Found Deceased IN - Abigail (Abby) Williams, 13, and Liberty (Libby) German, 14/The Delphi Murders 13 Feb 2017 #85

[Mo Thuairim]

I often wondered if one of the girls or even both of them, were chatting with him on SM and possibly planned to meet him there that day. He would have pretended to be a young man to get their interest. But since LA has their cell phones, they would have investigated any such thing...unless he deleted the content from their phones after killing them. But then, why would he leave that photo of himself and the voice recording! Argh, this is so frustrating!

One of the parents (sounds like Abby's mother, AW) addresses this in the Nancy Grace podcast.
"One of the first things they did was gather all of our stuff: our phones, the tablets, the passwords. We actually had to go and file for estates on the girls to get Apple and Google to release those things. That was one of the first things they saw and including the Snapchat photo that Libby took of Abby, there is no evidence whatsoever that they were intending on meeting anybody that day... As far as we know, they have not found anything. And that's what they said... They weren't planning on meeting anybody. They didn't even really tell anybody they were going."

 

[Betty P]

For those now coming back into the thread, the first page has links to some very good interviews with Libby and Abby's grandparents and parents. They have a lot of good information, verifying new facts and dispelling some myths. Though they're long interviews, they're well worth a listen.

Libby's grandparents, especially, are very helpful in sharing a lot of information about the timeline of that day, what the girls were doing, the search, calling LE and some information about what LE discovered and other witnesses saw. I know I'm glad I took the time to listen as it really helped me catch up on details that have been revealed or clarified since those early first months after their murders.

Found Deceased - IN - Abigail (Abby) Williams, 13, and Liberty (Libby) German, 14/The Delphi Murders 13 Feb 2017 #85

Hope this helps clear up some of the confusion and answers some of the questions people are still asking.

 

[Mo Thuairim]

I think they did come from a video, and are several stills that they have shown to the media. Also I made a mistake on one of my posts about the picture, I said Libby, but I meant the pictures of Abby that Libby took. You can tell they are straight on while the picture of the suspect looks to be from a different angle. But, yes, I think the pictures are several stills from a short video. And as far as I know, no-one knows for sure how she managed to take them ( the video) But again, I think the important thing is that they now have a much better FBI sketch, and the hope is that someone will recognize him, as well as his voice, and one of the tips will lead to something. Last I read there were about 30,000 tips! Not sure when that was. Jmo

Yes, there were three stills altogether released from the video.
Gray Hughes talks about them at 30.18 mins into this video and makes a sort of montage of them to give an idea of BG's movement while walking.

 

[Spartygirl]

They believe it is the voice of the killer. I do too. Who else would be ordering them down the hill? Jmo

I believe the doubting of the voice comes from "IF there were 2 perps at the scene, one following them/keeping watch and one ordering them down the hill"

My opinion is there is only one guy and that is his voice, but it was mentioned "what if there were 2?"

 

[Gardener1850]

I think they did come from a video, and are several stills that they have shown to the media. Also I made a mistake on one of my posts about the picture, I said Libby, but I meant the pictures of Abby that Libby took. You can tell they are straight on while the picture of the suspect looks to be from a different angle. But, yes, I think the pictures are several stills from a short video. And as far as I know, no-one knows for sure how she managed to take them ( the video) But again, I think the important thing is that they now have a much better FBI sketch, and the hope is that someone will recognize him, as well as his voice, and one of the tips will lead to something. Last I read there were about 30,000 tips! Not sure when that was. Jmo

Thanks MsBetsy. Did both the girls have phones? Or only Libby?

 

[Betty P]

Thanks MsBetsy. Did both the girls have phones? Or only Libby?

Only Libby had a phone that day. Per interview with her grandparents in the video linked above.

There's also a good interview of the families and LE with Ashley Banfield from the Crime.con conference this past summer.

NEWS – Abby and Libby.org

The officer mentions they have a lot of DNA from the scene, but can't say if they have any from the killer. Later comment hints they do. When asked about Parabon testing, etc. he makes a general statement that they're using all the tools available, considering everything. So, it's hard to say what they've done so far with any DNA from the killer they may have.

 

[Spartygirl]

Thanks MsBetsy. Did both the girls have phones? Or only Libby?

All we have been told is that Libby had a phone with her.

 

[MsBetsy]

Thanks MsBetsy. Did both the girls have phones? Or only Libby?

I think they both did. I read somewhere that both phones were found at the scene with the bodies. Sorry I can't be more specific where, but it was a news article. Oops edited to add... I just saw above comments. I thought they both had phones. I thought I saw that recently but may be there are other articles that say otherwise. I can't imagine why Abby would not have her phone with her. Jmo

 

[tmar]

I thought they said it is possible but not 100%?

From memory, way back in the threads, there was discussion here, that there were possibly more than one guy present.
Anyone remember that?
Maybe just thoughts 'going around'.
MOO.

