then he choked

on his own blood

which is so

like I’m mad

because this poor kid

he gets away

he’s making a run for it

to be stopped by a tree trunk

it was later on

determined that

he was also

hit by like

something else

so the attackers

are the killers

they must have also like

just to make

sure he’s dead

they beat him

some more some

real shitty people

side note I know

I always had these

while doing

like research

into the story and stuff

I could find

it’s so hard

first of all

in general to find

like credible

resources you know

the Internet

it’s a black hole of

just nonsense

and you never know like

if a website

is giving you

accurate information or not

for starters

I’ve been learning that

the hard way

secondly on

older cases

and maybe like

cases that you don’t hear

about often

it’s extremely difficult

to find information

on the story

so like for this story

I couldn’t find

anything about

like their families

how did they find out

did the police

actually ever

go and like

try to get evidence

from the burger place

like there was

stuff that was

kind of missing

that I couldn’t find

everything that I

found came from

an interview

with one of

the police officers

that was actually

investigating

this case so

I find him to be like

a credible source

because he actually

investigated this case

a general theory

among authorities

was that this

was some sort of

robbery gone bad

one or more

of the employees

might have recognized

one of the killers

or maybe one of them

put up a fight

and the rest of the workers

had to be eliminated

there was a

rumor that at

least one of

the victims

had been involved with drugs

possibly even

selling marijuana

out of the restaurant

so they’re thinking

maybe the dealer

owed money and

the supplier

had to come collect

so finally a witness

comes forward

a 16 year old

who was out that night

said that they saw

2 suspicious

looking men

outside the restaurant

just before

closing time

when asked to describe

the 2 men physically

the witness said

one of them

had a beard

and the other one

had a clean

shaven face

lots of information

to work off of

so police had

several persons

of interest

based off of

those leads

so they just

kind of started

questioning around

you gotta start

somewhere right

there was one

man who was

tracked to 1bar

on the West Side

where this man

he was reportedly

bragging about

the murders

saying that

he had been

involved he done it

let me talk

about it yeah

the investigator

on this case

he actually

went to the bar

off duty he went

undercover and met

with the guy

who was bragging

he started playing

pool with him

and he could not

get a confession

out of this guy

though so he

tried his best

police ended up

bringing him downtown

the guy that was

bragging at the bar

but the man

he ended up passing

a polygraph test

and it just kind of

cleared him

he didn’t give

any evidence

that he may

have done it

a lot of the

stuff wasn’t out

to the public yet

like the knife

not having a handle

how some of the

others were found

so it’s like

they were asking

kind of that

only the killer would know

and he just

he didn’t have anything

waste of time

why would you

brag about that

so then weeks

ended up turning

into months

dry as a bone

throughout 1979 and 1980

newspapers would

randomly report

on this case

and then mention a new

prime suspect

and it was usually

somebody who

was linked to

a murder in

like the town

next door or like

a town close by

no them ever

led anywhere

March 1981 Jane

Robert Jane

her brother

ended up being arrested

and he was arrested

for cocaine

police started to

question him

thinking maybe he

was involved

I mean he ended up being

cleared but

for a minute

like they were

thinking maybe

he knew more than

he was leading on

I think they just

didn’t have

anything so

they were like

you you did it

let me question you

so at that time

they had no confession

from anybody

they had no suspects

no physical evidence

nothing the only

thing they had

was the end

of the knife

they didn’t

even find the

bullet like

shell casings

they didn’t find

that burger

place had been cleaned

so there was

nothing for anybody

to go off of

they had potential

suspects who were

described to them

bearded and

not bearded

so their options are

just I mean

it could be

anybody right

so time is going on

years are going by

people are I mean

there are new

crimes happening

so of course

this one just

keeps getting

put farther

and farther back

on the list of

things to do

lead investigator

to this crime

he stayed on it

like he found himself

