There was no cash in the registers. murders, State Police Superintendent John Shettle gave a press By Saturday morning it became a clear case of robbery-kidnapping, and by Sunday, when their bodies were discovered,[2] a case of murder. At this point the had just taken off on the company dime to party. Each tree is adorned with a plaque with a short biography of one of the victims. Ruth Ellen Shelton, Mark Indianapolis Monthly also detailed that the bodies of Shelton and Davis were eventually found around 20 miles from the restaurant in the Johnson County woods. April 16, 2020 The Burger Chef Murders In 1954 Burger Chef was founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, featuring flame broiled burgers, a direct competitor for Burger King. still not treated like a crime scene. [11] Imasco converted many locations to Hardee's restaurants and let franchises and locations near existing Hardee's locations convert to other brands. With the extra funds, a marble bench was installed and dedicated to their family and friends. Summoned for a lineup, the man shaved his beard (which he had had for the previous five years) the night before he was to appear. All four were considered responsible employees, making what happened on the night of November 17, 1978, quite shocking. 3911 E 15th St, Panama City, FL - (opened . He ended up selling this establishment to his stepdaughter, who then turned it into a Pleasers. The original menu consisted solely of a 15-cent burger, 20-cent cheeseburger, 15-cent fries made from fresh potatoes (in 1963, his first day at work, Lee peeled 600 pounds of potatoes) and the milkshakes were 15 cents and sodas 10 cents. the suspect had said he was a drug enforcer and had gone to collect a his death alone. [19] With no further cooperation from Forrester and no direct evidence proving he committed the murders, Forrester was never charged. York and another officer were on a special task force set up to solve In 1967, General Foods paid a total of $16 million to acquire the Burger Chef restaurant chain. The cafe "Burger Chef " is famous for the fast and quality service, and the tastiest food. She starts by saying that the moon landing felt special partly because everyone was doing the same thing at the same time. But at a bar I worked at, the conversation turned to the Speedway Burger Chef murders. It was possible that he was beaten and, at some point, ran into a tree. [1][16] Flemmonds was covering for another employee's shift and was not scheduled to work that night, leading investigators to speculate that perhaps he was the one who recognized the killers since they had not planned on him being there. He recalled: The upcoming documentary will cover the Burger Chef murders in detail when it airs on September 5, 2022. What kid could resist? The The location is now a cash In 1975, as a result of this, Wetsons merged with the Nathans Famous fast-food chain, which ultimately resulted in the shutdown of 29 Wetsons outlets and the complete elimination of the Wetsons name. The Burger Chef Murders On November 17, 1978, four young employees working at a branch of the now-defunct fast-food chain Burger Chef in Speedway, Indiana were kidnapped as part of a robbery. Burger Chef Menu and Restaurants were Innovative. The same day that the approve a reward until September 15 equal to that of Steak n' Shake. victims were also interviewed and they talked about how they have lost [4] They offered a double burger, called the Big Shef, and later the quarter-pound (113 gram) hamburger, Super Shef. He came to close up late at night and found the entire joint empty and the cash locker open. This led to the police not exerting their full force in finding the four workers, Jayne Friedt, Daniel Davis, Ruth Shelton, and Mark Flemmonds. In Episode 433 Late on the night of November 17, 1978, Speedway, Indiana teenager Brian Kring stopped by his workplace, the Burger Chef fast food restaurant, to visit with his friends and offer them help closing up for the night. Monday due to the tragedy at hand. When the four bodies were found two days later in a wooded area in Johnson County, the officers initial theory that the employees had cleaned out the cash registers and fled was horribly disproved. been claims that this man's son has confirmed that his father was Just after 11:00 PM on Friday, November 17, 1978, four young employees of a Speedway, Indiana, Burger Chef restaurant located at 5725 Crawfordsville Road disappeared. The last Burger Chef, in Cookeville, Tennessee, closed in 1996. Upon arrival, Police found two empty currency bags and an empty roll of adhesive tape next to an