The Murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German
*Warning: This article contains disturbing details of the double murder of two teenage girls*
Delphi, Indiana, is a small town with a population of only 2,900 people. Like every other small town in America, it was a quiet and close knit community. Abigail Williams and Liberty German, were the average thirteen year old American teenagers. They were best friends who spent most of their free time together. On Sunday February 12th, 2012, the girls decided to have a sleepover since on the following day classes were not in session for a snow make-up day that had not been used up. On Monday, the girls were restless and growing increasingly bored. With little to do at home, they decided they would try and go to the historic Delphi trails. While Libby’s grandmother did not mind the girls going, she did not want to drive them. But, her sister, Kelsi, obliged to their request since was heading out to her boyfriend’s house before work anyways. The only condition was that the girls had to get a ride from someone else. To resolve this, Libby’s father, Derrick, offered to pick them up at 3:15 from the trail. After telling the girls to wear their jackets and saying “I love you” to Libby, Kelsi pulled away. Little did she know, this would be the last time she would ever be able to tell her sister she loved her.
Once at the trails, the girls decided to make their way down the trail to walk the local abandoned bridge. While the bridge was technically not open for hikers, it was the place where teenagers frequently explored. Built in the late 1890’s, the bridge was built 300 feet tall for the Monon Rail Line. But, by 2017, the bridge had been long abandoned and decrepit. The bridge was missing multiple sections of wood, making it hard to walk on. Additionally, the end of the bridge led to nowhere. Meaning, you would have to turn around and walk back across the bridge to get back on the trail. The girls were smart, independent and had walked the trail plenty of times before. Their families thought they had no reason to worry. However, they were known to have a horrible sense of direction. Nonetheless, they assumed this trip would be like any other and they would be home safe by the end of the day.
Liberty’s family structure was a little different from the American nuclear family. Liberty lives with her older sister and two grandparents, Patty and Dennis. Liberty and Kelsi’s mother, Carrie, lived about an hour away. While the reasons for these circumstances are unclear, Carrie was still close with her daughters. They were also beginning to reconnect with their father, Derick, who had been in and out of jail for most of their lives.
When Derick arrived at the trail, the girls were not where they were supposed to be. He called Libby’s grandmother in hopes she knew where Libby and Abby were, she did not. In a panic, Patty called Kelsi to help locate the girls. Kelsi assuming her grandmother was being dramatic, left work early to help find her sister, whom she believed had probably lost track of time. When Carrie was informed that her daughter and best friend were missing, she immediately knew something was wrong. To no avail, the family combed the trails while screaming for the girls. The girls were declared missing by 5:30 P.M. Shortly after, the Delphi search and rescue team sprung into action. This particular team had an excellent record for finding people in the woods. So, they began their search confident they would find the girls safe and sound. As daylight dwindled, fear began to sit in. Libby was terrified of the dark according to her sister, there was no way she would stay in the woods late at night unless something forced her to. Slowly, people began to go home to try and rest. But, there was no sleep for anyone in Delphi that night, especially for the families. Delphi was a small town with little to no crime, the citizens of Delphi were worried sick about what could have happened to the girls. The next day, Valentine’s Day 2017, the search continued. Around 2:07 P.M. on the day the girls disappeared, Libby posted a picture of Abby walking the bridge on Snapchat. This was an important piece to the investigation that helped pinpoint the girls location that afternoon. Knowing that they were close to the bridge around the time they were supposed to be picked up, people searching focused on areas near the bridge. Around noon that day, a girl’s shoe was found by a volunteer. It was not long until they found the bodies of both girls near the north bank of Deer Creek, half a mile away from the bridge. News about the girls being found spread like fire to the families. Filled with hope, they asked if they could see the girls. This moment was short lived, it did not take long for them to realized what “found” meant. Their little girls were not coming home, and their nightmare was far from over.
To this day, investigators have never released the official cause of death of both Abby and Libby. While this does sound outrageous, they are simply holding on to what little information they have in order to properly validate a future confession. However, what they have released has garnered the attention of people all over the country. While the circumstances of this are unclear, Libby began recording a man who was following them on the bridge. Many believe she understood she was unsafe and began recording to leave some sort of evidence in case her and Abby lost their ability to tell someone what happened. Regardless of her reasoning, Libby did something that has become a crucial component to the investigation. In my opinion, Liberty German died a hero. What truly horrifies me is that Abby and Libby probably knew something bad was about to happen. They were walking to the dead end part of the bridge while being followed. There was no way they could get to safety without having to pass that man. They knew they were in danger and Libby sprung into action. Most of the audio and video has not been released. However, a short clip of the man walking behind them on the bridge, along with short audio of a man saying “down the hill” was shared with the public in a desperate attempt to find who hurt the young girls. While showing the video, police instructed viewers to take note of the mannerisms displayed by the man. Their hope was that someone would recognize the way they walked and connect it to someone they knew. Contradictory to this, they said that the man was probably walking differently due to the holes on the bridge. Therefore adding another confusing layer to his identification. Along with this disturbing cell phone footage, police released two composite sketches of their person of interest. One released shortly after the murder and an updated one released 2 years later. Many were outraged claiming that the two sketches looked nothing alike, invalidating all of the searching they had done for the passed two years. However, others have discovered that when you overlap the two sketches, they are eerily similar. Based on certain information the police have been able to obtain, they believe the suspect is between the ages 18 and 40. But, he might have a face that seems younger than his actual age. They also added that due to the location of the murder, the killer most likely lives/lived in Delphi or at the very least works/worked there. Sadly, all tips about this unknown man led nowhere. However, defamation of the families was rampant for ages, breaking their hearts once more. Everyone in both families has been cleared as a suspect since early on in the investigation. But, this means nothing to the bored, cold hearted-losers who continued to tear down the families online. Additionally, there are people that believe the killer left DNA. This has never been confirmed or denied by the Delphi police department.
