In the early 1980’s this teenager was found murdered along with other young men at an abandoned farm house in Indiana. All of the young men were victims of serial killer Larry Eyler. Most of his victims have been identified, but this John Doe remains unidentified. Let’s see if we can study his case, peruse missing persons files to compare to him, and maybe we can give him his name back.
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So to give you a little background on this young man who deserves his identity back:
“Adam”
| “Adam” | |
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Most recent reconstruction created by theNational Center for Missing and Exploited Children
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| Born | approx. 1964 – 1968 |
| Status | Unidentified for 32 years, 7 months and 26 days |
| Died | 1982 – 1983 (aged 15 – 18) Lake Village, Newton County,Indiana |
| Cause of death | Homicide by stabbing |
| Body discovered | October 18, 1983 |
| Other names | “Victim A,” “Victim 3” |
| Known for | Unidentified victim of homicide |
| Height | Between 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) and 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)(approximate) |
| Weight | Between 140 lb (64 kg) and 160 lb (73 kg)(approximate) |
Other reconstructions of “Adam”
Victim A, or Adam, a black male, was around fifteen to eighteen years of age, but may have been as old as twenty.[2][6] He had a distinct red and black belt, inscribed with the word “devil” multiple times.[6] The buckle contained the word “jeans”.[1] A pair of jeans and pajama bottoms were found on his remains, along with a pair of boots. The boots were made in the Hush Puppies design and had metal buckles to fasten them on each side.[1][8] He was between five feet eight inches to six feet two inches and is believed to have been a hitchhiker who was picked up by Larry Eyler in 1983 before being murdered.[5][7][9][10] Eyler described the boy to be between fifteen and twenty years old and confirmed the suspicion that he had been picked up near Terre Haute, Indiana. Eyler had previously targeted hitchhikers after he had relationship troubles with his partner.[4] Investigator Scott McCord believes that Adam was likely native to the region, perhaps from around Chicago or St. Louis.[2] He was also previously known as Victim 3, as he was one of four to be found at the burial site.
McCord stated that he preferred to use names instead of numbers when he referred to the victims.[1][6] Like most of Larry Eyler’s other victims, Adam had his pants pulled down to his ankles.[4]
In a confession letter released by Larry Eyler’s defense attorney Kathleen Zellner, Eyler said that after an argument with his boyfriend, he drove toward Terre Haute, Indiana in the third week of July 1983.[11] While traveling through the town, he met a hitchhiker who matched Adam’s description. Further in the document, it was described that the young man was offered seventy-five dollars to allow Eyler to “perform a sexual act” with him. After Eyler drugged the young man with alcohol and an unspecified drug, he took him to the barn; the young man’s body was later found buried nearby. Subsequently, he was bound, blindfolded and was eventually stabbed multiple times in his upper and lower midsection. According to Eyler, his last words to the man were, “Okay, make your peace with God, n*****.”[4]
When I initially ventured out into the world of identifying the unidentified I was keenly interested in identifying the victims of Larry Eyler. Adam John Doe is not the first young victim of Eyler that I have attempted to identify and he likely will not be the last. When Searching for matches to the unidentified I typically source nampn.org. It is a missing person index/database that spans the early 1900’s to the present.
When searching the index I search any date prior to the date the john doe was discovered because naturally the postmortem interval of death for any unidentified person, or UID, is before or on the date they were found. Sometimes a specific postmortem interval will be given, which gives me a more precise idea of when the unidentified person was murdered and likely it is near the date in which they were reported missing. There are acceptions to this rule because sometimes a missing person or unidentified person’s date of missing or discovery is incorrectly entered.
It did not take me very long to find a match to this UID nicknamed Adam, and the person he matches with came from the same somewhat faraway state that I found another victim of Eyler’s likely hailed from.
Charlie Hall the Third went missing from Tennessee in December of 1981. Curiously I have another John Doe of Eyler’s that I believe was last connected to Tennessee. You see, Larry’s hunting ground consisted of two major highway systems, and one that ran from Indiana where the boys bodies were found lead directly down to the volunteer state. Could this be a coincidence or am I onto something? Geographical awareness is very important when studying a predator such as Larry Eyler.
Here is Charles’ info:
Charlie Hall, III
Above Images: Hall Right; AP to age 47.
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Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
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Details of Disappearance
Charlie Hall was last seen leaving his residence at approximately 3 p.m. to visit his girlfriend on December 31, 1981. He lived at 525 40th Avenue, North, Apt. B-8, Nashville. He never returned home.
Is it just me or is Charlie’s presence as the only missing teenager in the year of 1981 to be African American more than a clue to his identity? Unfortunately not.
I was able to contact the coroner who is currently handling the unidentified victims of Larry Eyler. He and I both believed Charlie was such a strong match, but after comparing the dentals for Charlie with the dentals of his John Doe there was no dice. The dentals were not a match.
So now we find ourselves back to square one. Who was this young man who was tragically and savagely murdered by Larry Eyler? I have hope we will find out his name.
****New Update!****
The coroner accidentally replied to me incorrectly and Charlie is still in consideration to possibly be this doe. There has been a little miscommunication as he referenced the wrong information/tip and not mine.
This post currently is in the works. Check back soon!
thetruecrimeadvocate 
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