The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone,
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
host, Ali. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Welcome
back, everyone. Housekeeping right at the top
of the episode. This is a two -parter episode,
and this is part two. So if you have not listened
to last week, if this is your first time joining
us, thank you so much for being here. But go
back and listen to last week's episode. There's
a lot of details in there that will be relevant
to part two, to this one. But other than that,
we are on episode 142, part two. So let's go
ahead and get into it. Let's not keep anyone
waiting any longer. Let's do it. So just as a
quick content warning at the top, this case does
involve young people, and there are some brief
mentions of sexual assault and death by suicide.
Once again today, we are talking about the murders
of Jayne Friedt, Mark Flemmons, Ruth Ellen Shelton,
and Danny Davis, or better known as the Burger
Chef murders. And this takes place in November
of 1978. in Speedway, Indiana. So as we mentioned
at the top, we're continuing our two -part series
on the Burger Chef murders. So again, if you
haven't listened to part one yet, go back and
listen to it. In that episode, we walked through
the night of November 17, 1978, when four young
employees disappeared from their shifts at the
Burger Chef in Speedway, Indiana. When we left
off last week, Jayne’s car had been found abandoned
just about a block and a half from the Speedway
Police Department. But at this point, while investigators
became more worried about the four employees,
the Burger Chef was still cleared to be cleaned
and opened the next day. So we are on the evening
of Sunday, November 19th, 1978. Jayne, Danny,
Ruth and Mark had all been abducted Friday evening
around midnight. So around 3 p .m. in the afternoon,
a couple was walking in Johnson County, Indiana,
which was about 15 to 20 -ish miles away from
Speedway. They were walking through the woods
when they make a gruesome discovery. They stumble
upon the bodies of Danny and Ruth. They found
them face down next to a gravel road. The couple
retreated from the woods to get to a phone and
call police. When police arrive, they quickly
locate Danny and Ruth's body. Police say that
they were shot execution style, but they also
mentioned that both of them were shot several
times in the head and neck. It was later determined
during the autopsy that they were ultimately
killed with a .38 caliber gun. Police begin searching
the area, and about 50 yards away, they find
the body of Jayne. Jayne had been stabbed twice
in the chest. Later during the autopsy, the four
and a half inch blade was found in her chest.
The handle had been broken off. Mark was quickly
found after. While he was the farthest away,
he had been closest to the main road. It's ultimately
determined that he died as a result of choking
on his own blood. Mark's death had been debated
over the years. For some time, it was thought
that maybe Mark had been running from his captors
when he hit a tree full force, which caused him
to fall and choke on his own blood. Today, when
the case is talked about, police say that he
died from being beat, and the way that he collapsed,
he had choked on his blood. All of them were
still in their Burger Chef uniforms, except for
Danny. He was still in his uniform pants, but
he had on a different shirt and jacket. Investigators
don't put too much into this. They think that
Danny likely changed after the restaurant closed.
Jayne had been found with her car keys in her
pocket and cash on her. Other of the victims
were wearing jewelry and watches. Nothing had
been taken. Police believe that they were all
killed in the area where they were found. All
of the bodies are sent for autopsy that same
day. Ultimately, the autopsy puts the time of
death around six hours after the abduction. The
autopsy also shows that Jayne and Ruth had not
been sexually assaulted. At the scene, police
are able to collect some evidence. They are able
to create a cast of tire tracks found in the
area. They are also able to grab some prints
from the scene, they report. Police also begin
talking to residents. While the woods where the
bodies were found were more secluded, there were
houses nearby within shouting distance, so it
was still a risky area. Several residents reported
hearing gunshots and a dog barking just slightly
after midnight on the night that they were abducted.
One woman said that she awoke from her sleep
from what sounded like a gunshot and a scream.
Her husband sent her back to bed saying that
the noise came from the TV show that he was watching.
