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In 2017, in a town called Delphi, Indiana, two teenage girls named Abby and Libby set off to go on a hike near the Monon High Bridge in town. However, when it was time to go home, the girls were nowhere to be found. Hundreds of searchers gathered that day but no one could find them and a collective fear started spreading through the small town.
By the next day, Delphi's worry quickly turned into horror when the girls' bodies were found murdered on a property near the hiking trail. During the investigation, it came to light that Libby had actually taken a video of her attacker while they were walking on the bridge. And in this video, you can actually hear the man's voice.
So investigators decided to release this video to the public, hoping that someone out there would recognize him. And at first it seemed like this case would be solved in just a matter of time. After all, they had a video of their attacker and his voice. Someone out there had to have known this guy. Since then, there have been two composite sketches, thousands of tips, and a number of possible suspects linked to the case.
But it's been over five years and it's still unsolved. Abby and Libby's killer has yet to be brought to justice. But recently, more details of this unsolved murder have been released, leading us to believe that they are closer than ever to solving this case. In our episode for today, we are going to discuss the Delphi murders, the investigation, and a lot of the developments that have been uncovered since.
This is the story of who killed Abby and Libby, the Delphi murders. I'm Courtney Brown. And I'm Colin Brown. And you're listening to Murder in America. ♪♪
We want to start this episode by saying that this still is an open case, and all of the people we discuss in this episode are just possible suspects. No one is guilty until they're proven guilty by a court of law. But in today's episode, we're simply laying out the facts that have been uncovered.
And with that being said, you're free to speculate all you want, but keep in mind that this is an ongoing investigation, and there are a lot of things that the public doesn't know about this case just yet. Facts that are being withheld to protect the integrity of the investigation. So, over time, a lot more will be known about these murders, but we're going to tell you what we know as of now.
And it all started in the small Midwestern town of Delphi, Indiana. Delphi is located about 90 minutes northwest of Indianapolis, and it's known for its parks and hiking trails, cultural attractions, and community.
In 2017, the all-American farming town only had about 3,000 residents. Most people felt very safe in Delphi. It was a place where you could rely on your neighbors, trust the people around you, never lock your doors at night. Violent crime was almost unheard of in this small, friendly, Midwestern town. But that would all change on February 13th, 2017.
On this day, the students of Delphi Community Middle School were out on holiday. You see, in places like Indiana, schools usually set aside weather days just in case they need to cancel for bad weather conditions. But in the 2016-2017 school year, Indiana didn't get much snow.
So they decided to give the students that Monday off. And it was a particularly warm day for February, so many of these students decided to spend it outdoors, including best friends Abigail Williams and Liberty German.
Abigail J. Williams was 13 years old and most people called her by her nickname, Abby. She was born on June 23, 2003, and was in 8th grade at the time of our story. During this school year, Abby enjoyed playing on her school's volleyball team, and she played the saxophone for her school band. She also loved reading, being outdoors, and photography.
Her mother, Anna Williams, had Abby when she was just 19 years old and it almost felt like the two grew up together. She and her mom were extremely close and Anna described her as a kind and considerate young girl. She was also passionate about her hobbies and once she made up her mind to do something, she did it. Abby's best friend was 14-year-old Liberty Rose Lynn German, commonly known as Libby.
Libby was also an eighth grader, born on December 27, 2002, and at the time of our story, she, her dad, and sister lived with her grandparents, Becky and Mike Patty, who were technically Libby's guardians. Libby's mother, Carrie Timmons, lived over 200 miles away in Kentucky but maintained a good relationship with her daughters. And like Abby, Libby also played the saxophone, loved sports like swimming and softball, and she also loved the outdoors and photography.
But these interests alone were not the only reason the two were best friends.
Life as an 8th grader isn't always easy, and finding good genuine friends can be hard. But Abby and Libby were inseparable. They got along really well and spent all their free time together. So of course, when their school announced that the students would have a holiday on Monday, February 13th, 2017, the girls knew that they would be spending that day together. But little did anyone know that this day would forever change the lives of Abby and Libby's families, as well as the people.
The night before, Abby came over to Libby's house and the girls spent the night watching movies, eating pizza, taking silly videos, and just being your average teenagers. The next morning, they slept in a little bit, waking up at around 10 a.m., and afterwards, Libby's dad made them pancakes. And when they discussed what they wanted to do that day, one of them suggested that they go on a hike on the Delphi Historic Trail.
Now, Libby had been there before so she was familiar with the area and it was a popular location, especially if you wanted to take some cool pictures. You see, on this trail is the Monon High Bridge, which is a huge 70-foot high abandoned railroad that runs over the old Deer Creek.
And I gotta say, the bridge is a little creepy, even if you've never heard of this case before. It was built in 1891, and it's one of the highest and longest bridges in the state of Indiana. It's also incredibly old and decayed, so walking across it is extremely dangerous. There are no railings on the side, so you can't really hold onto anything as you walk across it. And many of the wooden planks on the bridge are rotten and falling apart. So
so not everyone is brave enough to walk across. But as you can imagine, the bridge was a popular spot for young people in Delphi. In small towns like Delphi, there isn't a lot to do, so going to take pictures with your friends on the bridge wasn't really that uncommon of an activity. And like we mentioned, Abby and Libby both loved photography. So that's where they decided to go on their day off.
But the girls are only 13 and 14 years old, so of course they didn't get there themselves. So after getting permission from her grandma, Libby asks her older sister Kelsey if she can drop them off there. Kelsey agrees, and Libby's dad tells her that he'll pick them up from the trail in a few hours.
And being 13 and 14 years old, I'm sure the girls were excited to have a little taste of independence that day. I remember being that old and it was always so exciting to have your parents drop you off at the movies or the mall and you and your friends just got to hang out without adult supervision. And the girls were 13 and 14 so they were old enough to be able to do that.
And this was a hiking trail, a place where you would never expect your loved one to run into trouble, especially in the safe town of Delphi, Indiana. So no one could have ever known that danger was lurking in broad daylight on the trail that they were familiar with. But shortly before 1:00 PM, the girls hop into Kelsey's sedan
Libby sat in the passenger seat and Abby sat in the back. And as they drove the country roads towards the trail, the girls rolled down their windows and sang along to one of Libby's favorite songs, "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots. It was a happy day.
And there was absolutely no inkling that things were about to take a turn for the worst. Shortly before 1:40 PM, they pull into the trail's entrance and before the girls get out of the car, Kelsey reminds them to bring their jackets just in case it gets cooler. Then she tells Libby she loves her, pulls her car around, and drives away.
No one knew it at the time, but that would be the last conversation Kelsey would ever have with her sister. And one of the last times anyone would see the girls alive.
Now, there were two directions the girls could have taken once they started their hike. One path was called the 505, which leads them directly towards Deer Creek down below. And the other one was called 501, which would lead them towards the high bridge. And it's clear that they chose the 501 path because a few minutes past 2pm, Libby posted a picture of the bridge on her Snapchat story.
