Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Suspected pedophile on cops' radar in Delphi girls murders

Episode Date: January 23, 2019

Detectives are looking into a possible connection with a man arrested on child molestation charges and in the murder of Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, in Delphi, Indiana, in February 2017.��Charles Eldridge, 46, was arrested two counties away on felony child molestation and solicitation charges on January 8. Eldridge was caught during a sting operation after he allegedly chatted with a 13-year-old girl online and arranged a meeting with her in Union City. Eldridge was actually chatting with an undercover police officer. Nancy Grace looks at the latest in the Delphi murder case with experts including Cold Case Research Institute director Sheryl McCollum, juvenile judge & lawyer Ashley Willcott, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan, and CrimeOnline reporter Leigh Egan. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Do you know another parent or a soon-to-be parent and expecting mom or dad? Please don't give them another onesie or another toy that you know is gonna end up in the garage or at the Goodwill. Give them something that matters. And what matters the most?

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Give them something that matters. Find out how to protect your child out and about at the mall, at the store, at the grocery store, in the parking lot, at home. Find out about protection regarding babysitters and daycare, even online cyber security. Oh yes, my children are online and you better bet I'm doing everything within my power to protect them. Payment starting starting $6.99. I would much rather have that than yet another plastic baby doll or, God forbid, a toy gun. Just what I don't want. Join the Justice Nation. CrimeStopsHere.com. Hello, Nancy Grace here with Crime Stories and our news update at this hour. Breaking news. The search is on for a little boy, Casey Hathaway.

Let's go quickly to the North Carolina Sheriff, Chip Hughes. One of our seriousness is we do have sinkholes in here. There are water sources in here, deep ditches. And then we've got the extreme cold temperatures that we're going to start feeling here very soon. I don't think the child was adequately clothed to be out in this. Maybe a light jacket, but certainly not prepared to get into the woods and be disoriented. You are hearing the Craven County, North Carolina Sheriff Chip Hughes. We need your help and your prayers right now.

Tip line 252-633-0498 or 919-662-4500. The search for this little boy, this three-year-old baby boy, is going on right now. The search for Casey Hathaway is happening now. As we speak, as we go to air, over 50 volunteers are out looking for the three-year-old tot in Craven County. He was playing with two other children in the backyard before he allegedly just disappeared. The grandma and others immediately went out searching for baby Casey. They looked for 45 minutes before calling 911. Casey is 2 feet 4 inches. He weighs just 25 pounds.

He has strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes. He is a little angel. Residents in the area, please help us. We're talking about Ernold, north carolina where he has gone missing uh last thing wearing a blue coat and dark colored pants guys help us help us if you have information call 2526-330-498 we can always use your prayers straight out to karen smith forensics expert joining me out of Florida on The Search. Karen, what should they be doing right now?

Well, unfortunately, we're dealing with a 45-minute window, and I'm not blaming anyone. That's a long time to wait before calling 911 with a missing 3-year-old boy, and that took away the sheriff's office lead. Right now, I don't have any indications of an abduction, but you have to leave that on the table as well. I don't know if indications of an abduction, but you have to leave that on the table as well. I don't know if this little boy is lost. As the sheriff said, if he's fallen into a place where he can't get out, I don't know. What they need to do is a serious sweep starting from the house outwards for at least a couple of miles at this point.

I don't know if they've interviewed the other two children that were in the yard, if they saw him wander off, or if they saw a stranger come into the yard. That's something they're going to have to find out. But right now, time is of the essence. Please help us find this little boy. Officials say the grandmother and others searched 45 minutes before calling 911. He seemingly disappeared from Grandma's backyard. Karen Stark, psychologist, joining me from New York right now. She's at karen stark psychologist joining me from new york right now at she's at karenstark.com karen oh those 45 minutes oh those 45 minutes if i could get those 45 minutes back