 

[MsBetsy]

I think they both did. I read somewhere that both phones were found at the scene with the bodies. Sorry I can't be more specific where, but it was a news article. Oops edited to add... I just saw above comments. I thought they both had phones. I thought I saw that recently but may be there are other articles that say otherwise. I can't imagine why Abby would not have her phone with her. Jmo

Sorry to reply to my own post, but I just went back to check the articles, and it only stated that "the phone" was found at the scene. Maybe Abby did not have one. It makes sense. My daughter was the same age (13) at the time of the murder and I don't think she had the type of phone yet that you could go on line with. Or take pictures with. So it's very possible that Abby did not have one. Jmo

 

[Betty P]

From memory, way back in the threads, there was discussion here, that there were possibly more than one guy present.
Anyone remember that?
Maybe just thoughts 'going around'.
MOO.

LE is only looking for one killer. They've been quoted numerous times stating that it was one man who approached the girls and forced them off the trail.

The Unsolved Delphi Murders: What Happened to Indiana Teens Libby German and Abby Williams?

Libby posted a Snapchat photo of best friend Abby walking across the deserted railroad Monon High Bridge shortly before 2:15 p.m. on the day of their outing, leading some media outlets to dub this case the “Snapchat Murders.” Soon after posting the photo, investigators believe the girls were approached by a man, presumed to be a stranger, who went on to kill them.

 

[heartgoesout]

They believe it is the voice of the killer. I do too. Who else would be ordering them down the hill? Jmo

I agree and most, including LE I believe, assume it is the same person, but I don’t think LE has actually confirmed the voice and the picture are positively, 100% the same person. They didn’t want to rule any other possibilities out.

 

[Alethea]

Lead detective in Delphi murders confirms police have more audio from phone, DNA evidence

Why does everyone think he left Libby's cell phone? Did he not see it or know about it, or didn't care or think there was anything incriminating?

Given how young they looked (IMO), he might have not thought they would have cell phones so he didn't see, notice, or check.

Or maybe he knew a cell phone could be pinged or tracked so he did not want to risk removing it from the scene?

 

[sleuther0192837465]

Why does everyone think he left Libby's cell phone? Did he not see it or know about it, or didn't care or think there was anything incriminating?

Given how young they looked (IMO), he might have not thought they would have cell phones so he didn't see, notice, or check.

Or maybe he knew a cell phone could be pinged or tracked so he did not want to risk removing it from the scene?

I think he knew it could be tracked. MOO

 

[Gardener1850]

Why does everyone think he left Libby's cell phone? Did he not see it or know about it, or didn't care or think there was anything incriminating?

Given how young they looked (IMO), he might have not thought they would have cell phones so he didn't see, notice, or check.

Or maybe he knew a cell phone could be pinged or tracked so he did not want to risk removing it from the scene?

Maybe he threw it in the creek thinking that would destroy it? But if dried out properly, they can still retrieve data. JMO.

 

[Gardener1850]

I think he knew it could be tracked. MOO

That's a good theory too.

 

[heartgoesout]

One of the parents (sounds like Abby's mother, AW) addresses this in the Nancy Grace podcast.
"One of the first things they did was gather all of our stuff: our phones, the tablets, the passwords. We actually had to go and file for estates on the girls to get Apple and Google to release those things. That was one of the first things they saw and including the Snapchat photo that Libby took of Abby, there is no evidence whatsoever that they were intending on meeting anybody that day... As far as we know, they have not found anything. And that's what they said... They weren't planning on meeting anybody. They didn't even really tell anybody they were going."

I want to clarify that last sentence, when she says they didn't really tell anybody they were going, I think she means outside of the family. There were several of Libby's family that knew they were going.

 

[Mo Thuairim]

I want to clarify that last sentence, when she says they didn't really tell anybody they were going, I think she means outside of the family. There were several of Libby's family that knew they were going.

Yep I think she means other than family

 

[Tssiemer]

I think he knew it could be tracked. MOO

All he would have to do is take the battery out or destroy some how. I have often wondered why the cell phone was left as well.

 

[Betty P]

Maybe he threw it in the creek thinking that would destroy it? But if dried out properly, they can still retrieve data. JMO.

I remember discussions about this back in the early days. People noted he probably didn't realize that removing the battery would make it impossible to track. Had he known that, he could have taken the phone and destroyed or disposed of it elsewhere. JMO, he was spooked about someone coming along and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. He knew there were cars coming along, people still out walking on the trail, people who lived nearby moving around. He was in a big hurry.

I'm curious about the person who saw him leaving the area. LE won't give any details, but Libby's grandmother confirmed it in one of the interviews. They won't say where he went, where his car was parked, etc. They also don't talk about another car (besides the cars witnesses were driving) they said was parked at the trailhead. I'm guessing his clothes were wet and he was leaving via a route not near the trail. The witness who saw him leaving probably noticed and remembered, IMO, for those reasons.

JMO, he had a vehicle and spent time trolling around areas where kids hung out. Libby's g'ma said the trails are very popular with the local kids because there's not a lot to do around their small town. No movie theater, no shopping mall, etc. So the walking trails were a popular place for everyone, but especially young folks, to hang out. This guy probably trolled all the small towns in that region, looking for the places where kids were likely to be hanging out without their parents.