IN - Abigail Williams, 13, & Liberty German, 14, Delphi, 13 Feb 2017 #83

[IceIce9]

I seem to recall an Amber Alert or something similar going on nearby the evening of the 13th, which kind of left LE spread a little thin that night. Does anyone else recall this incident ?

There was an Amber Alert for a teenage girl from Gary. Gary is not near Delphi, it is in NW Indiana, near Chicago.

 

[Jethro4WS]

I seem to recall an Amber Alert or something similar going on nearby the evening of the 13th, which kind of left LE spread a little thin that night. Does anyone else recall this incident ?

Yes. There was an Amber Alert out of Gary, Indiana. I mentioned that situation many moons ago but the what happened there was - in my opinion - the Gary Police Department abused the Amber Alert System. At the time they issued that Amber Alert they knew several things. 1. the girl they were looking for had been at home with her mother and younger siblings. 2. She had brought the younger siblings to an Aunt's house on foot. 3. She told her Aunt that something happened to her mother. 4. When the Aunt said she was calling the police the girl ran off out the back door. 5. That at the time the Amber Alert was issued Gary Police considered her a suspect in her mother's murder. 6. The Amber Alert at no time ever mentioned a vehicle or anyone she might be with.

The Amber Alert was periodically broadcast on Indiana State Police radio every few hours.

 

[Jethro4WS]

Looked like the only helicopter in the sky was a news chopper.

No. That would be about three hours after the girls had been found. As I say, whether LE used a helicopter to search or not was not something mentioned one way or the other by any media reports. However, the scanner thread will answer the question.

 

[Ember123]

RSBM

Good find! This one in Bedford seems potentially related, the man was reported to have had a gun and a rope, Bedford is a small town, and the trail is a repurposed railroad that goes through some empty wooded areas.

It happened after A&L, just last November. The guy was reportedly wearing a mask.

The MO of the others is quite different, I think.

Instead of a hat or cap, could BG have been wearing a camo face mask on his head (not yet pulled down?)

 

[Satchie]

Instead of a hat or cap, could BG have been wearing a camo face mask on his head (not yet pulled down?)

Possibly, but I was thinking, if it was him trying again in Bedford, he'd be more careful to hide his face this time.

 

[Shiressleuth]

Looked like the only helicopter in the sky was a news chopper.

There were at least two helicopters in the air the next day. The news helicopter catches sight of the other helicopter (the LE one I believe) a couple of times in their actual video.

 

[Deleted member 102539]

Delphi Historic Trails
Milwaukee Trail

I'm noticing that there is a location of Army National Guard Recruiting not too far away.

 

[Shiressleuth]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?st...top_level_post_id.10208161910924032&__tn__=,;

RSBM

Good find! This one in Bedford seems potentially related, the man was reported to have had a gun and a rope, Bedford is a small town, and the trail is a repurposed railroad that goes through some empty wooded areas.

It happened after A&L, just last November. The guy was reportedly wearing a mask.

The MO of the others is quite different, I think.

I found a description of the attacker on the Milwaukee trail FB page and this is the link.

In a later post they report they have 5 trail cams ready to put up.

Mods please delete if not allowed.

 

[Shiressleuth]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?st...d=168951499964542&locale2=en_GB&__tn__=*s*s-R

Here is the Bedford police report - not quite so detailed.

 

[katydid23]

I cannot thank this enough. Hindsight is always 20/20. And it’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. Would the girls have been found sooner if the search hadn’t been called off? Could they have been saved or was it already too late by the time the search began? Would searchers looking for two young girls inadvertently trampled and destroyed crucial evidence? Too many unknowns.

I don't think the girls could have been saved, even if the search wasn't called for darkness. I think they were gone pretty quickly.

Maybe it would have helped getting the ball rolling on searching for a killer, if they had been found that night. But who knows? He was probably long gone by then too.

 

[Shiressleuth]

https://under-the-open-sky.com/best-hunting-masks/

Link to combined camo hats and masks.