you know the grandma don't you know was just thinking oh he just wandered away i can call him it'll come right back you can just imagine how she panicked, Nancy, and just kept looking, thinking this can't be real. I can really understand how that happened, even though those 45 minutes are so crucial to finding him. And the family, I feel like the best thing they could be doing right now is going out there and looking and getting involved so that they're not sitting home and with other people. I'm just scared to death, Karen Stark and Karen Smith, because it's just reminding me so much of Samantha Runyon, as you recall, playing in her grandma's front yard when she was abducted. Karen Smith, it's really hard to interview and get information out of children

that are two and three years old or younger. But I agree with you. What did they see? Which way did he go? Did he wander out? Did someone drive up and get him? I mean, for all I know, grandma could have had her back turned five minutes

cooking lunch or dinner. And the next thing you know, she turns around and he's gone. And that's exactly the way it happens. You see them one moment and the next thing you know, she turns around and he's gone. And that's exactly the way it happens. You see them one moment and the next, they're gone. They're gone in 60 seconds, Karen Smith. They sure are. You know, children don't have a sense of place. They know that they want to wander into a neighbor's yard or somebody comes up and,

God forbid, somebody offered him a toy or candy. Listen, you can interview children. Three-year-olds are capable of verbal speech and they're also capable of telling you whether a stranger was in the yard. There are specialists, social workers out there that are trained to deal with children. They just have to ask the right question. You're right. You're right. Tip line 252-633-0498. Take a listen to our friend Stacia Strong at WITN-TV. Listen. They have been focusing their search efforts in the woods out behind the child's house. They have been brought in a helicopter from the highway patrol in Raleigh.

They are using heat-heating technology to see if they can find him in these very dense woods. They also have brought out all the stops. Sheriff Hughes says all of his deputies from patrol, all of his investigators are working against the clock. They said this is a very serious situation right now. At this hour, we don't know how the child was dressed. We expect the temperatures to be dipping downwards. Tip line 919-662-4500 or 252-633-0498. For this and all breaking crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. CrimeOnline.com. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

This morning, Delphi police hope three words will help them find the person who murdered two Delphi teens. Yeah, it turns out Libby German actually used her cell phone to record what was happening to her and Abby Williams last Monday. Police aren't releasing everything that she taped, but they are releasing this phrase that the person said to them down the hill. Authorities looped the audio four times. We're going to play it for you right now. Please listen closely to see if you recognize this voice. The Carroll County Sheriff's Department are setting to regroup and start to search back up for two missing girls. 13-year-old Abigail Williams and Liberty German were reported missing yesterday. The family dropped them off to go hiking near High Bridge. When the girls didn't show up for their arranged pickup time, family and friends started a search. They were last seen yesterday afternoon. Police, sheriffs, firefighters

and the Department of Natural Resources are all involved in the search for those teenagers right now. Is there breaking news in the search for two little Delphi girls, Liberty German and Abigail Williams? Repeat, is there breaking news? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. In the last hours, we understand that cops are now hunting a 2017 killer of these two little girls, and they are specifically looking at a, quote, child molester about 100 miles away because of the incredible similarity between his mugshot in a previous child molestation and the sketch of the suspect. The suspect taken from a cell phone snap taken by one of the little girls on that bridge in Delphi. Repeat, looking at a guy that is about 100 miles away, comparing his rap sheet bookend

photo to the guy on the bridge last seen with Liberty and Abigail. It's been a long time coming to Cheryl McCollum, director of the Cold Case Research Institute, CSI expert. Cheryl, what do you make of it? Well, the resemblance is uncanny. And not only that, you've got somebody that has harmed children. On top of, he likes to hike. He's known to go in the woods and, you know, take these little trips. And he obviously has targeted children.

Nancy, that's how he came on the radar. He was arrested for trying to meet up with a 13-year-old, he thought, to have sex with her. And it was an undercover police officer. Well, you know what? We are talking about a guy about 100 miles away. Now, can he be connected to the deaths of Liberty German and Abigail Williams? Straight out to Lee Egan, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Lee, start at the beginning. What do we know about this guy?