open safe. Both were shot multiple times in the head, neck, and shoulders with a .38-caliber firearm. Art Dolan Jr. gave Jackson, Michigan the 20th Burger Chef restaurant in the U.S. and the first outside of Burger Chef's Indianapolis headquarters. We got here fast as we could.". James L. Ferguson, the chairman of General Foods, said, "We have concluded that this business was not central to the long-term direction that we see for General Foods.". location for a short period of time, before that she had worked at the The bodies where in With the three departments on the scene, the Speedway Police, the Freidt was found. The kidnapping had no eyewitnesses. By then, many locations had been converted into fast food joints like Arby's, Hardee's, Chinese and Mexican restaurants, and banks. There were no employees inside the restaurant. 3136 FL-77, Panama City, FL - (opened May 8, 2002) - Was a Burger King restaurant with an indoor playground. didn't seem suspicious until the bodies were found. This case hasn't been Flameout said that Mitchell eventually won a settlement of $100,000 and was allowed to continue using Burger Chef's branding until his retirement. Because, as we all know, this chain no longer exists. Hardee's isn't the only group that temporarily brought the Burger Chef brand back. But with no crime scene, no evidence, no photos, and no witnesses, the chances of solving the crime looked bleak. allowed to give statements to the media at the time the bodies were SpikyTV - Spiky TV. The chain featured several signature items such as the Big Shef and Super Shef hamburgers. Lassen, a Danish immigrant, came to the United States in 1896. However, Alans story kept changing over the years, and with no concrete evidence tying Jeff and Tim to the murders, the case remained unsolved. Ruth Ellen Shelton's mother passed away before the interviews It was believed that the employees (General Foods was also based in Indianapolis when it briefly moved its headquarters into one of the futuristic Pyramids off of I-465.) 1 Vintage Burger Chef Endangered Species Drinking Glass The Bald Eagle 1978 0222. was ever given to this suspect. employees had taken off with some cash from the registers. After serving customers and locking the doors for the night, the kids began their regular cleanup to ready the restaurant for the following day. One of the major reasons for the case's being unsolved was the negligence of the authorities. The victims were found in a field in Johnson A witness came forward On Friday, Nov. 17, 1978, four employees went to work at the Burger Chef on Crawfordsville Road in Speedway, Indiana. We are working to take back the model from the overgrowth. witness description, the State Police had sketches made up. The back door was open, but he quickly realized something was wrong because the place was empty, and the safe was open with the money gone. So that's exactly what he did. It has been suggested that one of the assailants There is nothing wrong with being an armchair detective. As someone who lives in Indiana, I can assure you that https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KIND/1978/11/17/DailyHistory.html?req_city=&req_state=&req_statename=&reqdb.zip=&reqdb.magic=&reqdb.wmo=, All Posts were originally posted on my wattpad account. Two days later, the four employees were found in a hilly, wooded area in Johnson County, Indiana, about a 35 to 40-minute drive from the restaurant. [1], During the summer of 2018, the Speedway community, as well as family and friends of the victims, raised money to plant four red oak trees to honor the victims. suspects have been vetted. The authorities also found shell casings in the septic tank of a house Donald used to live in. It specialized in burgers. They also found a few cash register draws and Shelton's jacket on the ground. My only question is who was Jayne's live in boyfriend she had broken up with that summer. It was first believed that four teenage employees had taken some cash from the restaurant safe and vanished on their own will, but it later became clear that this was not the case. arrest warrants for two suspects and were denied. As part of the deal, they came into possession of two so-called Insta . the Speedway area. Kyle Sambrook, 33, and his Beagle Bane ventured out to walk and camp in the Highlands a week before their bodies were found. The chain had enjoyed some pretty solid success, until they folded in 1996, roughly about 25 years ago. ", 19711976: "You get more to like at Burger Chef. When Burger Chef was at the height of its popularity, it was the pioneer of a concept that nearly everyone today