As news of the murders began to break around
Speedway, the couple that had been smoking behind
the Dunkin' Donuts, we mentioned them in the
last episode, sees the news about the abduction
and come forward to police. They tell police
about the two men that had approached them. The
day after the bodies are found, on Monday, November
20th, Burger Chef announces a $25 ,000 reward
for information. That same day as well, a maid
calls the police because she was cleaning a Days
Inn motel when she found a stack of Burger Chef
time cards in the hallway. Police came and collected
them. Ultimately, they decided they were not
connected to the Burger Chef murders. The time
cards were from 1975 and 1976 and from a completely
different Burger Chef restaurant altogether.
It appeared to just be a strange coincidence.
Also that next day after the bodies were found,
around 7 p .m. in the evening, Ruth's father
starts getting harassing phone calls. The calls
last through the night and into the next day,
Tuesday, November 21st. The calls came in at
3 a .m. and again at 8 a .m. In the investigation,
police bring in the couple from behind the Dunkin'
Donuts and put them under hypnosis to get a clear
description of the two men that had approached
them the night of the abduction. Police draw
the suspects based off of the description given
under hypnosis by the two teens. When the teens
look at the sketches, they say that the drawings
are 90 to 95 % accurate to what they remember
the men looking like. Police release the sketches
to the public as soon as possible. Tips immediately
start pouring in about who the folks could be.
People from all over Indiana were calling in
to say that they knew the pair. However, police
say that they believe that only 10 % of the tips
that they're getting are good. Police also get
reports from residents on Lupine Drive. Several
residents reported to police that the night of
the abductions, that Friday night into Saturday
morning, They saw a car and a two -toned van,
both without headlights on, speeding through
the neighborhood around midnight. Ruth actually
lived on Lupine Drive. One resident reported
that she heard a scream as a van passed and that
the car was full of kids. The two vehicles stopped
and someone got out of the van and walked to
the car. Other residents reported that the van
and the car had slowed and stopped as well. The
community is shook up by the murders. While being
close to Indianapolis, Speedway typically does
not have violent crime at this time. However,
over the last few months, violent crimes had
been on the rise. In July of that year, a 65
-year -old woman had been shot, and in September,
just a few months before the murders, there was
a series of eight bombs that went off in the
span of a week. It's determined later that the
murder and the bombings were related to one another,
and a man was arrested and charged in both of
those cases. Just days after the murder, the
funerals for all four young people happen. Hundreds
turn out to pay their respects and to mourn the
loss of four incredible young folks. After Ruth's
funeral, her dad receives a taunting sympathy
card from an anonymous person. Also, the night
of her funeral, someone would ring his doorbell
and when he answered, no one was there. No other
families were reported to have received these
harassing or anonymous phone calls and letters.
On Friday, November 24th, a week since the abduction
and murders, police unveil clay busts of the
two men who had approached the couple behind
the Dunkin' Donuts on the night of the abduction.
These were based off of the sketches already
released, but now investigators hoped that a
three -dimensional likeness would help jog someone's
memory. Police described one of the men as a
white male, around 35 years old, around 5 '9",
with a heavy build and medium complexion, weighing
about 200 pounds. He had reddish -brown curly
hair down to his neck, parted in the middle,
and a full beard. The second man was described
as white, about 30 years old, and 6 '2", which
was taller than what was originally reported.
He had a slender build and a lighter complexion.
He had black hair parted on the left, combed
across to the right, and was clean -shaven, though
he did have stubble coming through. These descriptions
came directly from the teenage couple who had
been put under hypnosis. These were the descriptions
that they gave. That next day, Saturday, November
25th, police returned to the wooded area in Johnson
County where the bodies had been found. They
combed through the woods again, searching for
anything that might have been missed in the initial
sweep. Detectives noted that the gravel road
leading to the crime scene was not well known
to outsiders and theorized that at least one
of the killers may have lived in or been familiar
with the area. On Friday, December 1st, police
in Cincinnati, Ohio contacted Speedway investigators.