being fixated

with the story

he wanted to

find who did it

because I mean

this was such

a heinous crime

and these people

or whoever is

involved is

just out there

and he was getting desperate

he reached out to

psychics okay

he reached out to

learn how to

hypnotize people

so he could get

better information

from them not

to hypnotize

people and get

them to confess

more like get

information from them

like the people

who actually

physically saw

the killers

hypnotize them

and hopefully

like they would

remember a name

a license plate

what they were

wearing something

anyway so 1984

34 year old

detective would

already been

in the force

for 16 years

he had been

assigned to

assist in the

burger chef

murders and then

he got a tip

in November

it was a phone call

and it was from

the Pendleton

Correctional

Facility which

this inmate

he wanted to confess

to the murders

so jailhouse

confessions

are a staple

of criminal

investigations

inmates will overhear

fellow inmates

talking about

what they’ve done

pretty much

and then they

will use that

as leverage

to get either

less time or

maybe get something

that they want

they kind of

do a little

like Tradesy

anyways so both of

these investigators

they go to this jail

and they talk to

a guy named

Donald Wayne

forrester he was

34 years old

and he had just

been convicted

of raping a woman

he’d been sentenced

to 95 years

in prison and was

about to be

transferred

as a sex offender

Indiana State Prison

in Michigan City

it said that

nobody wants to

go to this prison

and nobody wants to go

to this prison

because you

will probably die

especially if

you’ve been accused of

some kind of

sex crime so

he wanted to

pretty much

confess to the

murders that way

in trade he

wouldn’t have to go

to that jail

or that prison

so they did a

background check

on this guy

Donald and they

see that he

actually grew up

in the area

that was pretty

close to where

the murders

took place he

at the time

was living in

Speedway and

he had just gotten

out of prison

for another

rape conviction

I think he has

a problem so

they sit him down

they interview

him on camera

and this guy

Donald he ends up

confessing to

killing Davis

and Shelton

so they start

digging a little

bit deeper and

asking just

little details

that only he

would know so

the detectives actually

ended up putting

this Donald guy

into the back

of their car

and they go

and they drive out

to where the

bodies were

found and Donald

the killer he

is able to show

them exactly

where the bodies

were at and

this was something

that was not

technically

made public

like where exactly

everybody was at

and he outlined

precisely where

and in what

position the

bodies were found

according to

these detectives

he was spot

on over the

next 2 years

this inmate

Donald the killer

he would call

in and like

talk to them

and give them

more and more

information

according to Donald

jane’s brother

the one who was

arrested for

he owed money

for a drug deal

and they came that

night to the

burger joint

to simply threaten

Jane one of

the other boys

stepped in to

kind of like

defend her then

they start like

fighting and then

they go out

into the back

it’s like I

guess it’s a

parking lot

area so they go

into the back

and then they

kind of they

start fighting

with each other

and he ends up

falling and

hitting his head

and he hit his

head on the

killers fan

like on the

bumper so now

the killers

who came simply

to threaten

Jane they’re

like oh no we

just killed

somebody so

their thought

process because

because they’re

idiots I don’t

yeah I mean

that’s all we

can really say

their thought

process was

well now we

gotta kill all of them

because they

all know what

just happened

they get into jane’s car

they drive them

out and then

they kill them

and again this

isn’t a fact

technically

this is just

what Donald

the inmate is

telling the

detectives so

Donald tells

the detectives

that he shot

2 people but that

there were 3

other guys involved

the reason why

the detective

like heavily

believes this

guy is because

again Donald

the inmate he

knew about the

knife being in Jane

and the handle

being broken

the murder weapon

the gun was

never found

but Donald the killer

I’m just gonna

keep saying that

he told him

that he threw

the gun into the

White River

which was like

right close by

and he threw it off of

this bridge

so he takes

the detectives

to the bridge

and shows them

like yeah I

threw it like this

but when people

went out to

like search

the water out there

nothing was ever