The picture is eerie in hindsight, knowing that it was taken just before her death. The bridge extends far out into the distance and it's surrounded by barren winter trees. It's also clear that there's no one on the bridge at this time. In just a few minutes after posting this picture, Libby uploads another picture to her Snapchat. This one shows the bridge from a slightly different angle and Abby's in the picture.
She's walking along the bridge, looking downward, wearing a ponytail, blue skinny jeans, Converse, a pink or red shirt, and a grey jacket. Again, there is no one else on the bridge at the time. And I just want to emphasize that Libby posted these pictures on her Snapchat, meaning anyone that followed her who saw this would have known that she and Libby were there.
But after posting these pictures, Libby's social media post went silent and when her dad Derek pulls up to the trail to pick the girls up, a little after 3pm, they are nowhere to be seen. And I'm sure he wasn't freaking out just yet. From what we could find, it didn't seem like they had a really specific meetup time. It was more of just around 3pm. So Derek probably figured that they were just up the trail and would be there soon.
And while he's waiting, he's texting Libby. "Hey, I'm here. Where are you?" No answer. "Libby, I'm at the front. Let's go." No answer. He then attempts to call Libby several times. But again, nothing. And I can imagine that this is the point when Derek starts to get worried. Teenagers are always on their phone. And Libby wouldn't just ignore his calls and texts.
Derek decides to get out of his car and go look for the girls himself, and he takes the 501 path, the one that leads to the bridge. Now, along this path, he runs into a man wearing a flannel, and he asks him, "Have you seen two young girls around here?" The man tells him, "No, but there is a couple up on the bridge." So, knowing that the girls aren't on the bridge, Derek turns around and starts looking for them on the 505 path, the one that leads to Deer Creek. But again, they're nowhere to be found.
And at this time, it's around 3:30 and panic has started to settle in. Derek quickly calls his family asking if they had seen or heard from Libby, but they hadn't. And now that they all know the severity of the situation, everyone starts heading over to the trail to try and help in the search. I mean, her grandparents come, her sister Kelsey takes off work to come look, and Libby's aunt Tara and uncle Cody. And as they're all searching the trail, they're screaming Abby and Libby's names, thinking that maybe they fell down and got hurt.
They're calling Libby's phone over and over again, hoping that maybe they could hear it ring if they were close enough. And they even drive the paths that the girls would have taken if they decided to walk home, but they weren't there either. And finally, after hours on the trail looking for the girls, the family decides to call the police and report them missing.
story tonight two carroll county girls have gone missing near the monon high bridge trail in delphi news 18's alexis moberger joins us live and reports how several law enforcement agencies are looking for them alexis
Brittany, the two 13-year-old girls went missing hours ago and were told they haven't been answering their phones ever since. The Carroll County Sheriff's Office say the girls were last seen around 1 o'clock this afternoon near the Monon High Bridge Trail. Liberty, or Libby German, and Abigail Williams were dropped off by a family member. When she came back to pick them up around the arranged time, they never showed up.
The sheriff's office was then notified around 5:30 tonight. And right now, several deputies are out looking for the two girls and are even using drones to help locate them. We're also told that DNR is out by the water searching and trying to locate the girls as well.
Now, it's at around the same time when Libby's family was finally able to get into contact with Abby's mother, Anna.
She had been at work the entire time they were searching and hadn't looked at her phone, but once they got a hold of her, they all decided to meet at the police station to file the report.
and that around 5:20 p.m., the police arrive at the trails and start a more thorough search. And by this time, Libby and Abby's pictures are all over social media. One person writes: "Okay everyone, I need help. Libby and a friend are missing. They went to walk the trails around the high bridge today and we have had no contact for the last four hours. She is not answering her phone. If anyone knows anything, please call the Carroll County Police Department."
And now that word is quickly spreading about the girls' disappearances, volunteers have gathered near the fire station to aid in the search, along with the Carroll County Sheriff's Department, the Delphi Police Department, and the Delphi Fire Department. So there are a lot of people looking for Abby and Libby. And according to a WLFI article, they had people searching all of the trail, along the banks, and they even had a drone to give an aerial view. It was getting late.
And as Libby's family drove home from the police department, they said that there were people with flashlights all throughout the area looking for the girls. But after hours and hours of searching, they were still nowhere to be found.
And by midnight, because it was so dark, they decided to call off the search until the following morning. And every time I hear of a case like this, I think of that first night inside of the victim's home. The police tell their families to go home and get some rest, but how?
I can't imagine how difficult it must be sitting inside of your home while your family member is out there somewhere missing. The agony they must feel when they pass that person's bedroom knowing that they aren't there. I can imagine that this was just the first of many long and sleepless nights for both Abby and Libby's families. By 4:30 AM that next morning, more news stations had started to cover the girls' disappearance.
Here is one where Libby's grandfather, Mike, speaks to reporters. Breaking news from Carroll County. Police continue to search for two teenage girls who went missing early yesterday. Now, Naomi Pescovich, she is in Carroll County gathering information and joins us with what we know so far and about where those girls were last seen. Good morning.
Ben and Julia, good morning to you. This is the entrance to the trail where those two 13-year-olds were last seen. Officers, law enforcement, they have stopped the search for the night. But in the meantime, other folks have come out. We've seen family. We just saw a group who didn't even know the girls come out here because they heard the story and wanted to come out. They're here with flashlights searching for them, doing anything they can. There's been so much pressure to try and find these two young girls since they went missing yesterday afternoon.
In the meantime, we do want to give you another look at these photos. This is so important so that if you do see them, you can let police know. Both of them, again, 13 years old. They're both about five feet, four inches tall. Liberty or Libby German. She has shoulder length, blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a tie dyed shirt, some gray sweatpants and also black shoes. Then there's Abby or Abigail Williams. She's also five four with medium length, blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a gray zip up sweatshirt.
and some jeans. Meantime, this search started again yesterday afternoon. The two actually had the day off school yesterday, so they decided they wanted to have some fun, spend some time on the trail and take some photographs. They were dropped off by a family member. They were supposed to be picked up around three o'clock, but when that family member arrived, the girls were not here. They weren't answering their text messages or phone calls. Libby's grandfather tells us the search started right away.
We started going through all the social media things, you know, picking up, looking at Facebook, has she talked to anybody, or have the girls been talking with anybody, Snapchatting or whatever the kids do today back and forth, and really didn't find anything. The last message I think we found going out was like at about 2.30, which was like a Snapchat of a picture of them out there on this bridge on the trail system. That was the last communication we've had.
And that bridge is a hallmark of this area, the Monon High Bridge. It's on this sign behind us. It's a place that's frequented by folks who live around here, but still the conditions of the bridge may be dangerous. Libby's grandfather is going to tell us why. That's coming up in our next half hour of Sunrise. In the meantime, we've shared these pictures online. If you see them,
Please help the family and share those photos as well. Ben and Julia? All right, yeah. Hopefully this will lead to finding those girls. Thanks. The reporter also asks Mike if it would be common for Libby to do something like this. And here's what he told them. We've got a lot of people putting their lives on the line really out there. There's some pretty rugged trails in some of this. No, absolutely not. She's...