Well, Nancy, his name is Charles Eldridge. He's 46 years old. And like you said, he was around 100 miles away from Delphi, Indiana, in Union City, Indiana, and authorities arrested him on a sting. They were posing as a 13-year-old girl on social media. He went to the site to meet this girl, and he met police instead, and then after his arrest, the suspect reportedly admitted to engaging in sex acts with a different child under 13 on multiple different occasions in the past. Guys, take a listen to our friends at WPTA-TV. Randolph County police have arrested a man on child molestation charges.

Shortly after midnight, police brought in 46-year-old Charles Eldridge of Union City and what they called a successful sting operation. Eldridge had been talking to an undercover detective posing as a 13-year-old girl on social media, agreeing to meet up to have sex. Instead, he was greeted by police who took him to the county jail for an interview. Eldridge admitted to having met up with a different 13-year-old child and engaging in sex acts on multiple occasions. He's being held on no bond pending an initial court appearance. Now, according to our friends at WPTA-TV, you just heard that was on a different offense.

But is there any connection between this guy, Charles Eldridge, and the murders of Liberty German and Abby Williams? I want to go back to the time that they disappeared off of that bridge in Delphi. And now it's synonymous with their deaths. Straight out to Cheryl McCollum, Cold Case Research Institute director. At that time, recall, Cheryl, when we were all together at CrimeCon last year and we had on all the families. Let's start at the beginning. Right now, this is our very best lead.

And I'll tell you, Ashley Wilcott, let me go to you, juvenile judge, lawyer. You can find her at Ashleyhewilcott.com. The resemblance in his bookend photo and the photo of the guy on the bridge is uncanny. As a matter of fact, last night, Cheryl McCollum and I were on the phone in the dark talking about this guy. And in one of his photos, Ashkin, I want you to look it up if you can get to your iPad in a photo that he himself posted. It's of him, I think, standing in a kitchen and he's got on blue jeans and they're ripped at the knees. I'm looking at that compared to the bridge in Delphi that one of these poor little murdered girls snapped just before her death of this guy walking toward them. I swear, it looks like the same blue jeans even. So, Ashley, what do you make of their similarities,

his mugshot and the guy on the bridge? So, I've looked at the pictures. I completely agree with you. He looks so similar. He could be the one who committed this heinous crime. Now, having said that, at a minimum, Nancy, at a minimum, thank God this investigation is proceeding the way it is in terms of suspects to be considered to find the person who did it, but he could be the man. You know, the nose, the eyes, the hair, the face. I mean,

he's got a very unique nose, Cheryl McCollum. It almost looks like somebody punched him in the nose and flattened it out, and it stayed that way. The facial hair above the lip, down around like a would-be goatee. The hair, I mean, okay, I'm getting carried away on the comparison of the mugshot versus the guy on the bridge. And just imagine, everybody, go back in time with me, just a short while. These two little girls are out walking around a park, okay? They're on a bridge, a very popular bridge hangout for tweens. They see a guy walking toward them. Their family's coming to pick them up in about an hour. And for some reason, they get a feeling, and they take a picture of this guy coming toward them on the bridge.

And one of them has a wherewithal to record what's happening. I'm thinking her cell phone was in her pocket. And he's going below the bridge, down below the bridge, telling them where to go. He must have had something in his pockets, because in that photo, as he walks toward them, his hands are in his pocket, something like a knife or a gun. Cheryl McCollum, you are the expert of the crime scene. Tell me what happened then. Nancy, he leads both of them down the embankment and that's where the murders occurred. But there's something else I want people to look at about this

particular guy. The man on the bridge has what I think looks like almost a fanny pack on. And you and I talked a year ago where I think that's where he had either the zip ties or a weapon or something. Easy access right there to his right hand. There's a Halloween photograph of this man where he's dressed in like, he's got the knife, he's got the Velcro patches like the thin blue line. That's no Halloween costume. He already owned that stuff. And on each side of him is a pack. So again, we know this guy hunts. We know this guy's a child predator. We know he has a knife. What they have got to do is get in his cell phone and his computer because on his Facebook page he posts about the Delphi murders. Find out where this guy was Valentine 2017. What happened? Tell me that day from the time they got there for dinner. Well, they went upstairs.

