Season 2 Episode 8 - Snapchat Delphi Murders
Two lives were taken from us way too early in February 2017. The bodies of Abby and Libby were found near an old abandoned railroad bridge a day after they went missing and they may have taken a picture of their murderer with their phone.
If you have any information about this case please contact:
Tip Line: (844) 459-5786
Indiana State Police: (800) 382-7537
Carroll County Sheriff: (765) 564-2413
Email: Abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com
Episode Begins here
On February 14th 2017 two beautiful young lives were taken from us. The bodies of Abigail J. "Abby" Williams and Liberty Rose Lynn "Libby" German were found on a hiking trail in Delphi, Indiana after having gone missing the day before.
A picture of their murderer may have been taken by Liberty on her phone the day of their disappearance. She may have also recorded his voice.
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Libby German posted a series of eerie Snapchat photos on the abandoned Monon High Bridge right before they vanished. In one of the photos you can see Abby walking on the bridge. In the background, if you look closely, you can see the figure of someone else walking towards the girls.
The police have no active suspects in this case. Three men have been investigated in connection with this crime, but none are considered viable suspects.
What happened on that fateful day?
Who are the men who have been investigated?
At 1:45 p.m. on February 13, 2017 the girls were dropped off by Libby's older sister Kelsi at an abandoned railway bridge where they planned to go hiking. At 2:07 pm the series of social media photos, mentioned earlier, were posted to Libby's Snapchat. A short time after this picture of Abby walking on the bridge was taken, a closer shot of the man walking on the bridge was taken on Abby's phone but not uploaded to Snapchat. This picture would then be followed by the deep haunting voice recording, of presumably the man in the picture, saying to the girls "Down the Hill."
The girls were reported missing at 5:30 pm the same day, after they failed to arrive at the designated pick up point. A search party was formed and called off at 11:45 pm the same night, although family members continued to scour the area well past this time.
Authorities at first did not suspect foul play as there was yet no evidence pointing in that direction. That completely changed the next day when the bodies of Abby and Libby were found around 12:45pm, approximately ½ a mile from the bridge in a secluded spot.
The police have not publicly stated how the girls were murdered, only that is was indeed a homicide.
On February 15th the police released the photo found on Libby's phone and initially said the person was wanted for questioning, but did not designate him as a suspect until a few days later. Authorities have indicated that more evidence relating to the suspect was found on the phone but have not released or talked about exactly what that evidence is.
A composite sketch of the suspect was released on July 17, 2017. He is described as a white male between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing between 180 and 220 pounds with reddish-brown hair.
There have been 3 persons of interest that the police and FBI have looked into as possibly being involved in the murders. Here are those 3:
Daniel J. Nations is a registered sex offender in Indiana who was arrested in Woodland Park, Colorado on September 2017 for threatening people with a hatchet on a Monument hiking trail. Nations was driving a car with expired Indiana plates at the time of his arrest. A bicyclist was also fatally shot on the trail around the same time Nations was allegedly threatening people. An El Paso County Sheriff's official told reporters there are "many similarities" between the cases but stated that Indiana investigators did not want any more information released.
Daniel Nations was sentenced to three years probation on January 5, 2018, for the charge of threatening hikers in Colorado, but he remains in police custody because he has an active warrant from another county. Nations was transferred to Indiana custody on an unrelated charge on January 24, 2018.
In early February 2018, police announced that Nations was no longer considered an active person of interest in the Delphi murders.
Thomas Bruce
Thomas Bruce is an unemployed former pastor who entered a Catholic Supply store in St. Louis County, Missouri on November 19, 2018, sexually assaulted two women, and shot a third one when she refused to undress at his command. Bruce has a similar height (5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall) and wore a flat cap and navy blue jacket during this attack similar to the person of interest in the Delphi case. Police explored his possible connection with the Delphi case in November. In December 4, Bruce was charged with 17 felony counts related to the St. Louis case and could be given the death penalty.
Charles Eldridge
Charles Andrew Eldridge, 46, was arrested on January 8 during an undercover sting in Union City, Indiana, after he arranged to have sex with a Randolph County Police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl. After his mugshot was circulated in the local news, residents of Indiana began calling in to the tip line at the Carroll County Sheriff's Department. A multi-investigative team in Delphi, Indiana, comprised of the FBI, local and state police opened an investigation into whether or not Charles was involved in the murders of Abby and Libby.
As of the recording of the podcast, all 3 are no longer considered to be persons of interest.
This case is still open and not considered a cold case. Authorities are actively following up on leads and investigating those who may have knowledge of the double murder.
As Mike Patty, Libby's grandfather, told the Lafayette Journal & Courier: "Someone knows something"
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My name is Victor and this has been another episode of Clouded, where internet meets mystery