Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Teens murdered on hiking trail: Grainy photo shows suspect

Episode Date: February 21, 2017

Indiana police want to know the identity of a man photographed walking near where two teen girls were murdered on February 13. They believe he killed Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, in the small town of Delphi, Indiana. The girls were last seen in a Snapchat photo walking an abandoned railroad bridge at the end of a hiking trail. Nancy Grace looks at the mystery and speaks with an investigator in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. 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. Bodies have been positively identified as Abigail J. Williams, 13, of the Delphi area, and Liberty Rose Lynn German, 14, of the Delphi area. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. This is considered a double homicide investigation. We are asking for anyone to come forward who has information that were either on the Delphi Historic Trail yet,

that they're on Monday, especially if they were near the Monon High Bridge. They may have taken pictures where somebody might be in that photograph. We would love to have pictures of that. Now police are officially naming the man in this picture a suspect. Police hope the evidence that led them to point to this man as a suspect will continue pushing the investigation along. Two little girls decide they are going for a walk not far from home, small town Delphi, Indiana. They're even photoed in Snapchat of each other walking along a trestle

bridge. It's broad daylight, 2 p.m. on a Monday afternoon on a public thoroughfare, they're never seen alive again. I know you know the story. I'm talking about two little girls, Liberty German and Abigail Williams. They're dead, and I want answers. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us tonight. Still no new leads in the search for the killer of these two girls liberty german and abigail williams who leave as i stated around two o'clock in the afternoon to go in broad daylight

for a hike a walk that is popular with locals and it's a very small town, Delphi, Indiana. The bodies of Libby German and Abby Williams were discovered on Tuesday, only a quarter mile from an abandoned railroad bridge where they had been hiking. The day that they go missing, they start hiking around 2 o'clock, around 5, 6 o'clock. Their families know something is horribly wrong because the girls aren't coming home. And the search begins. Then we hear two bodies have been found. But are they the bodies of the two girls? Police won't say.

But in a town that small, who else could it be? Then the worst fears are confirmed. They are the bodies of the two little girls. And we all thought, was there an accident? Did they fall off the bridge? Well, what happened? Then the news got worse as we learned that it's homicide. Police issued a statement saying it's not good. And we knew then that Abigail and Liberty had been murdered. But tonight we are no closer to finding their killer than we were when their bodies were found. Before we go further, I want to thank our sponsor, SimpliSafe, for making our podcast today possible.

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So thank you, SimpliSafe. An eerie shot of Abigail walking along the bridge. Liberty German posted a shot of Abigail, a Snapchat, there on Monon High Bridge Trail, close to where they started hiking. It's the last photos of Abigail ever known. Two little girls, gone. Now, from out of nowhere, and I'd like to know from where, the photo of a white male has emerged.

And police in Delphi say this man, pictured near the Monon Bridge, where Abby and Liberty started their walk, is the main suspect in their murders. This guy, and it's hard to get, he's not standing near anything. He's walking across. It looks like an elevated bridge. So I don't have anything to compare him to. But he is a white male. He's wearing jeans, a blue jacket, and it looks like he's got a brown camouflage or a brown hoodie underneath the jacket with a shirt underneath that.

Brown shoes. Joining me right now is Alan Duke. Delphi is a small town. It's got the railroad track running through it, but that's been abandoned. And the city turned it into a hiking trail, 1.5-mile hiking trail that starts inside the city and goes all the way over to Deer Creek. It ends at the railroad bridge. This is very historic, old, 125 years. It's on the Historic Landmarks Registry, all of that. And you're not supposed to walk on the bridge. The trail actually ends at the bridge. And we do see one of these young ladies, the last picture of her, she's

actually walking across it, which is kind of dangerous, 60 feet high above the creek, not supposed to be doing that. The man was photographed by another hiker out there who was taking pictures. And they started looking at him said hey look at this and so police wanted to find out who it was because maybe he saw something he wasn't a suspect until yesterday after several days of putting the photo out there nobody came forward because the theory is if that's you and you see your photo there you say oh yeah that's me yeah uh and you go and you talk to the police it makes it very suspicious when he doesn't come forward. And that's why they've got a massive manhunt, an all-out manhunt for this man.

They don't have his name. They're not releasing a name yet if they do know it. I really believe that we're going to find out that this was not, for instance, a little boyfriend that they had been Snapchatting with or IMing, nothing like that. Because that would have already been uncovered by now. This is the work, I believe, of a grown man. The moment they saw those bodies, they knew it was homicide, that these girls had not just drowned, they had not just fallen from the train trestle.

This was no accident. It occurs to me that since these kids were Snapchatting fromting from the railroad bridge you know that's real time and it's a small town let's say just one theory here nancy that there's this pervert killer out there who stalks them watches the snapchat sees it and says and then goes out there. Maybe that's how the killer found his targets. Thousands of people lined the streets to see this child's hearse go by before she was laid to rest. I cannot even imagine the pain her family is going through. And to make matters worse, still no answers.