Of course, Abby came bringing in a big oak tote of paint. Yeah, they were going to paint. Of course, Libby's room wasn't nearly as organized as Abby's. Her stuff's everywhere. It still is. He walked through, and you find some paint here, and you find some paint there, and all of her other stuff. So they went upstairs, and they've uh of course you know how

kids do they take lots of selfies and videos and so we know what they were doing that night because libby did some videos and of abby they're painting and and we there is there is a canvas there of where they started a new painting. It said chocolate. Imagine that. Is it even spelled right? I can't remember. There was something wrong with one of the letters. So they were up in the room doing their thing, and, of course, they're up half the night,

girls' stuff, girls talking and whatever. You were hearing me talking with Libby's grandma, Becky Patty, about the girls' sleepover the night before they went missing. And my daughter's right there at that age. loves having sleepovers, having friends over, and they stay up all night painting and laughing and doing crafts and playing Nerf battles, the works. And I love hearing bursts of laughter coming out of their room. And I'm just thinking back on these two, Liberty German and Abigail Williams, the night before having their spend the night party. You know, it's interesting, Ashley Wilcott, judge and lawyer at AshleyWilcott.com. It seems as if the family, these two girls, they want to live in the world before the girls were

murdered. That's what they want to talk about. The night before, all their, I think it was softball, and their activities and how smart they were and how great they were doing at school. That's what they want to talk about. They don't want to talk about that they were murdered. Sure, Nancy, and that's not atypical. I see it on the bench all the time because that's called survival. You've lost the most important thing to you in the world.

Survival is you want to remember the good. You want to remember the laughter you just described. You want to remember all of the positive because the aftermath is too horrific. You cannot live in that all of the time and survive. No, you can't. Is there a break in the case? Let's retrace what happened the night before they had the spend the night party together then came that morning. They slept in and they got up, I don't know, it was 9 30 10 o'clock and they had pancakes for

breakfast, brunch and they came out and said we want something to do. Well, my office is at home. The dreaded words, what can we do now? And that was Libby all time. If she had to sit still for five minutes, are we going to do something this weekend? Are we going to, you know, what are we doing? What's plans? So we were quite busy with her. And I said, you know what? I got some files that need to be filed. Do you want to make some money? But they were out there working away. And especially if you said, I'll take you shopping. You do this for me, I'll take you shopping. So they were out there. And Kelsey, Libby's sister, come out and said hey i'm i'm gonna stop by a friend's house for a little bit and then i have to be at work for libby that's all it took she jumped up

and said hey because it was a beautiful day it was a you know hey action drop us off at hey we and she and i said well what about this filing okay we'll this filing? Okay, we'll do it later. I promise. We'll do it later. And so I said, well, that's fine. She said, can Kelsey drop us off at the trails? And I said, well, okay, but I'm busy. You're going to have to get a ride home. And the morning was normal. And what's significant to me about that? To forensics expert, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University,

and author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, death investigator Joseph Scott Morgan joining me was also very critical about what the family just said about that morning. The girls weren't living on social media. They weren't glued to their iPads playing some crazy game on musical or TikTok. They were painting and playing. And when they heard somebody was leaving the house, that's all it took. Hey, I'm going. So that says to me, they were not plotting to meet somebody on the Delphi Bridge. They were really just going outside to a tween hangout, Joe Scott Morgan. Yeah, I think that that is significant, Nancy. And also, maybe their social media footprint wasn't as large as some other people is. And therefore, you might not have somebody that's just stalking them online.

But the fact that they wanted to go out, they wanted to go out, they wanted to take their play outside, They wanted to go to these trails. I think that that is significant because maybe, just maybe, the killer was kind of lying in wait out there, which seems to be the case. Yeah, and you know, to Cheryl McCollum, Cold Case Research Institute Director,

