Born
13 Oct 1963, Peru, Miami County, Indiana

Death
20 Nov 1982, Rensselaer, Jasper County, Indiana

Tragically, William Lewis was one of the victims of Chicago’s serial murderer, Larry Eyler who was convicted of murdering 21 young men and boys between 1982 and 1984 and sentenced to death by lethal injection, died of AIDS-related complications in 1994 while incarcerated on death row. He was known as “The Highway Killer” as many of his victims were discovered close to the Interstate Highway and is also known to have killed an additional 20 more young men and boys.

On November 20, 19-year-old William Lewis was hitchhiking when he was abducted at a location close to Vincennes, Indiana. He was stabbed to death and buried in a field close to Rensselaer, Indiana. On November 20, 1982, 19-year-old William Lewis was hitchhiking when he was abducted at a location close to Vincennes, Indiana. He was stabbed to death and buried in a field close to Rensselaer, Indiana. A man previously unidentified for years who was killed by serial killer Larry Eyler has been identified by a team from Massachusetts and the Jasper County coroner’s office. The skeletal remains of Lewis were found on Oct. 15, 1983, on a private plot of land. A man checking and setting fox traps found them. In January 2021, a student intern, Bryan Worters, at Redgrave Research Forensic Services approached the Jasper County Coroner’s Office and asked to help. Using DNA data uploaded to GEDmatch, a team of forensic genetic genealogists and student interns were able to identify Lewis.