1980s Serial Killer Identified through Remains Found at Indiana Farm

Human remains discovered in 1983 at an abandoned farm in Indiana have finally been identified as those of a Chicago teenager who fell victim to the notorious serial killer Larry Eyler. According to the AP, the remains belong to Keith Lavell Bibbs, who was only 16 years old at the time of his death. The Newton County Coroner’s Office, in collaboration with the DNA Doe Project, successfully determined the identity of Bibbs through DNA analysis. Eyler, who confessed to at least 20 murders, was imprisoned in Illinois and died in 1994 while on death row for the 1984 murder of another teenager named Danny Bridges from Chicago.

In 1990, Eyler admitted to the killing of an unidentified Black male in July 1983 on a farm in Newton County. The victim was described as being in his late teens or early 20s. Pam Lauritzen, spokesperson for the DNA Doe Project, disclosed that Bibbs, a resident of Chicago, would have been 16 years old at the time of his death. The Newton County Coroner’s Office, alongside the DNA Doe Project, Indiana State Police, and Identify Indiana Initiative, collaborated to identify Bibbs four decades later.

He is the final victim to be positively identified among the four individuals discovered buried in shallow graves at the abandoned farm in Lake Village, approximately 60 miles southeast of Chicago, in October 1983. Eyler’s confessions revealed that all four victims were drugged and killed by him. Newton County Coroner Scott McCord mentioned his ongoing efforts to complete the necessary paperwork to send Bibbs’ remains to his family for burial. The family has requested privacy during this difficult time. McCord stated, “Everything’s done except for getting him back home. It’s been a long journey to identify all those children.”

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