They had arrested a man in a string of home invasions
who claimed to have information about the Burger
Chef murders. Speedway detectives traveled to
Ohio to interview him. The man passed a lie detector
test and provided detailed knowledge about Indianapolis
crimes and the Burger Chef murders, but investigators
soon realized he only knew details that had already
been reported in the newspaper. He pointed the
finger at his jailhouse roommate, naming a man
who had once lived in Indianapolis but had since
moved to Cincinnati. This suspect was placed
under surveillance, but his identity was never
publicly released. Ultimately, it appears that
he was ruled out. The local paper in Indianapolis
was also offering an opportunity to submit tips
anonymously but still have a chance at the reward
money. They were instructed to write the tip
on a piece of paper and then rip the bottom half
of the paper in a unique way, whatever that meant
to that person. On the tip that they send to
the newspaper, they should also include a six
-digit code that they wrote on the bottom half
that was ripped off as well. The person submitting
the tip would keep the bottom half, and then
they would mail in their tip. If there was a
tip that ultimately led to the arrest and therefore
was entitled to reward money, the person who
submitted the tip could come forward with the
bottom half of the piece of paper, like as if
it were a receipt. One letter was sent that police
were particularly interested in. Investigators
took the letter seriously. While it didn't provide
exact details, it suggested knowledge of the
crime and a possible method of operation during
the robbery. Police made it clear in the newspaper
that they wanted to talk to the writer of the
letter. A few days later on Monday, December
4th, so it's been just over two weeks since the
murder, A man was leaving a bar on Indianapolis'
north side and reported being abducted. He says
that as he entered his car, a voice from the
backseat told him, don't look back. The man was
forced to drive to a park and then to his apartment,
where the assailant stole his roommate's gun
and several personal items before leaving with
the man's car. Before fleeing, the kidnapper
claimed he had been involved in the Burger Chef
murders and would not hesitate to kill again.
Approaching three weeks on Friday, December 8th,
investigators admitted publicly that the case
was starting to stall. The tip line was beginning
to go quiet. And on Sunday, November 10th, police
voiced one of their biggest questions. Why kill
four teenagers for just over $500? Why take them
to the woods at all? Why take them to woods where
homes were within shouting distance? Nothing
about the murder seemed to fit with a simple
robbery. On Tuesday, December 12th, it's approaching
a month since the murders, police followed up
on a strange report of a man who resembled one
of the composite sketches. He had stayed at a
motel but skipped out on the bill, and he also
told the staff that he was both a detective on
the case of the Burger Chef murders and an uncle
of one of the victims. It's unclear if they were
ever able to locate this man. On Friday, December
15th, Police received another letter from the
original anonymous letter writer who they wanted
to speak to. He claimed that there were three
people involved in the Burger Chef robbery. According
to the letter writer, the plan had only been
to rob the restaurant and to tie the victims
up, but things had spiraled out of control. One
man did the shooting, one did the stabbing, and
a third sat in the car. The letter claimed that
this third man had been surprised by the killings
and even tried to stop them, yelling out run
when the first victim was shot. The writer begged
for immunity for this third participant, promising
that he would confess if he was protected. Police
will offer immunity publicly in the paper, but
no one ever comes forward claiming to be the
third man or the letter writer. I don't know
the full contents of the letter, but from what
was published, there were no new details in the
letter. Outside of the third man theory, all
other information were things that had already
been published in the newspaper. On Friday, December
22nd, so just a little over a month since the
murder, investigators say that they are running
out of leads. The reward fund had grown to $26
,000, which in today's money would be over $100
,000, so a lot of money for 1978. But no one
had come forward with verifiable information
to get the reward. On New Year's Eve of 1978,
so it's nearly seven weeks after the murders,
police released their working theory of what
happened. They believed that the Burger Chef
had closed at 11 p .m. on Friday, November 17th,
and the employees stayed to clean. At some point,
Jayne walked next door to Dunkin' Donuts to grab
a snack and returned. Police believe that either
Mark or Danny took trash out the back door around
midnight when they were ambushed by the killers.
