Who kidnapped and killed the four teenage employees working the nightshift at the the Speedway, Indiana Burger Chef in 1978? We still don’t know — well, we didn’t. The 46-year-old mystery may have finally been solved within the final 30 minutes of Vertical’s “The Speedway Murders” documentary.
IndieWire can exclusively debut the trailer, which is below.
The doc’s synopsis goes like this: “In the gritty small-town landscape of 1978 Speedway, Indiana, ‘The Speedway Murders’ unravels a mystery surrounding four teenagers toiling away on the graveyard shift at their local Burger Chef. When police respond to a midnight call there, they discover the restaurant eerily deserted — lights aglow, back door ajar, and the young workers vanished without a trace. The enigma deepens when, the following day, the bodies of the teenagers are discovered in the depths of the nearby woods.”
You might notice that we personally avoided using the term “graveyard shift” for this one.
We’re not trying to be coy about whether the doc solves the crime or not — no one actually knows (as of this writing). But they’re working on it, hopefully.
“The Speedway Murders,” written (it’s reenactment-heavy) and directed by Luke Rynderman and Adam Kamien, walks audiences through four divergent theories, each pretty compelling and viable in its own right. You’ll want to stick around for the final one, when the filmmakers get a second-hand confession from the close friend of a now-deceased lead suspect. Rynderman and Kamien have turned over the new evidence to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. We’ll see if anything comes from it.
The feature was executive produced by Ari Harrison and produced by Bonnie McBride, Anna Vincent, Louise Nathanson, and Lisa Scott. “The Speedway Murders” is a pretty unique true-crime documentary in that it follows actors playing the four slain teens as their character versions attempt to solve their own murders.
The four actors portraying the murder victims in the reenactment scenes were Essie Randles (as Jayne, the fast-food restaurant’s assistant manager), Nya Cofie (as Mark), Davida McKenzie (as Ruth), and Joseph Zada (as Dan).
“The Speedway Murders” will be released by Vertical in theaters and (pay) on-demand, PVOD, on June 21. Future platforms, if any, have not yet been worked out. Here’s the trailer:
Any person with information on the murders can contact Indiana State Police District 52 Investigative Commander by leaving a message at 317-899-8508, or contacting Crime Stoppers at Crimetips.org or by calling 317-262-8477.
