In the autumn of 1983, a grim discovery was made in the rural landscape of Lake Village in Newton County, Indiana. On an abandoned farm, the remains of four young men were unearthed on October 18th and 19th, sending a chill through the quiet community. One of these young men was identified as John Bartlett. The initial stages of the investigation were able to attach a name to him, while two other victims remained unidentified for decades, known only as 'Adam Doe' and 'Brad Doe.'
Another victim, Michael Bauer, was also identified early on.
The story of John Bartlett's demise is tragically intertwined with the reign of terror of a notorious serial killer. The investigation revealed that he, along with the other three young men found at the farm, had been drugged and murdered by Larry Eyler, who came to be known as the 'Highway Killer.' Eyler was a predator who preyed on young men in the early 1980s, leaving a trail of shallow graves across the Midwest. His method of operation often involved targeting individuals, like Bartlett, whose disappearances might not immediately raise alarms.
Larry Eyler was eventually apprehended and held responsible for numerous brutal killings. Convicted of one murder and sentenced to death, Eyler confessed to a staggering twenty-two homicides before his death in an Illinois prison in 1994. With his confession, the mystery surrounding the deaths of John Bartlett and the other young men found on the Indiana farm was officially solved. Although justice in the form of a trial for Bartlett's murder would never be served due to Eyler's death, his responsibility for the crime was confirmed, closing a dark chapter in Newton County's history.