I won't say she's a perfect angel, but she's really a good home-bodied kid, straight-A kid, straight-A student. She's involved in a lot of things, sports, swimming, softball.
And there aren't any lights out there on the trail, but they were near a bridge and that's where they were taking those pictures. That bridge may not be very sturdy, but even this morning we're seeing some flashlights off in the distance. As folks continue that search, some of those volunteers out here very early into this morning. Meantime, you brought up the question about an amber alert. We do want to address that.
Carroll County saying they do not believe there was any foul play. They don't have any reason to believe these girls are in immediate danger. And when an Amber Alert is issued, it's because there's been a confirmed abduction. That's why they have not issued one. But they'll be back out here this morning. We'll continue to ask questions and see if they've learned anything else. The best thing folks at home can do, and this is a request from the family as well, is to keep sharing these pictures of Libby and Amber.
Abbey so that if anyone has seen them, maybe they've wandered off onto another part of the county, they can find them and call Carroll County Police. By noon the following day, more volunteers had gathered to search for the girls. One volunteer was looking on a private property about 50 feet away from Deer Creek. He allegedly saw a set of footprints nearby and decided to follow them. And as he did so, he looked up ahead and saw some movement.
As he took a closer look, however, he realized that the movement was from deer. But he also saw something else. Something that I'm sure haunts him to this day. There.
Deep in the woods, lying in grass surrounded by trees, were the bodies of Liberty German and Abigail Williams. Two bodies found east of Delphi. That discovery made during a search for two 13-year-old girls, Libby German and Abby Williams. Now this is the area we're talking about, Delphi, Indiana, a tight-knit community here in Carroll County. And they came out strong searching for these girls today.
The hope among hundreds of searchers turned to heartbreak. Well before authorities announced that two bodies were found, the faces and tears of firemen, lawmen and volunteers told the tragic outcome. Basically, we're going to make this, it's going to be short and sweet. We don't have that much at this point in time. Basically, what we've got, we have found two bodies,
Is that the Sugar Creek? Deer Creek. Deer Creek, sorry. In Deer Creek, about a mile east of town, we are investigating this as a crime scene. We suspect foul play. We have not made positive identification of the two bodies, so we're not going to be releasing any information on them at this point in time.
We've got the Indiana State Police is assisting the Carroll County Sheriff's Department and the Delphi City Police Department in the investigation here. We also have the FBI Crime Scene Investigation Group here out of Indianapolis. And one thing the family asked us to do is to thank all the communities around Delphi and the people here in Delphi for assisting in attempting to locate these victims.
the two young children that were missing earlier. During this press conference, the authorities were very vague on the details of the investigation. They hadn't confirmed it was Libby and Abby yet. So when asked if the bodies found were of two young girls, Kim Riley responds that he's not at liberty to discuss that. When asked, why do you believe there is foul play? He responds, just the way the bodies were found. That's about all I can say at this point in time.
Now, just about everyone knew that the bodies found were Abby and Libby's. And there was a collective sadness throughout the town of Delphi, Indiana. Very upsetting. So, this is a small community and you just don't expect things like this to happen to your community. I don't know how I would react if it was my own child, you know. It's hard to explain. It's sad what our world's come to, you know. Two little girls can't walk home from school without...
getting home safe. It's tragic. I mean, this is a family town. So we all have kids around here and that's kind of scary.
It's not like they did anything wrong. You know, in this community, you can walk around like that. You don't have to have those fears. And then for something like this, this tragedy to happen, we just don't understand it. They accepted like anybody. That's what sixth grader Abby O'Neill and her sister say they love most about Libby German and Abby Williams. It's hard. Words don't come easy right now, but tears do, especially when these sisters think about Libby, the girls all on the middle school swim team together. It
It's just happening so close to home. I've seen it at other busy places, but Delphi, nothing happens here. It's like, how could this be happening here in Delphi?
Neighbors still waiting for final identification of those bodies. On Wednesday, February 15th, the autopsies were completed. And later that day, at around 3 p.m., the Indiana State Police announced that the bodies were indeed that of Liberty German and Abigail Williams. They also confirmed that they were investigating their deaths as a double homicide. Basically, we have identified the bodies of the two victims.
Females that were found out yesterday, or yes, yesterday, the bodies have been positively identified as Abigail J. Williams, 13, of the Delphi area, and Liberty Rose Lynn German, 14, of the Delphi area. The two girls were reported missing on Monday, February 13th. The bodies were discovered about 12.15 on the 14th in the woods just east of town here by volunteers that helped in the search of the children after they were reported missing to the Carroll County Sheriff's Department.
Family has been notified. This is considered a double homicide investigation. No further information will be released at this time. We are asking for anyone to come forward who has information that were either on the Delphi Historic Trail yet there on Monday, especially if they were near the Monon High Bridge, that they might have been seen seeing somebody out there. They may have taken pictures where somebody might be in that photograph.
If they were out there doing that kind of stuff, we need that information. We would love to have pictures of that, just to, more to just clarify what we got going on out there. Now, even though the autopsies were performed, they never announced the cause of death. And still, to this day, we don't know how Abby and Libby were murdered. And if you weren't already aware, this case is still unsolved.
But the cause of death is just one of many details of this case that investigators are keeping close to their chest to protect the integrity of the investigation. Now, they do this because eventually, when they do find their killer, that person will be the only one who knows the details of their murder. The last thing you want in a case is a wrongful conviction, or crazy people claiming to be the killer when they actually aren't.
Now, there have been new developments about the crime scene that we will discuss a little later, but for now we are going to continue to tell you about the investigation as it laid out back in 2017. But a few hours after this conference, which identified the victims as Abby and Libby, the Indiana State Police released an image
to the public. Take a good look at this man. He is the person police are looking to get information from in the murder of two teenage girls in Delphi. Right now, police are not saying he's a suspect or even a person of interest, but they do want to talk with him. They say he was on the same trail around the same time as Libby German and Abby Williams. Police are hoping this man has any information that could lead to an arrest. But tonight, the community is still in shock.
And they announced that they wanted to speak to this man because they believed he was at the bridge around the same time as Abby and Libby. Now, the picture is super grainy and not the best quality, but in it is a man walking along the high bridge.
It's clear that he's a white male, wearing blue jeans, a hat, a blue jacket, and he's walking with his head down so you can't get a good picture of his face. But once that image was released, nearly every person in Delphi was studying the picture, trying to see if they knew this mysterious man.
And what the public didn't know at the time was that law enforcement actually received this image straight from Libby's phone. And it actually wasn't an image. It was a 43 second video that would give insight into some of the girls' last moments.
Based on what they found, it became clear that shortly after Libby posted on her Snapchat story, she and Abby came into contact with this man on the bridge. And for whatever reason, after seeing this man, the girls knew they were in danger. So much so that Libby actually begins to videotape him. Now in the video, the man orders the girls in a specific direction.