Cheryl, we've said all along, it had to be somebody that knew about the bridge at Delphi. It's an old train trestle that is no longer used for trains. You see them, they were all over where I grew up. And we were always told not to play on them because we were, my parents were afraid we'd jump off of them. But these girls apparently knew not to jump off the train trestle. And all the kids went out there. So this is somebody that knows about the train trestle and all the kids went out there so this is somebody that knows about the train

trestle but someone that may not live in that town that anyone would recognize the picture which fits with this guy Nancy I think it's really important to focus on what Joe Scott was just saying if you look at his clothing versus their clothing like Libby's just got on a white jacket and a shirt this guy's got on gloves and an undershirt and an over shirt and a coat a hoodie and a hat he's got the hat on like been right he's been out there laying in wait this absolutely looks like a crime of opportunity whoever Whoever came along was going to be his victim. I want you to take a listen as I'm talking to Abby's mom, that's Abigail Williams, out with Liberty German the day the two little girls were murdered and I think sex assaulted

because sex assault is the motive in practically every stranger on child abduction or attack. They just haven't released it, is my thought. Take a listen to Abby's mom, Anna Williams, talking to me about picking up basically where Becky Patty left off. So did she go? Did you take her to the park to meet up? Yeah, I picked Libby up and we'd take her. What time of the day was it? The day before?

Oh, it was kind of like the weather out here. It was not the nicest day. It was kind of windy and overcast. It was probably about 1.30 or 2 o'clock. So still daylight? Oh, yeah. Then what happened? So we'd gone to the house and gathered up her things and I dropped them off.

And she spent the night. And I worked two jobs at that time, so I was finishing up my shift at the nursing home, and she had texted me and said, is it okay if I stay for dinner? And this is like at 1230, and I said, well, that's fine. And this was at your house? Yeah, she was at their house, and I said, well, that's fine, but I have to be at my other job at 4.

So if you can't stay until 8, and somebody can't, you know, it's going to be one of those deals. Either you stay until I can get off of work or, you know, Kelsey's come back to town or they're, you know, want to get rid of you. They'll have to drop you off at the house because I can't get you. And she said, it's fine. So I said, okay. Right now, cops hunting the 2017 killer of two little girls on Indiana rail tracks there in Delphi. They've been taking a very hard look at a, quote, child molester about 100 miles away after the public spots the uncanny similarity between this guy, Charles Eldridge, 46 years old, mugshot, and a suspect sketch drawn from an actual photo taken by the two

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Go to truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy right away to start searching. Truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy. Truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy. Truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy. Find the truth. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Do you know someone who matches the description both of the person in the picture as well as that audio? Someone who may be similar

in those regards. Also, do you know someone who may have drastically tried to change their appearance recently? Perhaps they've tried to cut their hair or started to wear different clothing. Also consider this. Do you know someone who is a different mood recently? Perhaps they've grown to be really obsessed with this case or they just simply want to dramatically tune it out and know nothing about it. Lastly, do you know someone who missed an appointment perhaps last Monday or last Tuesday or was late for it? Any combination of things like that, police say, could make all the difference in making an arrest in this case. This all comes, this latest development comes, as this community here in Delphi tries to move on and put this case behind them.

Hundreds turned out for a vigil last night here in downtown Delphi tries to move on and put this case behind them. Hundreds turned out for a vigil last night here in downtown Delphi at the courthouse to try to pray for the victim's families and pray for a quick arrest in this case and for that feeling of safety to return here in the small town. The phone was running. She might have a lot of stuff on there. We don't know yet. You know, she had to be feeling threatened enough to have the wherewithal to start videoing this man that was walking. Our friends at WTHR-TV, that's Ben Hill and Julia Moffitt, talking about the audio captured by Libby, Liberty German, just before her murder. That video, that audio is critical in this case.

When a suspect is developed, and God willing, he will be, he can be forced, pursuant to search warrant. Isn't that right, Ashley Wilcott, judge, lawyer, ashleywilcott.com? He can be forced, pursuant to search warrant, to give a voice exemplar, where he speaks many, many words, sentences, phrases, including down the hill, down the hill, down the hill, just as if you get a search warrant for somebody's home or car or trailer or curtilage, which is the surroundings of the home, or a search warrant for somebody's blood. So you can do DNA or their hair or their fingerprint. You can do that under search warrant law.

