"Epitome of Evil" and still unsolved - The Delphi Murders

Case also referred to as, The Snapchat Murders.

On February 13th 2017, Liberty German, 14 and her friend Abigail Williams, 13, were dropped off at the trail near Delphi’s scenic Monon High Bridge, an abandoned railroad bridge over Deer Creek. At 2.07pm, Libby posted a photo of Abby walking the bridge on Snapchat. It was after this that they were never heard from again.

At 3.15pm Liberty’s father waited at the drop off point, he was not concerned at first, the girls could have gotten caught up in something, it was after an hour and many unanswered calls to Libby’s phone that he reported the girls missing.

Members of the community, family and friends searched for the girls, but the search was called off by authorities at midnight, with some family and friends continuing to search into the overnight hours.

Authorities did not initially suspect foul play in the disappearance. This would soon change.

February 14th, Valentines Day, noon, the bodies of Liberty and Abigail were found approximately 0.5 miles east of the abandoned Monon High Bridge.

Details of the bodies have never been released, but the authorities have described it as the “epitome of evil.”

In the three years since Libby and Abby were murdered, the investigators have released very minimal information.

The key evidence in the case was a video taken by Libby on her mobile phone. We need to stop and imagine what may be going through these girls’ heads. They are old enough to understand that they may be about to meet their end, but they are still children. This video may have been moments before the girl’s deaths or went missing. One theory is that she may have noticed the man before criminal activity could occur and recorded him, which as a women, I understand. Any time a man is acting strangely, and you are in a potentially vulnerable situation, you are going to do whatever it takes to protect yourself.

Even though the video itself was not released, Indiana State Police began circulating a still image from it of a Caucasian male, hands in pockets, walking on the rail bridge, head down, towards the girls. The body language of the man himself walking across the bridge was very casual, as if he had walked the bridge before. Furthermore, his hands in his pockets gives the impression that he is hiding something.

A few days later, the person in the photograph was named the prime suspect in the double-homicide.

On February 16th, police executed a search warrant of a home on Bicycle Bridge Road, in connection with the deaths. The warrant was based on a tip but no arrests were made, and no one was deemed a suspect.

On February 22nd, law enforcement released an audio from the video where the voice of the assailant, though muffled to some degree, is heard to say, “down the hill.”

Police said that additional evidence from the phone has been secured, but that they won’t release it so as not to “compromise any future trials.” The frustrating thing is, however, is that if they released more footage and more evidence, then the case may have been solved by now. However, It would damage the case if too much information was out there. Only the killer can know certain details.

In mid-March, police executed a second search warrant, this time at the home and property of Ron Logan, 77. This is vital as the girl’s bodies were found on the property.

Logan had been arrested earlier that week on unrelated charges, but it was revealed that he was a habitual traffic offender, who frequently violated his parole by drinking alcohol. But he was not named a suspect in the murders.

As one can imagine, in a small, close-knit town like Delphi, everyone became suspicious of each other. That a cold-blooded child murderer was roaming their streets in their community was a haunting one.

It becomes a terrifying and all-encompassing thought, so much so that the authorities have warned Delphi residents not to “harass, bother or accuse anyone.” However, you can understand their frustration. Two little girls have been brutally murdered and there was no end in sight. Barely any information is being released, these people want to see forward movement. They want answers and punishment as soon as possible.

July 17th, officers distributed a composite sketch of someone who in the investigation, was a prime interest in the murders, apparently it had been drawn by police from eyewitnesses to a certain hiker of the Delphic Historic Trails on the day the girls vanished, but nothing came from it.

It was on April 19th, 2019, that the Indiana State Police announced a “new direction” in the case. And on 22nd April new materials were released in a press conference. The new materials in this case included a short video with the audio from previously extended where the assailant says “Guys… (unintelligible) down the hill.” When he says “Guys”, it gives the impression that he knows the girls, or he is trying to act friendly towards them, or trying to make them comfortable?

As well as the video, it is further explained that the previously – released sketch is now considered secondary, now the people should focus on a sketch of a clean-shaven individual, age rending from 18 to 40, with police cautioning that his youthful appearance could make him look younger than his true age.

On April 22nd, law enforcement reached out to the public, urging all to look at the sketch and listen to the audio and send tips to this email: Abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com

Investigators revealed that they believe the suspect is hiding in plain sight, and is familiar with the area of Delphi, whether it be living there or for another reason. Another aspect to consider is that, on February 13th, it was originally scheduled as a school day, but for reasons unbeknownst to me, it was an off day in which the girls used to hike. Did the killer know this, or was it by chance?

Let’s look at the suspects.

Daniel Nations

September 27th, police arrested a man named Daniel Nations for having expired Indiana licence plates that could have been linked to the murders. The following day, police called Nations a person of interest.

The similarities between Daniel Nations and the composite sketch released by the police immediately after the murders are impossible to ignore. Even Katelyn Nations, his wife, couldn’t help but notice the similarities.

Katelyn did not say for sure that her husband was the assailant, but she did not say otherwise.

She could not remember her husband's exact movement on February 13th, but she said that he did not have a set of wheels to get him around town.

She said “I had an ultrasound that day and I’m pretty sure he came with me…but I’m not 100 percent sure.”

On February 14th, Katelyn drove Daniel to the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department so Daniel could register as a homeless sex offender. Whilst Katelyn said that there are elements of the sketch and Daniel that did not match-

“Not something my husband would wear. The dark blue jacket he did not have, he does not wear a hat like that. He only wears baseball caps.”

Daniel has a lengthy criminal history; he is a registered sex offender with a patent for publicly masturbating and spying on women and children.

But, almost a year after Abby and Libby were murdered, investigators said Nations was no longer a major concern to them, which was devastating to the Delphi residents.

Charles Andrew Eldridge

When Charles Andrew Eldridge’s photo first appeared in the news, everyone in Delphi thought he was a dead ringer for the man in the sketch. You could practically morph them together.

The 46-year-old was arrested on January 8th 2019, during an undercover sting operation. He was meeting what he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex, but was greeted by an undercover cop.

However, despite his previous counts of child molestation and solicitation, he was not immediately linked to the Delphi murders. He only became a person of interest in the public’s mind after his mugshot was flashed across the local news, prompting viewers to call a tip line.

Eldridge was not shy about his past with minors, he had a fascination with guns, he would regularly post stories to his Facebook pages about missing children, sex crimes, murders and wanted killers, he also followed Abby and Libby’s story closely, which is a huge red flag. But by the end of January, police one again put Eldridge on the back burner saying they had uncovered no evidence suggesting that Eldridge had anything to do with Libby and Abby’s demise.

It is now October 2020, and new clues have emerged in the case. One investigator has revealed that the killer left several “strange…signatures” at the kill site. It has not been revealed if these signatures were part of the murder method or post-mortum, but otherwise nothing has been resolved.

What is strange is that we have a photo, audio and a video released, but there has been no resolve to the case, which is extremely frustrating and devastating for this town wanting reassurance that Delphi is safe and that these girls are going to be avenged, but they have not given up. They have stuck together. There is a memorial park being built in the girls honour, and their families still have faith in the investigators.

Libby’s grandmother, Becky Patty who with husband Mike has been her legal guardians since she was three years old, said her granddaughter “wanted to work with the FBI, she wanted to solve crimes, she wanted to help people”.

“If anybody wants to honour her, please, help solve her crime,” Ms Patty told ABC News America.

If anyone has any tips, please send them to this email address: abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com