James Chadwell
An Indiana man is charged with trying to murder a 9-year-old girl, and deputies are looking into whether he is linked to the nearby, unsolved double slaying of two eighth graders, but there are a lot of caveats to keep in mind. Carroll County Sheriff Tobe Leazenby did not explain why they are looking into defendant James Brian Chadwell II, 42, in the 2017 deaths of Abigail Joyce Williams, 13, and Liberty Rose Lynn German, 14.
“The information has obviously been shared with us, and our investigators are looking into him,” he said, according to The Lafayette Journal & Courier.
Liberty’s sister Kelsi German is pumping the brakes on whether Chadwell is involved. She wanted people to share information, but did not want them to make allegations on social media. The family has been let down before with other possible suspects.
“Our family sees every single person that’s put out there, and they’re sent to us every day, and that’s just another person we think could be him, and we find out he’s not and are just heartbroken again,” she said, according to WISH.
The FBI previously released a sketch of the double-murder suspect, as well as a photo of the suspect walking.
Chadwell is in more than enough trouble for what he allegedly did in the city of Lafayette, which is in Tippecanoe County to the southwest of Carroll County. Local police said they responded to the 2400-block of Main Street to search for a missing 9-year-old girl. The mother said the child had been gone for about 30 minutes before cops were called.
Police said they tracked down Chadwell and searched his home, where they found the girl. She sustained injuries including bruises on her body, and a wound on her lower leg consistent with a dog bite. The child was taken to a hospital.
Chadwell faces charges of attempted murder, child molesting where the defendant is at least 21 years of age, kidnapping where the victim is less than 14 years of age, criminal confinement resulting in serious bodily injury, battery resulting in serious bodily injury, and strangulation. Online records viewed by Law&Crime show no attorney of record. A staffer at the Tippecanoe County Jail told us the defendant remains locked up without bond as of Wednesday.
Abigail Williams, and Liberty German.
Abigail Williams and Liberty German were abducted and killed February 13, 2017 along Deer Creek in Delphi, Indiana. They were found the next day.
Kelsi German voiced hope that people could share information on the case directly to law enforcement instead of talking about it on social media.
“It’s better to send that straight to law enforcement and let them do the job and not let the person that’s being investigated know that they’re going to be talked to in the case, that it is that person, and they find out and decide to run and make it harder for the police to find them,” she said.
[Mugshot of Chadwell via Tippecanoe County Jail; images of Abigail and Liberty via Indiana State Police]