You can be forced to give a voice exemplar. Ashley Wilcott, correct? Absolutely, Nancy. And so there has to be probable cause. And I would submit in this case, given the stark resemblance to the picture taken by the two girls who were murdered, as well as his propensity and admission to like underage girls, there's probable cause. Police have announced that a widely circulated photo of the main suspect in a double homicide of two Indiana teenagers was taken by one of the victims before she was killed. On February 14th, the bodies of Liberty German and Abigail Williams were found one day after they were reported missing. At a

press conference on Wednesday, police announced that Liberty not only took the photo of the male suspect, but she also recorded a video moments before her death. That includes audio of a man talking, although officials are unsure whether the voice belongs to the suspect. But Liberty was hailed as a hero by the Indiana State Police for her quick thinking. While police initially did not suspect foul play in the girls' disappearance, they later announced that the girls were the victims of a double homicide. Authorities have not yet discussed a motive.

The superintendent of the Indiana State Police addressed the suspect directly at Wednesday's press conference. He said, quote, If you're watching, we'll find you. Our friend at People Magazine, Kevin O'Connell, reporting. Now, I don't get this. Officials are not sure the voice belongs to the suspect. What?

Director of Cold Case Research Institute, Cheryl McCollum, with me. Of course it's him. Who else is ordering the girls down the hill, down the hill? They were found murdered, quote, down the hill. Of course it's him. Oh, the voice is the killer. There's no question about it, Nancy. And you're absolutely right about getting any suspect to say those faithful words.

They're going to do that. And here's one more thing I just want to say. Let's say it's not this guy. What's the worst that's going to happen? We now know what another child predator looks like. Good. Show his face everywhere. Because even if he's not the Delphi killer, he's somebody we need to be worried about. We're talking about Charles Eldred. He was arrested in Union City, Indiana on child molestation, and that was a sting operation. I mean, realistically speaking, to Ashley Wilcott, judge and lawyer, if the cops finally get him on a sting, how many other young girls have been molested by him and he really doesn't make any secret of it he kind of brags about having as he says quote sex with other

13 year old girls that's actually statutory rape i don't know what he's thinking but this guy practically brags about it so you know i always say you don't go from zero to 120 MPH overnight. Whoever did this to Liberty and Abigail has a track record, Ashley Wilcott. Oh, a thousand percent. And again, we see this all the time and statistically. So this man that they're now questioning is in his 40s. He has been doing this, I promise you, as a perpetrator, as a pedophile, for a very, very long time. The one who committed these crimes, whether it's him or someone else, has been doing this for a long time. This is not the first occasion.

For nearly a year and a half, people in law enforcement have been desperately looking for this man. It's basically just a clear picture of his face. A sketch of a suspect authorities believe may be responsible for the murder of Abby Williams and Lily German in Delphi, a crime that devastated Carroll County. Yeah, we do take it personally. We don't know what's happened here. It just kind of floors you. It just, it mummifies you. Now, again, attention on this case is sharpened following the arrest of a man in Randolph County who bears a striking resemblance to the Delphi suspect. Charles Eldridge was arrested in Union City about two and a half hours away from Delphi, charged with child molestation. You are hearing our friend at WTHR-TV, Alan Carter, reporting on Charles Eldridge. And now take a listen as he talks with Abby's

mother, Anna Williams, and Libby's grandfather, Mike Patty. Eldridge's case has been forwarded to the FBI and state police. Investigators tell me it's still too early to make any connection and are not calling Eldridge a person of interest, only that they investigate all leads that come to them, reminding that they've had leads that come to them, reminding that they've had nearly half a dozen individuals reported to them based on resemblance, most notably Daniel Nations, a registered sex offender arrested in Colorado. State police later determined that Nations is not a suspect. In talking to the girls' families in the past, they've said that they pray for answers but can't get too hopeful over each lead. Every time something like this comes up, we hope and we pray and we hope and