And it's unclear exactly what happens next, but not long after the video was taken, the girls were murdered. And I just want to take a second to note how brave it is that Libby was able to use this terrifying moment to pull out her phone and record her attacker. In doing so, she was able to give the police a huge clue in the investigation of her and Abby's murder.
Now, at the press conference on February 22nd, they didn't release this video found on Libby's phone, but they did release a portion of the audio. And for the first time, the people of Delphi, Indiana would hear the suspect's voice. We do have some new information for you today. It's in the form of an audio file from the cell phone.
In the audio taken from Libby's phone, the suspect tells the girls, quote, Down the hill. We will play it for you three times. Down the hill. Down the hill.
I'm sure for the people of Delphi, Indiana, it was eerie hearing the voice of the man who had murdered the two young girls. I know it was definitely eerie for us. And it's not every day that you have murder victims thinking quickly and taking a video of their attacker. And it's incredible that Libby was brave enough to do this.
The Indiana State Police Sergeant Tony Slocum would later say: "This young lady is a hero, there is no doubt. To have enough presence of mind to activate that video system on her cell phone to record what we believe is criminal behavior that's about to occur." Now, authorities concluded that whoever this guy was either lived in Delphi or was very familiar with the area. Based on the location where the girls were found, they figured this wasn't just a transient stopping through town. This was most likely one of their own.
And this realization was extremely hard to grasp. At this press conference, here's what Superintendent Doug Carter had to say. Why Libby? Why Abbey? Why Delphi? Why Carroll County? Why the region? Why the state? Why even the nation? I say that because this is a classic example and a clear example that evil lives amongst us.
To the family, to the community, the region, the state. As leader of the Indiana State Police, I say I am so very sorry. The poster in front of you. Someone knows who this individual is. Someone knows who this individual is. Is it a family member? Is it a neighbor? Is it an acquaintance? Is it an associate?
Or maybe that one guy that lives over at that one place that's just kind of not right. Maybe it's his jeans. Maybe it's his jacket or his sweatshirt. Maybe it's his shirt tail. Maybe it's his posture. Maybe it's the right hand in his pocket. You see, even with technology we need human intelligence. In other words, we need you. I'm not suggesting that science, that everything that we can do as science has been done. Because we are just getting started.
Abby and Libby deserve us. They deserve every single one of us. And not just the people standing up here on the stage that have given so much of their lives to not just this, but to this profession. But each and every one of you. Each and every person listening, watching, or seeing this in some form. We need you. Libby and Abby need you. Please do not rationalize tips away. Rationalize what you think that might not be important away. By thinking he...
would never do that to another human being. Or think, what I know doesn't matter. Let folks like the people that are standing behind me with such incredible passion and commitment and dedication to this profession make that determination. As poor as this picture is, somebody knows. And if you're watching, we'll find you.
Now, after this press conference, there were thousands of tips from people claiming to know the bridge man. He looks like my next-door neighbor. The voice sounds like a co-worker of mine. My friend has that jacket he's wearing. It seemed like the entire town was questioning their neighbors and looking over their shoulders. I mean, after all, how could you not? By February 23rd, the FBI announced that they were using around 6,000 electronic billboards across the nation in order to get information in the case. The billboards read,
seeking information murder victims. And next to the picture of Abby and Libby was the bridge man. The city of Delphi, Indiana even released lanterns and put orange lights on their porches as a tribute to the girls. And since the police had a video of the killer and audio of his voice, most people assumed that this would be an easy case to solve. In addition, there was a $200,000 reward for information in this case. And someone out there had to have recognized this man.
Abby's grandparents, Diane and Eric, even left a note of encouragement hanging up at the Delphi investigation quarters that read, Where are the police when you need them? I have uttered these words whenever a speeding or reckless driver nearly runs me or someone else off the road. Where are the police when you need them? They are here in Delphi, Indiana, with us. We pray for your protection and we are forever grateful for your service. February would soon turn into March and there were still no arrests.
No answers. And on March 9th, 2017, Libby's family would speak out for the first time and answer some questions. Thank you, Tobe. I wrote down some stuff so I wouldn't forget what we'd like to communicate. My family put this together. So obviously my name is Mike Patty. This is my wife, Becky. We'd both like to thank you for showing up here today. I'd like to read a statement. I've got to put my glasses on for this.
Show me a little bit. This is a statement from the from Abby's family. Abby and Libby loved each other. Throughout this tragedy, we have honored their memory by caring for and respecting each other. We respect Libby's family decision to speak publicly at this time, just as they respected that Carter family's decision not to speak publicly. The family of Abby Williams. I would also ask
at the media to respect their choice. Let them reach out to you if they so desire to do that. A little over three weeks ago, February 13th, our girls went missing. On February 14th, they were found victims of a double homicide. This horrible crime has torn a hole in our families that will never heal. It's the small things that seem to hurt the most. It's just natural to holler for them to come to dinner or in the mornings to get up and get ready for school.
Then expect them to come through the door after school. The silence when we don't hear their voice. Our girls were excited about the upcoming softball season. Just the day before all this happened, they had their equipment out playing catch, working on their batting in the backyard, going to the ball field with Anna to hone their skills for the upcoming season. But they'll never get to play a single inning again. There are too many ways to count how our lives will forever be impacted to share here today.
I imagine most people listening that have raised or are raising children know how kids can be. A phrase that was jokingly attached to Libby and our family from asking her to pick up her shoes, her school backpack, her coat, her first reply would almost always be, I will in a minute. We joked with her about this all the time. I believe if she were able to speak, she would ask people, please give her the one minute she always asked for.
to really study the picture and listen to the audio clip. Someone out there knows this person or persons. He's someone's neighbor, coworker, family member, friend, husband, or acquaintance. If and when any new information is released by law enforcement, please take another minute from your day to review all the information and help us collect the pieces of this puzzle. Both of our families are requesting everyone to please help Abby and Libby.
Look for someone who's recently changed their appearance, cut their hair, shaved or started wearing different clothes. Have they changed in some strange manner that just seems a little odd? If you think it could be but then say no, he's not like that. Go with your initial instinct. Let law enforcement run that information and make that determination. However small it may seem, it is extremely vital to capture every tip we can get. But through your persevering coverage and help with this investigation, we are confident
that together we can bring justice to those responsible for this horrible crime. We appreciate your time and help. Thank you very much. And here's Abby's mother speaking out for the first time to WRTV. We just ask that people just follow that instinct, that gut. Even if you just have a suspicion, just call it in. Over the next few months, things were pretty quiet in terms of developments in the case.
But in July of 2017, investigators released a composite sketch based on witnesses that were near the trail that day.
We will be posting these sketches on our Instagram but it seems like the man is middle-aged, 40-50 years old, with facial hair and a bigger nose. He's described as being between 5'6" and 5'10", weighs between 180 and 220 pounds, has reddish-brown hair and dark eyes.
