What happened to the suspect in the murder of the burger chef?

The Speedway Murders is a documentary that details the 1978 murders of a burger chef that instilled a sense of anxiety and fear in the community of Speedway, Indiana. The gruesome murders hit the victims’ loved ones, who wanted justice to be done, especially hard. During the investigation, operatives came across several versions of what happened that fateful night. According to one version, the police suspected Jeff Reed of committing brutal murders. Exclusive and detailed interviews with several witnesses also support the theory as they make some bold claims about the suspect.

Jeff Reed was seen at the crime scene by a drunk witness

While police were searching for the criminals responsible for the murders of four teenage Burger Chef employees in Speedway, Indiana, in 1981, a man named Allen Pruitt came forward and claimed to have seen Jeff Reed and Tim Willoughby in an orange van at the Burger Chef. Chef on the night of November 17, 1978. While he was drunk right outside the Dunkin’ Donuts next door to the burger joint, Allen claimed he saw Jeff push Mark Flemmonds into his van. He didn’t think it was a big deal until news of the murders broke.

According to Allen, the day after the kidnapping and murders, he was approached by several men in the same orange van he had seen the previous night while playing Frisbee in Avon, near Speedway City. After luring him with a joint, they managed to convince him to join them in the van. With him in the back of the van was Tim Willoughby’s girlfriend, Mary Ann Higginbotham, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs. A few miles into the fun ride, Jeff and Tim allegedly confronted him about the previous night and asked him about what he had seen. Frightened and confused, Allen told detectives he was surprised because he didn’t think they saw him either.

According to his claims, Mary also talked about how Jeff and Tim killed the Burger Chef employees and told him to run because they could kill him too. However, that was not the only version of the story he told the authorities. Because his story changed several times over time and the police could not gather any incriminating evidence against Jeff or Tim, they could not charge them with the crime.

One of Jeff Reed’s friends also claimed he was responsible for the murders

Decades after the Burger Chef murder, another witness named Tim Boyer decided to share a secret he had kept for more than forty years. A friend of Jeff Reed claimed he had pleaded guilty to multiple murders. He shared on the show: “Jeff came up to me and he looked a little confused and wanted to talk. Said he really needed to talk about something… He said he was in trouble and didn’t know what to do about it… to my disbelief he said he was responsible for it.”

According to Tim, Jeff told him that he went to the Burger Chef restaurant to collect money that Jane owed him. However, when things changed, the clash turned violent, as Tim says. He claimed that Jeff knocked out Mark when he got between him and Jane. As other employees witnessed him beating Mark to death, Jeff allegedly forced them into his orange van and drove off. Tim explained: “His original thought was to drop them off (in the woods) so he could escape. Things went sideways and I’m not sure exactly what happened, but he ended up having to hurt people.”

Several other witnesses who were in the area that fateful night claimed to have seen a person with the physical characteristics of Jeff Reed and a yellow or orange van near the Burger Chef restaurant. Although Tim Willoughby was never found, Jeff Reed reportedly died of stomach cancer in 2011. As such, the mystery surrounding the Burger Chef murder still reigns to this day.

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