Because the back door was supposed to stay locked
during closing, investigators theorized that
one of the boys was forced to knock, and when
others opened it, the assailants came inside.
But then something went wrong, police think.
Perhaps one of the employees recognized the attackers,
or perhaps they accidentally spoke their real
names to one another. The robbers ultimately
stole $581 from the restaurant, but left behind
hundreds in change. Police believe the four victims
were forced into Jayne’s car and at least one
other vehicle. They abandoned Jayne’s car near
the police station and forced everyone into another
vehicle. They were then driven to Johnson County,
which would have taken around 30 minutes. Witnesses
in nearby homes were called hearing gunshots
and a scream around 1 a .m. The killers used
three different methods of murder. Ruth and Danny
were shot with a .38 caliber weapon. Jayne was
stabbed twice with a blade that was broken off
in her chest, and Mark died from severe head
injuries and ultimately choking on his own blood.
Police no longer believed that any of them had
tried to run. There were no signs of struggle
on any of their clothing, and none of them had
mud on their shoes. Into the new year, 1979,
and throughout the rest of 1979, quite frankly,
investigators pursued a series of suspects and
leads, but nothing panned out. There were a couple
of interesting suspects, and police brought out
psychological stress tests, there were more anonymous
tips, and they even investigated a drug connection
through the Burger Chef. But ultimately, none
of these leads pan out, and they're all ruled
out. By the first anniversary in November 1979,
the investigation had been hampered by errors,
rumors, and dead ends. It was revealed that one
investigator had actually taken evidence from
the scene. It was two pieces of ID, I believe
from the same victim, and he put it in his coat
pocket. He later turned over the evidence to
a tech at a restaurant. Police at this point,
at the one -year marking, have no leads in the
case. The investigation continues behind the
scenes. In October of 1980, so nearly two years
since the murder, Police say Mark, one of the
youngest, owed a drug pusher nearly $7 ,000.
Police say at the time that they know who the
drug dealer is, but they just don't have enough
evidence to arrest him. This theory has dropped
over the years. Today, when police talk about
the Burger Chef murders, this $7 ,000 is not
mentioned. In that same vein, just a few months
later, Jayne’s brother is arrested in March of
1981, so two years and four months since the
murder. He is arrested on charges related to
drugs. Police seem to pivot and think that this
could have something to do with the murders.
However, it does seem like police have also dropped
this theory over the years. So fast forwarding
a bit, in 1986, it was approaching the eight
-year anniversary at this point. A man named
Donald Forrester, who in 1986 was serving a 95
-year prison sentence, confessed to participating
in the murders. He gave details and even told
police where to find buried evidence. But when
police searched the areas, nothing was found.
Days later, he recants his confession, saying
he had only made it to gain protection in prison
and to delay his other charges. Over the next
decade, Police will follow dozens of leads, but
still, police come up empty. Police believe that
the only way this murder will be solved at this
point is if someone makes a deathbed confession.
In 2001, so 23 years since the murder, investigators
submitted a hair that was found in a tree near
the crime scene for DNA testing, but no usable
results came back in 2001. In June of 2003, so
over 25 years since the murder, retired police
officers talk about the case with the media.
They say that they believe they know who committed
the crime, but they could never prove it with
evidence. He does reveal this, that the night
after the abduction, but before the bodies were
found, a tip was called in. A man had been in
a bar bragging about being involved in the murders.
and he said that the bodies would turn up in
the county where they ultimately were found.
