Murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German

Murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German
Date February 14, 2017 (2017-02-14)
Location Delphi, Indiana, United States
Type murder
Casualties
Abigail Williams
Liberty German
Deaths 2
Arrest(s) 0
Suspect(s) 1

On February 14, 2017, the bodies of Abigail "Abby" Williams and Liberty "Libby" German were discovered on an American hiking trail in Delphi, Indiana, after the young girls had disappeared from the same trail the previous day. The murders have received significant media coverage due to the fact that a photo and audio recording of a man believed to be girls' murderer was found on the cell phone of German. Despite the photo and audio recording of the suspect being released to the public by police, and an estimated 18,000 tips being sent to police, no arrests have been made in the case.[1][2][3]

Murders

At 1 p.m. on February 13, 2017, friends 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German were dropped off by a family member at an abandoned bridge where they planned to go hiking. The girls were reported missing at 5:30 p.m. after they did not arrive to be picked up from the bridge. Authorities initially did not suspect foul play was involved in the disappearance until the bodies of the girls were found at noon the next day, about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the bridge.[4]

Police have not publicly stated how the girls were murdered.[5]

Investigation

On February 15, police released a photo of a man they wanted to speak to about the murders, but did not officially identify him as a suspect until February 19. Police later released an audio recording of him saying, "Down the hill".[4] The photo and voice recording were taken from German's cell phone. Authorities have indicated that more evidence relating to the suspect was found on the phone, but it will not be released so as not to "compromise any future trial".[1] As of June 16, police had received an estimated 18,000 tips, with four to five new tips coming in daily.[1]

Police released a composite sketch and description of the suspect on July 17. He is described as a white male between 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) and 5 feet 10 inches (178 cm) tall, weighing between 180 (82 kg) and 220 pounds (100 kg) with reddish brown hair.[6]

Unrelated murder arrest

On August 2, 2017, a man named Kevin Sellers was called into the Cass County Sheriff's Office after a tip came in linking him to the Delphi murders. The tip mentioned that Sellers had "killed his uncle some years before and had gotten away with it". After being questioned about the Delphi murders, Sellers was questioned about the murder of his uncle, David Sellers, on November 8, 2007 in Logansport and immediately confessed.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Peters, Trevor (June 16, 2017). "Police: Delphi homicides far from cold case; 18K tips received". WISH-TV. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  2. ↑ Shapiro, Emily. "Indiana teens' mysterious murders still unsolved 2 months later, leaving fear, frustration in Delphi". ABC News. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  3. ↑ Lewbel, Paris; Sanchez, Rafael; Cox, Katie (April 25, 2017). "Delphi: The Investigation". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  4. 1 2 "TIMELINE - Disappearance and deaths of Liberty German and Abigail Williams in Delphi". FOX 59. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  5. ↑ Mack, Justin. "2 months later, 5 questions about the Delphi killings". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Delphi, Indiana murder case: Sketch of suspect released in girls' slayings". cbsnews.com. CBS. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  7. ↑ O'Shea, Janice. "Tip in Delphi homicides investigation leads to cold case arrest". wlfi.com. WLFI. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
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