And other than that, he doesn't have any characteristics that really stick out. If we're being honest, he looks like any man you'd walk past in the street. And after the composite sketch was released, the tip lines were flooded with people claiming to know the man in question. But none of the tips seemed to pan out because there still weren't any arrests.
And only adding to the mystery, investigators were still being very tight-lipped about many aspects of the investigation.
and the unknown caused people all around America to become more and more intrigued with this case. Unfortunately, years would pass and there were still no developments, at least not to the public's knowledge. And I can't even imagine the agony that was felt throughout Delphi, Indiana. Not only were they having to come to terms with the fact that two teenage girls were murdered while on a hike,
but that their killer was most likely one of their own. This small, entrusting town was now filled with people looking over their shoulders and questioning their neighbors.
And for Libby and Abby's families, we can't imagine how horrifying it is to go years without any answers. But on April 22, 2019, over two years after the murders, investigators would hold a press conference shining light on new developments in the case. The first thing the Indiana State Police Department did at this conference was release a few seconds of the video taken of the suspect from Libby's phone.
At the time, they had only released that grainy picture, but now they could all see the man walking. In the video, he's looking down, has his hand in his pocket, and it seems like he has a distinct walk. Some people say it looks like he's limping, others say he's walking funny to try and keep his balance on the bridge. But investigators released this hoping that someone would recognize him by his mannerisms.
Along with this short clip, they also released another word in the audio clip that was taken from Libby's phone. Years earlier, investigators only released three words: "Down the hill." But now they're releasing four words, which were "Guys down the hill." Here is the new updated audio. In the press conference, Doug Carter spoke to the killer directly. "Directly."
to the killer who may be in this room. We believe you are hiding in plain sight. For more than two years, you never thought we would shift gears to a different investigative strategy, but we have. We likely have interviewed you or someone close to you. We know that this is about power to you and you want to know what we know and one day you will. The question to you: What will those closest to you think of
They find out that you brutally murdered two little girls. Two children. Only a coward would do such a thing. We are confident that you have told someone what you have done. Or at the very least, they know because of how different you are since the murders to the murderer. I believe you have just a little bit of a conscience left. And I can assure you that how you left them in that woods is not...
It's not what they're experiencing today. I just want the family to know that when I take my last breath on this earth, I'll be thinking of them. This press conference was a lot to take in. They released new video, new audio, and they even suggested that the killer could possibly be in the room. But one of the most shocking parts of the press conference was when investigators announced that they were taking the case in a new direction.
And now they have an updated composite sketch of the suspect. Doug Carter told the public that this new sketch is what the public should be on the lookout for and that the old one was now considered secondary. During the course of this investigation we have concluded the first sketch released will become secondary as of today. The result of the new information and intelligence over time
Leads us to believe the sketch which you will see shortly is the person responsible for the murders of these two little girls We also believe this person is from Delphi Currently or has previously lived here visits Delphi on a regular basis or works here We believe this person is currently between the age range of 18 and 40 but might appear younger than its true age.
But when the public got a look at this new sketch, there were far more questions than answers. For one, the guy in the first sketch was considered to be 40-50 years old. He had a big nose and facial hair. But the guy in the updated sketch was a lot younger, with no facial hair and a smaller nose.
Again, we will post both of these on our Instagram and you'll see that the sketches look absolutely nothing alike. And a lot of people were demanding answers. A few days after, investigators released a statement that read, Delphi, Indiana, in
In the early days and months of the Delphi murder investigation, information was developed about suspect descriptions. It was initially believed the sketch that has been in public view over the last two years of a person in the age range of his 40s to 50s was a person of interest in this murder investigation.
Now, as the investigation has matured and past information has been reassessed, it is the belief of investigators with the multi-agency task force that the person depicted in the sketch released on April 22nd more accurately represents the person wanted for the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German. It is important to distinguish these points about the two sketches: They are not the same person. The person depicted in the originally released sketch is not presently a person of interest in the investigation.
The sketch released on April 22nd is representative of the face of the person captured in the video on Liberty German's cell phone as he was walking on the high bridge. The person in the sketch released April 22nd is described as having a youthful appearance but could fall in the age range from his 20s to late 30s. This person's appearance could look different today if he has grown a mustache, beard, or let his hair grow longer or cut his hair shorter than depicted in the sketch.
Members of the Delphi community should reflect back on people they know in the community that look similar to the sketch released on April 22nd, especially if that person has changed their appearance since the murders occurred in February of 2017. Now, this would cause a lot of confusion because for years, people have been on the lookout for the guy in the first sketch.
But now, investigators are saying to basically disregard that and now look for the man in the second sketch who is completely different in age and physical description. But unfortunately, even with this updated sketch, there still have been no arrests in the case. Now, more recently, Superintendent Doug Carter says that he believes the suspect is a good mix of both sketches.
and when they find whoever did this, he will look similar to both. But even today, these composite sketches are a huge question mark in this case and I don't think we will get a lot of answers until someone is arrested. Now, it's been over five years since Abby and Libby were murdered and there are still no justice, but we, along with many others, believe that they are closer to solving it than ever.
And before we get into that, we want to discuss the people of interest throughout this investigation.
Now, all of the people we are about to mention are associated with this case so we are going to mention them but keep in mind no one has been charged for these murders. So in the court of law, all of these men are innocent until proven guilty. In addition, we don't believe that any of the men we are about to mention are guilty of these murders.
As the years passed with no answers and little information, many internet sleuths took to the web to discuss their own theories in the investigation. So we want to talk about the names that often come up in reference to this case. And we want to go ahead and state that we don't personally believe that these next few people are actually responsible for the murders. But their name does come up when you research this case, so we will briefly discuss them. The first one is Paul Etter.
June 22, 2019, a young woman is on her way home to Delphi, Indiana, when she gets a flat tire on her car. It was around 4:30 a.m., and it was dark outside, so she decided to pull into a driveway to get a better look at her tire and figure out what she should do. Unfortunately, the driveway she had pulled into belonged to a man named Paul Eder. Eder had a long criminal rap sheet, and he had been investigated by police in connection with the double homicide of Abby and Libby.
As the woman sat in the driveway, she saw a man emerge from the home and walk towards her car. The woman didn't feel comfortable when the man came to her window and asked if she needed help. She lied to him and said she was okay and pulled out of the driveway despite her tire being flat. A friend of hers lived down the road and he said he would be home shortly and to wait for him there where he could help her with her flat tire. Well, it wasn't long before she saw headlights behind her but they weren't her friend.
Paul Eder had followed the young woman to her friend's house. She got out of her car and tried to run from him, but he was too quick. He pinned her arms behind her back and handcuffed her and threw her into the back of his car. Paul Eder raped the young woman and held her hostage in a barn on his property. Until later that morning when he drove her back to her car. She immediately called the police.
Issued with the information from the young woman, the police go to Eder's home, but he's nowhere to be found. A warrant is issued for his arrest and a massive manhunt to find him ensues. It took just a few days, but he was eventually located by a police officer who spotted him in a stolen truck on June 27th, 2019. He leads the police to a field where he doesn't respond to police negotiators.
