Speedway Burger Chef Murders: Special Report

Burger Chef Cold Case Gets New Emphasis
Original air date: November 3, 2003
WISH-TV, Indianapolis, Indiana

In November 1978, four employees were abducted from the Speedway Burger Chef at closing time.  They'd been robbed of less than $600.  They were missing for a day and a half....The bodies of the four were found in a wooded section of Johnson County.

This report, which aired 25 years after the crime, examines the latest developments in one of Indiana's most notorious unsolved murder cases.  The full report is available through the links below:

Burger Chef Cold Case Gets New Emphasis

Timeline of Burger Chef Murders Case

Interview with former Indiana State Police Detective Ken York About the  Burger Chef Murder Investigation

Burger Chef Murders: Victims' Profiles

Comments

[Cynthia Louise Miller]

Is there a composite of the bearded man that was seen in the parking lot before the murders. If so please send it to me.
Thank you

[Steve Sutton]

None of those links about the murders are good anymore. The host has removed them.

[A. McCord]

Does anyone have the documents which are no longer on the WISH-TV web-site? I would like to read them or copy them for my-self. Thanks.

[william morris]

A young child i think may have went missing at the same time period and is also a unsolved murder. Steven Morris? Could there be a connection?

[Bob D]

I found nothing in the press or papers saying anything about these murders that happened 30 yrs ago Jim Jones cult was all that was said as tragic as it was . Why hasnt this gotten any air time is beyond me . What I do know about as to why this took place so many years ago a close friend of mine whom went to school with Jane told me that she was deeply involved with selling drugs and I wonder if this was a drug deal gotten out of hand or of revenge . About 10 yrs ago I spoke to a Speedway Police friend of mine he told me that this may never be solved because of the crime scene being " cleaned up " I hope he is wrong . Its so sad that 4 young people lost their lives if this was the case . 30 yrs is too long !

[Terry Everton]

I was a classmate of Daniel Davis, one of the victims. It was my first experience with death, and very eerie sitting in front of his empty desk the rest of the year. To this day it still resonates with me.

[portia spradlin-edwards]

i too was a friend of Danny's. we sat in lunch together. he was a very sweet boy and i would never belive that he had anything to do with drugs. he had the sweetest eyes and was kinda shy, would blush so easy. i still think of him often

[Jerry Wayne]

I was questioned in this case a couple days after the crime as to a person I had dropped off at an under 21 disco across the street from the restaurant earlier in the evening that matched the description of a person of interest. He was cleared as a suspect I assume, but I've always wondered why such a high profile unsolved case has never aired on the many show's that cover cold case and unsolved stories. Surely there would have been some evidence collected that may be usable in todays era of technical forensics. I have tried with no results to prompt the interest's of Cold case Files, and don't even get a response. Is there a reason they are not bringing this case back to the fore front? Makes you wonder.

[rick taylor]

in 1987, the lady who owed the house i was renting, said she knew for a fact, her ex-husband was part of this terrible crime.

[Jenna Childress]

oh my gosh. that's so sad. i was googling the murder on maplewood drive that happended a coupled years back. i wanted to know more about it since i was only 4 or 5 when it happened and when i saw this i clicked on it and was shocked because my mother had worked there a couple years earlier and she probably would have been killed if she was still working there when it happened.

[Stan Mason]

I worked at that Burger Chef a few months before the murders happened. When I worked I always helped close the restaurant.

[Stephanie King]

In 1978,I was working at the MCL Cafeteria on Crawfordsville Road, just barely a block from the Burger Chef. I was the exact same age as those kids at the time. To this day,I think about that and how it could have happened to me. I feel terrible about the fact that their families were never able to have closure and that the killers were never caught. Though they've kept their freedom for now, God will deliver swift punishment on them someday.

[Susan Altum]

I was 18 at the time. I was married & living in Carriage House Apts. on 10th St. I was in that Burger Chef the evening before the murders. When I was at the counter ordering my food, I heard Jayne talking about "partying". The next night, I went to the Dunkin Donuts next door within an hour of the murders. I didn't see anything unusual.