Police questioned the man who was bragging in
the bar, and he said that he wasn't involved
but knew the guys who were. He said that their
M .O. was to hide behind dumpsters and then rob
fast food joints when a worker came out to empty
the trash. The two men were also very similar
in appearance to the composite sketch of the
two men seen in the area. Police located the
two men and questioned them. They denied involvement
in the Burger Chef crimes, but they were never
able to give a rock -solid alibi. Police say
they just could never crack these two. They would
eventually go to jail on other fast food robberies.
The man who had been in the bar bragging would
ultimately kill himself later in life by a self
-inflicted throat slashing. His son claimed that
his father confessed shortly before his death
that he was involved in the murders. In 2007,
a palm print lifted from Jayne’s car was matched
in the database, but the suspect was eventually
cleared. It turned out that the palm print belonged
to a friend of Jayne’s brothers who had been visiting
the family before the murders. On the 40th anniversary
of the murders in 2018, Indiana State Police
released a photo of the broken knife used in
killing Jayne, hoping someone might recognize
it. And then this past year, in January 2024,
the Burger Chef building, which had changed hands
many times over the years, was finally torn down.
In its place now stands a dentist office. But
that is truly all we know about the Burger Chef
murders. If you know anything about the Burger
Chef murders in November of 1978, please call
the Indiana State Police District Investigative
Commander at 317 - 899 -8577 or 1 -800 -582 -8440.
So that is the Burger Chef murders. I just want
to start off by saying really just a thank you
to you for connecting this pretty long timeline.
You know, we did have to parcel these episodes
into two episodes, and I think that was necessary
for... how much information there was, and in
the second half, really aligning them so that
it followed a timeline. And I was able to follow
along to the end. I definitely have questions
as you were explaining the timeline to us, but
there was a lot here. And I feel with what information
you had, you really did some justice here for...
the four people who lost their lives. And just
to say their names again, Jayne, Danny, Mark,
and Ruth Ellen, you know, ultimately they could
all still be here later in life. And I think
with the knowledge that we have about what happened
in this case, the best thing to do is to keep
talking about it and reporting on as much information
that we have. And that's exactly what you did
here. Thank you so much. Yeah. felt this case
really needed two episodes like one to really
get into the details of the abduction because
I think there are a lot of clues there and then
also just to get into the discovery and then
the rest of the investigation because again I
think there's just a lot of details and you know
the the devil is in the details and these cold
cases need details and details are very important
so I really wanted to just get everything in
that I could. To move into the discovering of
the bodies, particularly Danny and Ruth Ellen
being found shot execution style and face down,
that to me, only finding those two immediately,
I think I knew something had gone awry in whatever
the assailants were trying to accomplish in this
crime. I wanted to know your take on that. And
as police, started to release details, it seems
like that is what happened. But I really just
wanted to know your opinion as well. Yeah, there's
a lot of questions at the discovery of the bodies.
You know, order, I think, is a big question for
me. You know, in what order they were ultimately
killed. You know, I think a lot of working theories
is that Danny and Ruth were shot first and then
You know, a big theory for a long time was that
Jayne and Mark maybe took off running after the
first gunshots happened. But police ultimately
don't think that they ran. There was no mud on
their shoes. So I don't know what happened here.
It's three different methods of murder. The only
thing I feel like truly certain of is like I
feel like there were at least two murderers,
if not three, maybe even four. at least two people
to do this kind of carnage and to control, you
know, four teenagers and Jayne, who was in her
20s. But yeah, so many questions. We have a lot
of details, but I really have a lot of questions
about the scene. That was something else that
I wrote down and echo from you as well, which
was that it's a lot of people to abduct, to move
from one environment to another. And a thought
that I had about only two of them being shot
in this way and knowing that it was a .38 caliber,
which is a relatively small handgun, I thought
that maybe they didn't even have enough bullets.
Because it's so, I don't really enjoy thinking
from this perspective, but to me it seems very
sloppy and forgetful and maybe just an opportunistic
crime. Yeah, and police have their theories.
You know, they think that maybe somebody recognized
one of the robbers at the restaurant, so that's
why they had to, you know, leave no witnesses.