found so then

detectives go

and they question

donald’s ex wife

now this ex

wife is really

spilling the

truth she told

the detectives

that her and

Donald were

driving somewhere

and they ended up

pulling over

he said he needed to

check something

she didn’t really

ask questions

I don’t know

but they pulled over

to this dirt

road and he

essentially

took her in the car

to where the

bodies were

found he said

he needed to

retrieve shell

casings from

shooting his gun

out there so

she was like

okay whatever

she sat in the car

he gets out

he goes into

this wooded

area and he

picks up the

shell casings

from his gun

so then they go

home and then

the ex wife

tells detectives

that he ended up

flushing them

down the toilet

that day so

then the detectives

go to the old

house they no

longer live there

somebody else

lives there

they go to the

house and they

find out that

the the potty

what’s it called

the bathroom

whatever is

on a septic tank

so pretty much

all of the um

you know shit

it gets collected

in this like thing

but it gets

like collected

essentially

and so they end up

obtaining a warrant

to dig up the

septic tank

they end up

going through

all this shit

and stuff like that

yeah they go

through it all

go not with

their bare hands

people okay

I’m sure it

gloves on and stuff

they go through

it all right

and guess what

they found the

shell casings

of the point

38 caliber that said

to be used by

Donald like

he wasn’t lying

about that story

it’s kind of

like connecting

the dots right

you’re thinking

like yeah like

he’s obviously

telling the

truth so these

detectives are like

this is our guy

this has to be

our guy he knows

things that

other people don’t know

just his story

just seemed

very legit now

here’s where

shit went wrong

I don’t yeah

so on November 14th

1986 somebody’s

dumbass working

in the police

department they

decided to release

information

they had about

this case and

their new suspect

to the press

once the press

had released

this information

this freaked

Donald out he

was afraid of

retribution

from his associates

Donald recanted

3 days later

which means

that Donald

ended up taking

back everything

he said he said

actually no

I didn’t do it

sorry I was

lying losing

his confession

obviously upset

the detectives

like we were

almost there

why it hurt

them is because

they couldn’t

get some final

evidence that

they needed

they had his

confession on tape

but it just

said in the

document that

I was reading

it said that

they couldn’t

get the final

evidence that

they needed

but to me like

if they got

him on camera

confessing isn’t

that all you

really need

I don’t know

but that’s what

it said okay

December 22nd

is when they

the police department

announced that

Donald would

not be charged

on this case

and that the case

has now gone

back to being

cold there is

no statue of

limitations

in Indiana but

there is a tight

limit on law

enforcement

resources Donald

the killer well

guess what he

ended up dying

in prison 2006

that’s fine

you can die

donald’s but

come on we were

almost there

I think the

evidence that

they didn’t

get was like

the names of

the other guys

the other killers

I don’t know

what took him

so long though

they had 2 years

I don’t know

one of the main

investigators

on this case

and he says

like still obsesses

over this case

because he knew

he had the guy

and it’s just

really frustrating

cause people

constantly say

not constantly

but people will

say that it’s

a cold case

but really it’s like

they had the guy

they had him

if you that

would probably

that would drive me

insane like

I had him I

couldn’t imagine

what that would

that would fuck you up

so November

and December

of 2018 Mark

the 40 year

anniversary

is anniversary

that’s not the

right word 40 year

Mark of this

sad murders

investigators

released a photo

of the blade

that was retrieved from Jane

hoping that

it would help

bring leads

forward and

that is the

sad and awful

story about

murders at Burger

Chef people

need to shut

their dirty

little mouths

and not brag

to the press

because shit

like this can happen

where things

get fucked up

and that must

be extremely

frustrating

but he did mention

that there were

3 others involved

and I’m wondering

why nobody has

come forward about that

feel so bad

because like

you know it

was probably

some of their

like first jobs

they’re just

working the whole

thing’s really sad

other than that

I hope you have

a really good day

today make good

choices and

safe out there

I’ll be seeing you

guys later bye