Delphi murders: What happened to Abigail Williams and Liberty German?
In 2017, 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams were brutally killed in Delphi, Indiana.
Six years later, on March 30, 2023, a suspect connected to the murders pleaded guilty to 25 felony charges.
What happened to Abigail Williams and Liberty German?
Abigail Williams and Liberty German were dropped off at the Delphi Historic Trails at about 1pm on February 13, 2017.
The trail is located in a secluded area of Delphi, Indiana, and spans eight miles of densely populated woods.
The last recording of the teens appeared on Snapchat, showing them crossing the Monon High Bridge while a man follows them in the background.
When Williams and German failed to meet their parents at the pre-arranged pickup location at 5.15pm that evening, they called the police to report the girls missing.
Police located their bodies at 12pm the following day near Deer Creek, about a half mile from Monon High Bridge.
Authorities conducted a nationwide search and received over 26k tips in the first year, but with scarce evidence, the killer was never found.
The Delphi murders have confounded investigators in the five years since Williams and German’s bodies were found and in 2018, the head of the Indiana State Police Office, Doug Carter, told the that he believed they were “one piece of the puzzle away from figuring out who this individual is.”
He said: “Somebody out there knows who this person is. I don’t think there’s multiple pieces of the puzzle. … I think there’s one piece. And it’s having one individual with the strength to say that was my brother, that’s my dad, or that’s my cousin, that’s my neighbor, my co-worker. And I think we’re one piece away — one piece.”
How did the girls die?
Autopsies on the girls’ bodies were conducted but the only information released to the public was the girls were found in a pool of blood, although a recording was recovered of the potential killer’s voice.
The man in the recording is heard telling the girls: “Down the hill” in the moments before they died. Although there were no suspects at the time, the FBI obtained a search warrant after new evidence came to light.
The FBI search warrant, obtained by the podcast and released to did not provide information describing what the murder weapon might be or the cause of death.
“A large amount of blood was lost by the victims at the crime scene,” the FBI search warrant read. It refrained from noting how the girls had died and only said there were no signs of a “struggle or fight.”
The warrant says it is likely the killer had blood stains on his clothes, although no one has ever been arrested for the girls’ murders.
Chillingly, the warrant stated the killer may have taken a “souvenir” but added that “the rest of [the girls’] clothing was recovered.”
It also states the murderer “staged” the girls’ bodies after killing them, although how they were allegedly staged has not been released. The podcast reported that it is the investigator’s belief that photos or videos were likely shot of the staged bodies to “memorialize” the crime scene.
Who has been arrested?
Authorities said they had uncovered evidence in the six-year-old murders of Williams and German and revealed the killer may have taken a souvenir after killing the teen girls.
The hosts of the true-crime podcast, The Murder Sheet, took photographs showing investigators searching the Wabash River, located about 40 miles away from where Williams and German’s bodies were found.
“What we’re hearing from sources indicates that this is connected,” co-host, Aine Cain, said on the podcast.
The Indiana State Police confirmed there was a dive team in the area and that it was located a few miles from 28-year-old Kegan Kline’s family home.
However, investigators did not say what they were looking for in the riverbed or how it could be connected to the Delphi murders case.
Kline was arrested in 2020 and was charged with child pornography and child exploitation in another case and initially pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Police uncovered additional information from German’s phone revealing Kline had been in contact with her through his Instagram account under the name Anthony Shots.
Kline reportedly admitted to using a fake account to talk with underage girls but denied any involvement in German or William’s murders.
“He created a completely false persona for himself,” Kevin Greenlee, co-host of The Murder Sheet, said. “And we know that the Anthony Shots account was actually in communication with Liberty German, who was one of the victims in this case.”
Cain said: “A lot of technology comes up in this case of devices that are being used to store child sexual abuse materials or communications with underage girls.
“And then, of course, weaponry that could have been used in the Delphi murders and any other evidence that could tie a killer to the scene or of the crime, essentially.”
On March 30, 2023, Kline pleaded guilty to 25 felony charges, including child solicitation, child exploitation, possession of child pornography, and obstruction of justice.
He did not, however, plead guilty to any charges involving the 2017 Delphi murders.
A man named Richard Allen has also reportedly been arrested and placed in a Carroll County Jail in connection to the Delphi murders, according to Fox59.
Allen was moved to a state facility for his own safety but is awaiting his bail hearing which is set to take place in June 2023.