Suddenly, Paul gets out of his truck with a gun in his hand and shoots himself in the head, reportedly twice. Paul could be a person of interest in the Delphi homicides due to his close proximity to the area. He was also known to be violent towards women and even carried handcuffs in his truck. But in his crime, he let the woman go after brutally raping her. If he was the Delphi killer, why did he kill Abby and Libby and not the other young woman?
DNA was taken from Paul but police told the media that he's not a priority, he's being looked into and pursued. But that's like all the others we've been looking into all along. Another person of interest associated with this case was a man named James Bryan Chadwell. On April 19th, 2021 in Lafayette, Indiana, just 25 minutes away from Delphi, a man named James Chadwell abducted a 9-year-old girl from his neighborhood.
Chadwell told the young girl that he had a dog at his house and that she could play with it if she wanted. So she followed Chadwell to his home where he proceeded to sexually assault and beat her while he kept her hidden in his basement. After she failed to come home, the young girl's parents decided to call the police around 7pm.
And when the police arrived at Chadwell's home, he told them that she had been there but she had left hours earlier. He allowed police to search his home and they discovered the basement door had a chain lock on it. When they opened the door, they found the young girl crying and badly beaten. She had bruises all over her body and dog bites on her leg.
She told the police that Chadwell had strangled her until she went unconscious and that when she woke up, she was naked. She also stated that he had threatened to kill her if she screamed or told anyone what happened. Chadwell was very active on Facebook and included one of his hobbies was hiking. He even had a few pictures of bridges in the area.
making some people believe that he was familiar with the high bridge in Delphi. And it was also noted on his Facebook that he would go on angry rants about women, and he even said, quote, I just want a woman that's willing to put in the same effort I do. I know that's probably too much to ask for in this day and age, but a boy can still dream. And if I can't find true love, I have Pornhub, end quote.
James' brother Ashley sat down for an interview with thedailymail.com and talked about how he witnessed his brother's violence first hand. He even called him "pure evil." He talked about how James was always very violent towards women he dated and he often sought out single mothers. At one point, James shoved his then-wife into a wall so hard that it left a whole body print.
When asked if Ashley believed James had anything to do with the Delphi murders, he responded, "I know he's capable of doing it. He has been abusive to people his whole life. He just doesn't like people. I'm sure that if the police didn't turn up when they did, that little girl in Lafayette would be dead by now." And in regard to that last statement, I think James' brother could be right.
But I don't know if that makes him the killer of Libby and Abby. Chadwell would end up pleading guilty to the seven charges brought against him, including attempted murder and molestation. He received 90 years in prison for his crime, 20 for being a habitual offender with a long criminal record.
As for his connection to the Delphi murders, police said he was investigated and there has never been a formal connection. So it's safe to say that he isn't our guy. The next person often brought up in reference to this case is a man named Thomas Bruce.
Thomas Bruce had no prior criminal record before November 19, 2018, when he decided to stop into a Catholic supply store in St. Louis, Missouri. Noticing no one else was in the store, he acted on his deviant behavior. Telling the three women in the store that he forgot his credit card in his car, he went outside and grabbed a gun.
When he came back inside, he ordered the three women into the back room where he made them undress and perform sexual acts on him. When one woman refused to do as she was told, he shot her and within a few hours she was dead.
Police had no leads as to who the gunman could be until they spoke with the two surviving victims of the attack. With their help, the police created a composite sketch of the man in question. A woman at a local restaurant near the Catholic supply store came forward and said a man fitting that description came into the restaurant before the crime and gave her his business card. She had thrown the card away, and police immediately went looking through the trash hoping to find it. The
The trash, luckily, hadn't been taken out yet, and they were able to retrieve a business card with the name Thomas Bruce. After his arrest, a local 77-year-old woman came forward and said he was the man who had attacked her in her home just a few months before the Catholic supply store crime. She said he came to her door and forced his way inside, pinning her on the ground, where he began to grope her. He dragged her to the bedroom, and she told him her husband would be home any minute.
Bruce told the woman he would kill her husband when he returned, but instead, he took her cell phone and left her on the floor. She immediately called the police. After the Catholic supply store crime, internet sleuths went to work and compared the composite sketch of "The Bridge Guy" to Thomas Bruce, and many believed they could be the same person.
Also, there seem to be similarities between the crimes: multiple victims, crime of opportunity But Bruce has no known ties to Indiana and it's unlikely he was traveling in the area when Missouri is hundreds of miles away This seems to be a hot topic of discussion on Reddit forums but many believe that there's no possible connection between Thomas Bruce and the Delphi murders Charles Eldridge
Charles Eldridge was arrested on January 8, 2019 in Union City, Indiana after being caught in a sting operation trying to meet up with a 13-year-old girl for sex. When he was arrested, he admitted to the police that he had engaged in multiple sexual encounters with a girl under the age of 13. After his mugshot was released, many people drew a connection between him and the bridge guy in the Delphi murder case.
Charles went by Andy, and many people who knew him said he was weird and had a tendency to become violent. His ex-mother-in-law told the media that he would dress up in army fatigues and go into the woods. Although this might not be strange for hunters, according to people who knew him, Andy wasn't a hunter.
His former brother-in-law, Richard Jones, told the media about an incident when Andy had a domestic dispute with his sister. Andy had thrown her into a wall and knocked her out. When confronted by her husband, Andy went into a rage and repeatedly beat him in the chest.
Andy was arrested, but the charges against him were later dropped. Jones went on to add: "He beat me down. I've got heart problems and he was beating me in the chest. I can't say if he would kill someone or not, but he's very violent." Andy lived in Randolph County, Indiana, about two hours southeast of Delphi. He was active on social media, and it's said that his Facebook account mentioned hundreds of cases
involving missing children, murdered children, sex trafficking, and sex crimes against children, mostly young girls.
Many of his Facebook posts were about Abby and Libby When his mugshot was released and people began to compare the similarities of the Delphi suspect and Eldridge police were tipped off and began looking into the matter According to WRTV Indianapolis, the tip was forwarded to the FBI for further investigation But Eldridge has never officially been called a person of interest in the case
Police reminded the media that they have received a lot of tips on physical resemblance and they're slowly making their way through all of them. Now another name that is often associated with this case is Daniel Nations. He became a part of this story after the first composite sketch was released. Daniel was a registered sex offender in Indiana and if you take a look at his mugshot on our Instagram, he looks shockingly similar to the man in the first sketch.
Now, currently, we know that that sketch isn't as accurate as the second one and police have since said that Nations is no longer a major concern in the investigation. But back in 2017, he was considered a person of interest. So let's take a look at why. The police knew that Daniel Nations was in Indiana during the time of the murders because of his sex offender status.
He registered as a sex offender on January 31st, 2017 and by law, he was required to check in every 7 days. He even checked in on February 14th, the same day that Abby and Libby's bodies were found. And on that check-in, he registered in Morgan County, Indiana but he was listed as homeless. Nations was incarcerated for a total of 4 days.