we pray some more. This tip here just happened to become publicized, you know, where we've had 26,000 other tips that maybe didn't get the publicity that this one did. So let's let the professionals do this job. Our friends at WTHR-TV, Alan Carter talking with Abby and Liberty's family. From what we know, there were no cameras at the entrance of that wilderness park. There were no cameras near that abandoned train trestle, nor were there cameras such as around a red light near the park. So we don't believe any other evidence was received electronically or by camera. And speaking of cameras, I love security systems for reasons just like that. And in your home, when do you want to spot a burglar? When he's looking at your home, casing it, or after

he's putting his foot in your kitchen window already in. You can ask John. His Blink camera alerted him of burglars trying to break in while he and his family were home. Or Shannon, her Blink camera caught a thief stealing packages. Both times, Blink video clips sent to police to help convict the crooks. Blink motion-activated indoor-outdoor cameras, wire-free, set up in minutes, run on two AA batteries that last up to two years. And if you're traveling, Blink's live feed option lets you monitor your home and check in on pets from anywhere using the Blink smartphone app. No contract, subscription, neither one.

And they're totally affordable. Blink works with Alexa. Blink camera system make great gifts. They're a brilliant way to monitor package deliveries. Go to BlinkProtect.com slash Nancy. BlinkProtect.com slash Nancy. BlinkProtect.com slash Nancy. Blink is an Amazon company. So Kelsey took them and dropped them off. It's just getting me so upset because, and I've even done it, I go, okay, they'll be okay for 30 minutes.

It's just 30 minutes. I'll run to Kroger and I'll come back, it's 30 minutes. And then I'm nut up the whole time. So an hour and a half, that was it. So they go. We drop, Kelsey dropped them off. What's your last memory of her?

She was standing at the door of the office with this smile that she has. And I said, it could be a little chilly out there. You get a jacket. She said, Grandma. I said, I told you, get a jacket. She just looked at me and smiled and said, I'll be okay. It's okay, Grandma. And she turned around and walked out.

My last memories of her standing at my office door telling me it's okay. I'm not going to get cold. So that's my last memory. You are hearing me talking to Libby's grandma, Becky Patty, with whom she lived. This is Libby's grandfather, Mike. When was the next time? What was the next thing you heard? Tell me from your point of view. Well, again, these times are going to be close because we've been scrutinized on many times. I mean, it's all approximations.

Again, they were probably dropped off around 1.30 timeframe. Derek called them about a quarter after 3. Now, who's that? Derek is the dad who's going to pick them up. Yep. So about a quarter after 3, he calls them. No answer. To tell them, hey, I'm just about there. Come pick me up, you know, or come to the car.

And continues to call. So he's there. He gets there. He's pulling up. Yeah, yes. Pulling up at this, what we call trailhead, you know, a little area to park. So he said he got out and was walking, you know, trying to text him.

And about 3.30 or so, he called Becky and said, hey, I can't get a hold of Libby. She's not answering. Give her a call. And so she tried calling. And then our daughter, Tara, tried calling. So everybody's texting and calling calling and she's not returning that's way out of character i mean you know kids they have their phone that is there that's it and uh so becky called me probably about a quarter till four so i was at work in lafayette and said hey libya's not answering something's wrong we're heading out

there it's just not doesn't seem right i said okay i said i'll head that way just thinking okay at work in Lafayette and said, hey, Libby's not answering. Something's wrong. We're heading out there. It just doesn't seem right. I said, okay. I said, I'll head that way, just thinking, okay. First thing that goes, they've hooked up with some boys. They're out doing stuff. They're not answering their phone because they don't want to get caught. And then so by 4 o'clock, most of the family is there.

When did you realize something was not right at all? Well, our whole family was out there looking. We all left. Tara, my daughter, went straight over there. Derek was there. My other son come pulling in as I was leaving, and he said, what are you doing? I said, we're going to go look for the girls. So he jumped in the car with me. We drove. If they would have decided to walk home, we drove both directions that they would have gone, both routes. We got there. We had six cars there. We were taking over everything.

We split up. We walked all the trails. Cody and Kelsey went across the bridge. They went across and up to the road and up to the houses up there. Were the sheriffs there yet? Not yet. By this time, it was a little after 5. Was it getting dark yet?

