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
if you like true crime
if you like murder
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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