 

[1968]

Looking at the picture of BG again & imagining that I see a camo mask half pulled over his lower face changes my entire perspective of him as an “older”
guy.....
The masks are quite scary looking......
But the ‘witness’ did not mention any camo mask, had he discarded it or tucked it into a pocket perhaps?
He could also change his look a fair bit by discarding the jacket, mask and hat if he needed to.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Boxer]

It wasn't national news that day, the search started around 6:30 or so, and was suspended later that evening. The biggest statewide news story that evening was the Amber Alert out of Gary.

https://www.theindychannel.com/news...-missing-after-being-dropped-off-to-go-hiking


Here is one article from 2/13/17 -
This news article was carried on 2/13/17 through news site Google News as well as other comprehensive national news sites.

 

[mtnlites]

Like I posted, I support LE and searchers with the utmost respect. Tragedy all over, I am sorry for your friend. It is not a critisism I take lightly as I too participate in SAR.
I stand by my opinion that the search should not have been called off in THIS situation.
I truly am sorry if that upsets you. And I understand why. I know my opinion is strong, but it comes from the heart.
But, I cannot understand leaving when two young children weren't coming with you.
We can respectfully agree to disagree : )

I had family involved in A&L's search. My cousin has spoken of the hazards that he and the other searchers dealt with on that night, as well as about the fear of disturbing evidence if, indeed, a crime had been committed. (And it seemed like, at least that night, nobody was confident that a crime had been committed at all.)

In all honesty, I don't understand why we are going over this again. There were no nefarious reasons for having called off the search. Would the outcome have been different? We don't know. (But I don't think so.)

 

[cluciano63]

Jmo it seems unproductive to criticize or bemoan the search efforts at this point. Professional searchers know and weigh the risks of searching into the night in rough unstable terrain. Imo no one quit searching due to discomfort or convenience...but for logical reasons, not wanting searchers to get lost themselves, or incur injuries. And at that point there was no indication of criminal activity. If the girls had become lost or disoriented as it was likely believed, they were old enough to stay put until daylight, imo and likely would have been found or been able to make their way back after sunrise. And there is zero indication that the results would have been any different if they had been found at 1am, i.e rather than when they were located.
Jmo

 

[Shiressleuth]

Looking at the picture of BG again & imagining that I see a camo mask half pulled over his lower face changes my entire perspective of him as an “older”
guy.....
The masks are quite scary looking......
But the ‘witness’ did not mention any camo mask, had he discarded it or tucked it into a pocket perhaps?
He could also change his look a fair bit by discarding the jacket, mask and hat if he needed to.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Some of those in the link I posted say that the mask can just go at the back of the head when not needed. Or tucked up inside the hat itself so then it just looks like a regular hat. What looks like hair or a hoodie on BG could be the mask at the back of his head. He didn't have the mask on because he didn't expect to be caught on cam imo.

 

[Try2solve]

There have been many suspects identified by their gait. I tried to post a link, but my computer is acting up
tonight. Just Google it - Which leads me to believe that LE, if they have BG's gait, must release more
video to the public.
RIP Abby & Libby...Gone Too Soon

Thanks Rottmom! Here's a great article explaining how forensic podiatry is accepted and used in courts:
http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/...how-forensic-podiatry-can-identify-criminals/

 

[Shiressleuth]

Thanks Rottmom! Here's a great article explaining how forensic podiatry is accepted and used in courts:
http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/...how-forensic-podiatry-can-identify-criminals/

Amazing stuff. They can rule suspects out by gait too then presumably?

 

[Try2solve]

Amazing stuff. They can rule suspects out by gait too then presumably?

Yes Shire. Police take surveilance video of the suspect and compare it to the video from the crime scene. Expert testimony in forensic podiatry is accepted in U.S. courts with cases resulting in convictions. Maybe BGs DNA being there or not isn't the deal breaker we previously thought.

 

[Satchie]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?st...d=168951499964542&locale2=en_GB&__tn__=*s*s-R

Here is the Bedford police report - not quite so detailed.

There's always the possibity this was a copycat attempted crime, rather than BG. I now lean towards that probability.f

ETA Thanks much for the links, they're very helpful.