Liberty ‘Libby’ German and Abigail ‘Abby’ Williams. (Images via the FBI).
A man is under arrest in connection with the murder of two Indiana girls in their early teens, according to several local news reports.
Citing “[m]ultiple sources,” Indianapolis FOX affiliate WXIN-TV reported that Richard Allen was booked “around noon Friday in connection with the Delphi murder investigation.”
Liberty “Libby” German, 14, and her best friend Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, vanished while walking the Monon High Bridge trail near Delphi, Indiana, on Feb. 13, 2017.
Citing the state police as its source, NBC affiliate WTHR also said Allen was connected to the Delphi double murders and that the victims’ relatives had been notified accordingly.
Indianapolis ABC affiliate WRTV and local CW affiliate WISH said only that a suspect who neither station chose to name had been arrested and had appeared in court on Friday.
Jail data reviewed by Law&Crime indicates that a Richard Matthew Allen, 50, was listed as “in custody” at the Carroll County Jail in Delphi, Indiana, as of early Friday afternoon.
A screegrab from the website VineLink shows arrest information regarding Richard Allen.
No information was listed as to the charges upon which Allen was booked, and neither the Carroll County Jail nor the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office administration telephone lines were answered when Law&Crime called on Friday for information. Messages left at those numbers were not returned.
Later on Friday afternoon, other jail records suggested that Allen may have been transported to the custody of the White County Sheriff’s Department in Monticello, Indiana. A person who answered the phone there confirmed that Allen was, indeed, booked at that facility; however, all other questions concerning the case were referred to the sheriff. The sheriff did not respond a message left via voicemail.
The sister of one of the victims, Kelsi German, tweeted that “[t]oday is the day” on Friday but added that “[n]othing is confirmed at this time.”
It was Kelsi German who dropped the two victims off to go hiking on a trip from which they never returned alive.
Earlier on Friday, WXIN reported that law enforcement officials had planned a press conference on Monday to discuss “a major development” that was “in the works” in connection with the case. That was before the television station named Allen.
Police believe Libby German, who was said by her grandmother to have enjoyed watching crime shows on television, recorded video and a brief few words from her suspected killer.
“Guys . . . down the hill,” said a man captured in a clip that the authorities say was recorded by the now-dead teen. The full recording is reportedly 43 seconds long, but only a small portion has been made public, according to earlier reports from WXIN.
The tiny sliver of that video was released by the FBI and is embedded here:
Recently, Indiana state troopers searched the Wabash River in Peru, Indiana, about 40 minutes east-northeast of Delphi, in connection with the case, according to WIXN’s report on Friday.
The murders of German and Williams have resulted in multiple police sketches and thousands of tips about what might have occurred.
One of the many suspect sketches promulgated in the case of Abigail Williams and Liberty German.
The authorities previously focused at least some attention on Ron Logan, who owned the property where the girls’ bodies were found and whose house was nearby, and on Keegan Anthony Kline, 27, of Peru, Indiana. Kline is charged separately with several child pornography offenses and admitted to controlling a fake online profile he used to communicate with Libby German. However, Kline reportedly denied having any knowledge of German’s death.
Keegan Anthony Kline. (Image via the Miami Co. Sheriff’s Office.)
Becky Patty, German’s grandmother, told FOX News in May that she believed Kline knew more than he was willing to vouchsafe to the authorities. Patty also said the police told her “there was DNA” evidence in the case but did not know — or did not reveal — the full extent of that evidence.
The reported connection of Allen to the mysterious case adds a new wrinkle that has yet to be fully explained by the local constabulary. The state police will be involved with Monday’s press conference at 10 a.m. in Delphi, WRTV and WISH reported.
The Lafayette, Indiana Journal & Courier seemed to express the collective angst at the lack of complete information in the matter:
Indiana laws require police to release the identity of anyone arrested, as well as anyone incarcerated at a jail or prison within 24 hours of the arrest. The name, age, and address of the person arrested, as well as the crimes he is suspected of committing, is required by law to be released.
The newspaper said state police refused to confirm to its reporters whether an arrest had even been made in the Delphi case.
[Editor’s note: One jail entry claims Allen used the alias Craigh Ross Rentfrow, but it’s unclear why or whether that entry may have been an error.]