Another theory was that maybe the robbers used
their real names on accident. Another theory
that police had was that, you know, Mark was
found the farthest away from everybody, and he
was beaten. Ultimately, that led to his death.
And police wondered if maybe he was led off to
be beat up and then died. And so then they had
to kill everybody else. Mark was the only black
person who was abducted. So, you know, there
is also that dynamic as well that I wonder if
police had explored at all. A question I have,
but I just. I don't understand. And I do hear,
you know, maybe not having enough bullets. But
according to reports, they were shot like multiple
times, you know, in the head and neck areas.
So, you know, it's like if they were trying to
save bullets, you think they would have been
maybe more efficient, for lack of a better word.
But yeah, it just begs the question, what really
happened that night? In regards to the suspect
sketches after that couple was put under hypnosis
to kind of pulled the details out of what these
suspects maybe looked like I'm curious to know
if you know that if hypnosis is still used today
for crimes like this I really don't know and
I just thought it was interesting that it was
both used and heavily reported on yeah I thought
that was kind of interesting too because you
really you don't hear about it much anymore um
I would be very curious, I think, and I could
totally be talking out of my ass here, but I
think there has been like maybe some like court
rulings about like you can't submit evidence
from people put under hypnosis into court. So
I don't think it's done as much as it was back
in the day because whatever they say can't be
used. So it's better to get the information.
by other means, you know, just like normal interrogation
or questioning. But that's my understanding.
But full disclosure, I have not researched hypnosis
in law enforcement recently. Something else I
wanted to just take note of and maybe gain some
clarification on. I wanted to make sure I heard
correctly that both girls' families received
harassing phone calls and or letters. Is that
true? So only Ruth's family got it. They were
the ones getting the phone calls that started
pretty quickly. They got the anonymous letter,
and then they also got somebody knocking on their
door. I know that that could mean nothing, that
that's someone who's opportunistic and doing
something vile because people do that sometimes.
But also, it just kind of stuck out to me because
the crime was committed at... Burger Chef and
she did work there and then there was consistent
multiple moments of taunting after her death.
It's just something that stuck out to me and
I wondered if it did to you as well. Completely.
That's one of my biggest questions is if police
ever located who was doing this. Because like
you said, it could just be some awful human taunting
a family going through one of the worst moments.
But then if that is the case, I wonder why Ruth's
family, why were they just the only ones targeted
and not the other ones? And so it does seem very
specific. And so I just, what is the motivation
there if not involved in the murder? But huge
question that I have. You know, when I think
about the future of this case, it's been... A
long time, over 40 years since these murders
happened. But there's still four families that
were impacted and four families that still want
answers. You know, siblings are still here. Nieces,
nephews, aunts, uncles, parents, like there are
still people here that loved everybody at that
burger chef that night. I really hope that we
do get somewhere. You know, I wonder what evidence
is left, if things can be retested with more
sensitive DNA. I really hope that there's just
more here or that, you know, somebody does finally
come forward and gives that piece of information,
is able to give that name and just break this
thing wide open. Because this is... A case that
has haunted like the community, but also just
like the state of Indiana for years. So this
is one I know a lot of people would love to see
solved and would love to get answers and justice
in. So again, if you know anything about the
Burger Chef murders in November of 1978, please
call the Indiana State Police District Investigative
Commander at 317 -899 - or 1 -800 -582 -8440.
We are going to have pictures on our Instagram,
and we're also going to be sharing the picture
of the knife that was found at the crime scene
that was used to kill Jayne. So we're going to
share that as well on our Instagram. You can
find those pictures at Cold and Missing. And
of course, we have updates on there, other cases
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transcripts there. But that is all I have for
you today. Thank you so much for listening to
Cold and Missing. I'm your host, Ali. And I'm
your co -host, Eli. Have a good week and stay
safe, y 'all. Stay safe, y 'all.