Not yet, it wasn't. But I knew it was going. And I was on the phone most of the time with AT&T trying to get them to ping her phone. And they won't do it. I was just going to ask, will they do that, Vincent? I don't think they'll just do it when you ask. No, not right off the bat. Right now, a furor over the public identifying in intense similarities

between the book and photo of a 46-year-old confessed child molester, Charles Eldridge, who lived about 100 miles away from Delphi. He lived in Union City. That mugshot compared to the sketch of the man on the bridge approaching the girls just before their murders. I want to go out to Lee Egan, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. What, if anything, are Delphi police saying about this guy, Charles Eldridge? Currently, zero evidence that ties him, but that's currently. They are still looking, still investigating. They're not going to tell us anything unless they do find something.

But he has not been cleared of the suspect. They are looking into him as far as they can. Right. Cheryl McCollum, director of the cold case research institute what does that mean that's cop talk translate it just means that they are not going to go forward and let anybody know a thing that they have until they are ready to make an arrest they're going to hold everything close to the chest and as soon as they know that they are going to make an arrest they're going to let everybody know. You know what else, Cheryl? I'm looking at the picture. Even the eyebrows are the same shape as his,

Charles Eldridge's eyebrows. Even the eye, if you look at the left eye, the left eye, go with me, Cheryl, go with me. Look at his left eye compared to the slant of the one in the sketch. Look at his left eye compared to the slant of the one in the sketch. Look at it. Like you said earlier, the hair, red hair, that's going to reduce your suspect pool dramatically. How many child molesters have red hair?

How many are going to have a nose like that, eyebrows like that, lines in their cheek like that? I mean, it is uncanny, the resemblance. But again, here's what they're going to do. They're going to make sure they got this guy, whoever the killer is, dead to right before they make an announcement. To Joseph Scott Morgan, forensics expert, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, and professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University. Joe Scott, how can they do that? How can they get an airtight lock? Hey, you know what, Nancy? I'm really excited about the image that they have and being able to compare photographically. I knew you were

going to have a butt. You know, you never have any good news, Joe Scott Morgan, because everything you say, there's always a but. I was just waiting for it. Okay, give me the but. This but is fantastic news. I'm more interested in, at a molecular level, what created these features. And that's going to be the tieback, Nancy, his DNA. He had contact with these girls.

Now, as you stated many times, the motivation behind these attacks is in fact sexual. If he performed an act with them and left some type of DNA behind, coupling that also with the suspect that they have that has freely admitted that he has engaged in sexual activity. I'm wondering in those arrests, did they do DNA swabs? Many times that they're a registered sex offender, that has to happen. And then you compare all of that with the suspect that they have. Now, I think that that is going to be key here. Remember back last summer when we were up in Nashville at CrimeCon, even the family said they knew more at that point in time. But out of respect for the police and the investigation, they weren't saying anything else.

I think a lot of this has to go tie back to the manner and cause of death, as well as what happened in that attack. I think the cops are playing it close to the vest, like Cheryl said. And I think that they've got a wellspring of evidence in this case. So what time did they let you know the next day they had found the girls? I think we all were at various points. I'd actually gotten in a canoe and floated down the creek for probably half a mile. I'd just gotten out, gotten back to the fire station. They were doing a very coordinated search, probably half a mile. I'd just gotten out, gotten back to the fire station. Becky was,

they were doing a very coordinated search and that's how they worked at starting the next morning where hundreds and hundreds of people were showing up and they would send out groups with some sort of law official, whether it was, you know, somebody from the fire station, because you can't just trespass on people's property, you know, if you do it correctly. Yeah, I remember that there was a search warrant executed on the person's home and property right near where the girls were found. Everybody immediately thought, wow, that must be the purse or the perp, but not necessarily. That's just where were you when you learned that?

I was searching. We were all in different, we were all split up because, well, he was in a canoe. I was in a group that wasn't even close at the time, but a friend of ours was with one of the groups that found them, and his wife was with us, and he called her. They told me that they found him, but that's all they would tell me at that time. That's all that they would tell them because the two little girls were murdered. If you have information, please call 844-459-5786.

Repeat, 844-459-5786. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.