associates with McDonalds: the kids meal. Another slew of mistakes He also knew about the broken handle of the knife, which was not widely publicized. It isn't Burger Chef Murders - Mystery&Makeup . The Burger Chef murders took place at a Burger Chef restaurant in Speedway, Indiana, United States, on the night of Friday, November 17, 1978. It began operating in 1954 in Indianapolis, Indiana, expanded throughout the United States, and at its peak in 1973 had 1,050 locations, including some in Canada. It is believed that this him and there was no choice, but to get rid of the witnesses. McDonald's does a cheeseburger combo meal, and Wendy's once offered free fries plus a drink to patrons that ordered a premium burger through their app. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. was probably a regular at the Plainfield restaurant. That Friday night in 1978 should have been like any other for the four crew members closing down the Burger Chef in Speedway, Indiana. is close to $2,000 in today's terms. Indiana State Police Case Overview. [18] He died in prison from cancer in 2006 at age 55. Between 300400 restaurants in 19 states at its peak. About seven months after the Burger Chef incident, Mary was found shot to death in a barrel. If a foodie was to search across America's landscapes and cityscapes, they wouldn't find a single official store still operating. Torontoist outlined that they tried to break into this market twice. On Sunday, November 19, 1978, two days after Brian Craine entered the abandoned Speedway Burger Chef restaurant, police received a devastating call. After serving customers and locking the doors for the night . Not only was the restaurant cleaned and allowed to be reopened, but no photographs were taken beforehand, effectively eliminating all potential evidence at the crime scene. But while the murder weapon was a .38-caliber, the casings found were .22-caliber. Where the bodies were found. The 39-year-old MacDonald told The Telegraph that he was once approached by an advertising company to perform in a Burger Chef commercial. Forty years have passed since four Burger Chef employees were kidnaped while on the job in Speedway, Indiana. The investigation trucked on, following any possible shred of . Below the picture and these quips, the franchise had written out their pitch for this concept. [13] The handle of the knife had broken off and was missing; the blade was later recovered during an autopsy. At the time, Burger Chef The Red Barn (restaurant). His brother had a white work van. A short distance from their bodies, Jayne The kidnapping had no eyewitnesses. this case (317) 899-8508. responsible for the murder. The same Kring also said something similar. York Investigators came up with the names of five men thought to be part of the. The investigation also faced several issues because the restaurant was allowed to be cleaned up the morning after the disappearance, which meant that any potential evidence was gone. would have been erased by the cleaning that had taken place. A year after the [3], Burger Chef spread across the United States, following a strategy of opening outlets in smaller towns. The documentary digs deep into the still unsolved murders.[24]. In a 1979 ad in The Cincinnati Enquirer, Burger Chef outlined what was in their Big Shef dish. Willsey interviewed Forrester's ex-wife, who said that he had driven with her out to a wooded area shortly after the murders and retrieved several shell casings, which he then flushed down the toilet. The theory states that a drug dealer came to the store to collect their debt from one of the employees and, upon being recognized, shot them all. [2], In 1954, Frank and Donald Thomas patented the flame broiler in their parent company General Equipment Corporation and started their restaurant in Indianapolis, Indiana. According to Forrester, Friedt's brother James owed money on a drug deal, so he and three other associates had gone to the restaurant to threaten her, but when Flemmonds intervened to protect Friedt, a fight broke out during which Flemmonds fell and hit his head on the bumper of a car. was locked up. But when he arrived, he found the restaurant empty. His injuries didn't cause Mississippi River Basin Model Cleanup March 4, 2023 at 8:00 am - 12:00 pm Buddy Butts Park, 6180 McRaven Rd, Jackson, MS 39209, USA Please join us for our monthly clean up event. QRS communicated that the company sold this brand after it lost millions of dollars. Assistant manager Jayne Friedt, 20; Daniel Davis, 16; Mark Flemmonds, 16; and Ruth Ellen Shelton, 18. 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