We are talking about Liberty and Abigail dead. Little girls, tweens essentially, one's 13, one's 14, out on a Monday afternoon just going for a walk. You know, I remember, Alan, my best friend growing up, Joy, loved to cross the street for me. We would ride bikes all day, finally come home when it was starting to get dark on Saturdays, and not think a thing about it. That was just fine. No problem. And, you know, to even get to the closest convenience store to have to ride a bike, I guess it was four or five miles away.

And no one ever thought of that being a safety issue. That's not true anymore. That is not true anymore, Alan. Nancy, on the line with us now, we've got Sergeant Tony Slocum with the Indiana State Police, and he is in Delphi, Indiana. Thank you so much for being with us. What is the latest? We're all heartbroken for these girls' families, and the only way they can move on is to get answers. What can you tell us? Well, the latest is we have identified a suspect, a male white with a pair of

blue jeans on and a dark blue jacket. It's a photograph that we distributed through the media. That person who was on, we believe to be on the trails at the time, Liberty German and Abigail Williams were murdered. And we wanted to talk to this person almost since day one. But in light of new evidence and totality of that evidence, we have determined this is one of our main suspects. How were the girls discovered? There was an organized search party looking for the young ladies. They had been missing since the day before February 13th.

They were reported missing. They were actually found on Valentine's Day, the 14th, and it was an organized search party. Members of that party actually found the young ladies near the historic Delphi Trails. How did police know immediately that this was a homicide and not an accident? Well, based on, obviously, the evidence that was located at the scene, led officers to believe that this is definitely a double homicide. Have their cell phones been confiscated and are being analyzed?

We're looking at every avenue of investigation that we can, hopefully sooner than later, to get the murderer of Abigail Williams in Liberty, Germany, into custody. How are police trying to identify this guy, photoed also on the train trestle? And where did that photo come from? Who took that snap? No, we're not saying where the photo came from. But that's the best we can provide at this time. And that's why we're asking for the public's help to call the Delphi murder tip line to hopefully give us the final piece of the puzzle to identify who this person is. Can you tell us if there are any cameras in the area that may have picked up people coming in and out of the area where they were hiking?

I'm not authorized to comment on any trails or, excuse me, any cameras that might have been on the trails. But if there are hunters who put cameras out trying to see wildlife in the area, and if they do have images on those cameras, again, we would like for them to let law enforcement know, and they can do so by calling a tip line. So just to be clear, Sergeant Slocum, you don't know the name of that person in that photo. You do not have a suspect's name. No. Unfortunately, all we have is that photo. We are not have a suspect's name? No. Unfortunately, all we have is that photo. We are asking for the public's help.

And we have set up a tip line for this case specifically. And that number is 844-459-5786, 844-459-5786. And that information can be reported anonymously through that tip line and we're trying to identify that person so if anyone has any information we would appreciate a call thank you so much for being with us it just means a lot to us to hear the latest

or at least what you can tell us and give us encouragement that there is movement in the case again thank you to our sponsor who makes our podcast possible to bring it to you. It's SimpliSafe at simplisafe.com. So many features make SimpliSafe the most awesome home alarm system. It works. It has its own cell field, which means it's not reliant on your home landline

or your cell phone. Nobody can cut your phone line and destroy or evade the system. It's $14.99 a month. And if you go to simplisafe.com slash Nancy, get another 10% off. I'm proud that there are sponsors. Thank you, SimpliSafe. You know, Alan, I've been looking at this area, and it looks like every trail, every back road I've ever seen. Tall trees on either side. There's a bend in the road that you can't see around. The railroad trestle going over some water. It's every town,

Delphi, Indiana. What's stumping me is why we can't get a line on this guy. Who is this guy? You were mentioning earlier, if he's a local, why not come forward and go, hey, that's me? Certainly the locals know who he is. How do you miss somebody in a town of less than 3,000? Somebody saw him. Somebody recognizes him. Somebody knows him. He wasn't walking right near an interstate. It's not like you can slip in and slip out without somebody seeing you.

And of course he didn't. I mean, there's a picture of him right there. At least the person they call a suspect. And they're saying he is the main suspect libby german and abigail williams did the mystery man in this photo murder these two girls now the fbi has searched a home it did not lead to an arrest that has not cheered us on at all because nothing came uh It was not fruitful. So where does that leave us?

Everyone left trying to identify this one guy in the murders of two little girls. Ellen, give us the tip line again, please. The tip line, if you saw somebody or have any information on the case, you can call the Delphi Murder Tip Line at 844-459-5786. 844-459-5786. Guys, the search for the killer of these two little girls goes on. Nancy Grace signing off. Thank you for being with us. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.