Then on April 10th, 2017, he registered as a sex offender in Johnson County, Indiana. He was still homeless at the time, so he listed his residence as the In-Town Suites in Greenwood. So it was clear that he was just kind of floating around, going county to county. But after this, Daniel Nation seemingly disappeared.
In July of 2017, after the first sketch was released to the public, Nations failed to appear in court, which is a red flag. Now, he had been registered as a sex offender since 2007 when court records show he exposed himself and masturbated in a Walmart parking lot in South Carolina.
A witness told police that Nations asked her "You want to get in on this? It'll be fun." But that wasn't the only run-in he had with the law. Daniel Nations has an extensive arrest record. Back in July of 2015, he was arrested for hiding in a woman's convenience store bathroom, where he was peeping on women through the stalls and masturbating.
He posted bail for this offense, skipped his court date, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. In December of 2015, Nations was arrested for domestic violence in Morgan County, Indiana and served time in jail from December 15th through January 27th. A few months later, in April, he was arrested in Greenwood, Indiana for driving on a suspended license. And when police searched his car, they found marijuana.
He also skipped town after this arrest. Then in August of that same year, he was arrested once again in Hendricks County, Indiana for driving on a suspended license. And then in November of 2016, he was charged with possession of marijuana. Now, none of these things make Daniel Nations a killer, but I can see why people would make connections to him and the case.
For one, he told police at one point that he was living under a bridge off State Road 67 in Morgan County, Indiana. And this was actually noted on February 7th of 2017, just days before the murders.
Nations said that he preferred to live under bridges because he liked the seclusion away from society. And with this information, it seemed like he could have possibly been the bridge guy, especially since he looked exactly like the sketch. In addition, he also seems to fit the description provided by police. Nations is about 5'10" and has brown hair that appears red in the sunlight.
But after the sketch was released, like we mentioned, Nations disappeared and we soon find out that he fled Indiana to go to Colorado. And a lot of people were wondering why did he suddenly flee the state? And to make people even more suspicious, while he was in Colorado, people were suspecting that he was responsible for a murder involving a cyclist named Tim Watkins.
Watkins was killed in September of 2017 from gunshot wounds from a .22 caliber gun. His body was found partially buried under leaves off a trail. And the reason people connected Daniel Nations to this murder, because Nations was actually threatening people with a hatchet in this exact same area where Tim Watkins was murdered.
Now, the fact that he was hanging out near a trail threatening random people right around where another man was murdered led a lot of people to believe that he was the man that killed Abby and Libby. And the fact that he looked so similar to the composite sketch didn't help his case either. And when police questioned Nations about threatening people with a hatchet, they also found in his possession a .22 caliber gun.
the same type of gun used to kill the cyclist, Tim Watkins. Now after this, he was booked into a county jail because he was a felon and he's not allowed to carry a weapon. But it should be noted that he has never been charged with the murder of Tim Watkins. Now after the incident in Colorado, the FBI came to visit him to ask him some questions.
And at first, he seemed like a likely suspect in the Delphi murders. After all, he was living in Indiana and was a homeless sex offender who frequented hiking trails. And he was known to live under bridges. But it's likely that Daniel Nations is not our guy. If he was, he likely would have been arrested by now. In a Colorado courtroom, he told the judge that he suffers from PTSD
and has been known to make irrational decisions, but he denied any connection in the Delphi murder case. In a statement to the court, he writes, "The only reason I feel I have yet to be ruled out as a person of interest in Indiana is because my public defender, without consulting with me, turned the Indiana State Police away. Had he not, I would have given them my DNA and that would have been it. They would have already ruled me out."
In August of 2018, after serving time in jail for his offenses, he walked into the office of the Gazette in Colorado Springs in hopes of clearing his name. He told the Gazette that he was living two hours away from Delphi, Indiana when the murders happened. He said that the media turned him into a monster and he would later say, "I'm not what they made me out to be."
He went on to admit that leaving Indiana for Colorado without alerting authorities went against the terms of his sex offender registration. He would end up pleading guilty to waving the hatchet at the hikers in Colorado, although he told the newspaper that he only waved his fist, not a hatchet. He has never been named a suspect in the murder of Tim Watkins. It's only been speculation.
But after willingly giving a sample of his DNA to the Indiana State Police, they held a press conference and stated that Nation was "not a person that we care a whole lot about at this point in time. We feel confident there is no involvement." And as of 2018, Nations has been living in Colorado and adhering to his probation so he can be with his children again.
He is self-employed and trying to pick up the pieces of his life. He says that he hopes the killer of Abby and Libby is found, so it will finally clear his name. And finally, the last person we want to talk about before we discuss the most recent developments in the case is something that was uncovered by a podcast called The Murder Sheet. They do a really in-depth series on the Delphi murders and a few months back,
They uncovered a warrant that has brought about a lot of attention. Now, the warrant was written back in March of 2017, so just weeks after the murders. And it was for a search of a property. The very property where Libby and Abby's bodies were found. Now, it's important to note that since the murders, there has been a little more information revealed about the crime scene.
and we want to discuss that a little before we talk about the warrant. But although a cause of death has still never been revealed, it has been confirmed that both Libby and Abby lost a significant amount of blood. So we're able to rule out strangulation and it's more likely that they were either stabbed or bludgeoned. It's also been confirmed that after they were murdered,
Their bodies were moved and also staged. And this is very interesting because staging a crime scene is strictly for the killer's gratification and it shows that the killer has a certain MO. Whoever did this didn't seem to be in any kind of rush if he was taking the time to stage the bodies. And again, we have no idea how the bodies were staged but
It's also been said that the killer displayed at least three signatures at the scene, which are essentially behaviors unique to the killer himself. It's likely if the killer has killed before, we'd see these exact same signatures at those crime scenes. And same for if he ever kills again. It was also found that two articles of clothing from one of the girls were missing.
meaning the killer probably took them as a souvenir. Investigators say that it's also possible the suspect took a picture of their bodies. And lastly, it's been confirmed that there was some sort of DNA at the scene. But now that we know a little bit more about the crime scene, let's talk about the warrant published by the Murder Sheet podcast.
The warrant in question was written by an FBI agent near Chicago in March of 2017 and they specifically wanted to search the property where the girls' bodies were found, the property of then 77-year-old Ronald Logan. Now, like we mentioned, since the bodies were moved here, the police were interested in the owner of the property. But when they asked Ronald where he was and what he was doing during the time of the murders,
He tells them that a family member of his was driving him to an aquarium store between 2:30 and 3:00 pm. So at first he seemed to be in the clear, but not long after, this said family member came forward and told authorities that Ronald called him on the day of the murders, before the bodies were ever even found, and he asked him to lie about the time they went to the aquarium.
Ronald basically wanted him to tell authorities that they were gone until around 5pm. But that wasn't the case. In reality, Ronald's cell phone placed him at his property. Now, why would Ronald Logan lie to police about his whereabouts that day? When investigators took a look into his past, it didn't help him out much either. Ronald had a history of domestic violence.