Something that has always intrigued me is how the second sketch was released. On April 19th, 2019, investigators told the press that they would be holding the conference on April 22nd. They said that the public was also invited to come to the conference, not just reporters. This situation was highly unusual for two reasons. The first being most press conferences are not announced that far in advance, usually they are declared shortly before they are held. Second, these events are usually only open to reporters, not the public. While it was still odd, there was clearly a method to their madness. On the night of the conference, spectators would have to follow one condition in order to sit in on the conference. Once they arrived on the 22nd, attendees would have to write their full name and address in a book.Making it abundantly clear that the police had reason to believe that the murderer would attend that evening. Hence why the conference had been announced in advance and the public was invited. Inviting the public gave him “permission” to attend, while the early announcement date ensured that the man would have ample time to arrive. When the new sketch was shared, Superintendent Doug Carter, gave one of the most chilling and emotionally charged speeches I have ever heard at a press conference. Tears stream down my face as I listen to it for the umpteenth time to write this article. During his speech, Carter speaks directly to the murderer claiming that he knows the monster is hiding in plain sight, that police have probably interviewed someone close to them, if not the murder himself. He says that he knows how badly the monster wants to know what they know, and one day he will. He follows up by calling him a coward, and asks him how his loved ones will feel when they find out what he had done. A truly chilling statement given that was sure to stick with all who heard it. I pray that this speech keeps that heartless man up at night.
While the case remains unsolved to this day, I believe that the police know a lot more than they let on. I am fairly confident that they will be able to solve this case. Hopefully, sooner rather than later. While their strategies are not known by the public, they have given me the impression that they know what they are doing, and are hopefully on the track to finding the mystery bridge man.
My Theory (Disclaimer: This is strictly my theory based on my knowledge of the case, true crime and criminal psychology. This is not the opinion of anybody else than me.):
There is some speculation that the girls knew their murderer. While anything is possible, I see this as improbable. This is based on two different things. First, I do not understand why Libby would begin secretly recording the person who was following her if she knew him. This action shows a level of discomfort of feelings of being unsafe, two feelings unlikely to be triggered by someone they knew. Additionally, if it was someone they knew, they more than likely would have been from Delphi. I struggle with the idea that four years later, a member of the Delphi community would still not be caught. The town has been haunted by the case, I cannot imagine the murderer being able to hide without being caught for this long. Not to say that it is impossible, it is possible that the girls knew him, or at the very least he was a Delphi citizen. Maybe police have had their eyes on this man but have struggled to find enough evidence for an arrest. It is always possible, but at this point I have a hard time putting much weight in it.
While it is hard to create a full theory without knowing how the girls died, I still have a theory of what I think might have happened. I believe that whoever killed the girls was a serial offender. I do not believe he had a type, but murdered victims of opportunity. While this seems unorganized, I think that this murder had been planned, adding an element of organization. I would not be surprised if the murderer was a truck driver who frequently makes deliveries in the area, making him somewhat familiar of Delphi. I think he had scoped out the park and realized it would be an excellent place for him to indulge in his sick fantasies. There are people who wonder how the murderer knew that the girls were off from school that day. I do not think he knew. I think after visiting the trail many times and aligning it to his delivery schedule, realized that a Monday would probably be quiet enough to give him the privacy needed to commit a murder. Abby and Libby were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, victims of opportunity. While I do believe he is a truck driver who travels frequently, I do have some suspicion that maybe he at least grew up in Delphi, giving him a foundational knowledge of the trails. With the little information I have, I am not sure if this is someone who has a particular pattern. But, since he has evaded capture for at least four years, I speculate his M.O. probably changes from murder to murder. Making it nearly impossible to connect the cases to each other. Similar to serial killer, Israel Keyes. Yet, I do not think this man is as intelligent as Keyes. He usually would have more detail oriented and well prepared plans. This does not seem to align with such preparation. I struggle to understand what kind of person he is, but I do not think this was his first or last time committing a murder.
Additional Information:
Click here to hear Doug Carter speak at the 2019 press conference
Listen to the podcast “Down the Hill” for an excellent detailed series about the murders
Click here to see the sketch of the suspect and audio/video evidence from Libby’s phone
If you or anyone you know has any information, contact Delphi Police Department’s homicide hotline at 844-459-5786 or your local FBI office. You can also send an email to abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com. All tips will remain anonymous and will be followed up on by investigators. These two young, innocent girls deserve justice. Keep their names alive.