But even more so, he had a bad habit of drinking and driving. So since he had a record, and the fact that he lied when Abby and Libby's bodies were found just 1400 feet away from his home was not a good look. Now we know he looks pretty guilty right now, but there is an explanation as to why Ronald would lie. At the time of the murders, he was actually on probation for drinking and driving.
And a part of that probation means he's not allowed to drive, which is exactly what he was doing on the day of the murders. So when they asked him what he was doing that day, he likely lied because if he were to tell them he was driving his car, he could go to jail. Now according to the arrest warrant, Ronald's physical description is consistent with the bridge man.
The warrant also said that his voice isn't inconsistent, which I guess means it could possibly sound like him. But again, Ronald was 77 years old at the time of these murders.
And many people think that he was far too old to 1 easily walk along the decrepit high bridge and 2 murder two teenage girls. Now, interestingly enough, the day after the bodies were discovered on his property, Ronald spoke with a reporter from WTHR
And in this interview, he is wearing almost the exact outfit of the bridge man. And again, this type of clothing is pretty common, but I mean, he is wearing a tan hat and a blue collared jacket, just like the suspect. I will put together like a collage of the two so you can see the comparison, but here is the audio from that interview.
Against the beauty of the sunshine and bright blue skies Wednesday, it was still hard for Ron Logan to believe the violence visited upon two young teens just out for a hike on a day off from school. Who would have thought they'd let their children out to do something like this?
special that day, take a trip down and it turned out a disaster like this. For 53 years, Logan's lived on the country road near the trail that leads to the Monon High Bridge. People walk up and down with their children and yeah, it's...
It's quite a nice little trail on the bridge. Never though has Logan seen anything like what he has this week. The search for an eventual discovery of the bodies of Libby German and Abby Williams. The area that they were in is very hard to get to. I mean, you can't get there unless you walk there. I mean, so somebody would be walking with them or something. Now, to get a warrant, you have to submit a probable cause affidavit.
And in this case, the probable cause that secured the warrant was that 15 people called in stating that they believed Ronald Logan was connected to the murders. And all these years later, no one even knew that Ronald Logan was being seriously looked into as a person of interest until the warrant was discovered. Now personally, I'm not convinced that Ronald is the killer.
For one, after the police searched through his home and property, it's likely that they didn't find anything incriminating because if they did, he likely would have been arrested. And the second reason I don't think Ronald was responsible was from something that happened earlier this year. In February of 2022, Superintendent Doug Carter spoke with Good Morning America.
And on the program, he spoke to the killer directly. Here is a clip from that. - My resolve to catch him is as strong now as it was day one. But the difference now between now and day one is we know about you, a lot about you. Today could be the day. Sleep well. - Now at the time that Carter recorded this, where he's speaking directly to the killer, Ronald Logan had already passed away.
He actually died in January of this year from COVID complications. So that leads us to believe that the police don't think Ronald Logan is their guy. And since Carter was speaking directly to the killer and Logan was already dead, that leads us to believe that Logan is not our guy.
Now, over the last few weeks, I have been going into the deepest rabbit hole of my life, researching the new developments of this case. If you haven't already heard, investigators released the name of a profile that was being used to communicate with Libby German on social media.
The profile was Anthony_Shotts. And if you were to have taken a look at this guy's profile, you would have seen a younger, attractive looking male with washboard abs and a number of luxury cars. He looked to be a model, every teenage girl's dream boy. But it turns out that Anthony Schotts was not a boy.
The real person behind the account was a grown man who was using this profile to catfish young girls for his own disgusting gain. A number of girls fell victim to this man, including Libby German. But is he connected to the Delphi murders? That is something I've been trying to figure out for the past few weeks and I was going to add that part into this week's episode but
I honestly wanted to make it a full episode of its own, and if you listen to this podcast, you know that I never skimp out on my research. So I decided I am going to put it in next week's episode, but I promise you guys will absolutely love it. I'm going to be as thorough as possible. I'm going to add every single bit of information that I have found, and it really does deserve an episode of its own because...
It is such a wild ride. So I will see you guys next week as we take a deep dive into this account and the person behind it.
a man known as Kagan Klein. But to end this episode, I want to talk about our victims. According to Libby's family, she was the sweetest girl that would always remind her loved ones just how much she loved them. After her murder, her grandmother Becky found a sticky note from Libby that read, quote,
"Thanks for everything you do for me and Kelsey." Her grandfather Mike also shared a story saying quote, "She called me one day. I had given her some money for an item at school or a function, probably a $10 bill. She called me up and said, 'Grandpa, with the change I have, can I give it to somebody else? There's somebody else who needs something.' So that's just the way she worked. It's the way she operated."
According to Abby's mother, Anna, she was the light of their lives. Abby was kind, friendly, and loyal. Anna would later say, "Every day my goal is to get up, get dressed, and go to work, and just keep moving. She was my one and only. There's a lot of things that we aren't going to have anymore. There isn't going to be a prom, there aren't going to be weddings, college. Those things that you just think you're going to be having.
The murder of these girls left a huge hole, not only within their families, but in the community of Delphi as a whole. Today, the high bridge has a whole different meaning than it did before these murders occurred. What was once a cool hangout spot for people to take photos, is now a place that holds a dark past. A place where a horrific unsolved murder took place.
Now on the bridge are photos of Abby and Libby. There are flowers, crosses, and mementos. And the fact that this case is still unsolved makes it hard for there to be any sort of closure. These young teenage girls had their entire lives ahead of them. They were loved by so many and they didn't deserve to be murdered.
And this case goes to show that there really is evil everywhere, even in small towns like Delphi, Indiana. If you have any information on...
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This case, please call the Delphi Homicide Tip Line at 844-459-5796. Or you can email your tips to abbyandlibbytip at c-a-c-o-s-h-r-f dot com.
Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you again for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. Courtney and I love y'all so much. First of all, we want to give a shout out to all of our brand new patrons this week. We have Paige, Lola Pierce, Jennifer Sims, Tommy Dodson, Melissa Garver, Sif Toplund, Canyon Olus, Dean Tate,
Wow. Wow.
And you'll find our page. We offer an ad-free version of every week's episode that we post on there right when the episode drops on all streaming platforms. So, yeah, we are so incredibly thankful that everybody is out there listening and that we've grown so much in the last year. But we want to know what y'all think about this case. We want to know who you think the lead suspect is, who you think did it.
And you can go to our social media at Murder in America, and we're going to have a discussion there where you can chime in. You can let us know your thoughts on the episode, on all of the evidence, because it really is a story that is confusing, that has no obvious end. It has no resolution. And that's always such a hard thing to grapple with, that there's somebody out there right now who knows who did it, who actually did it. The person is out there.
More than likely. And hopefully sometime in the future soon, we'll figure out who exactly did it, why, and bring them to justice. But we'll see you all next week. We love you. And thanks for listening. Catch you on the next one.