An arrest has finally been made in connection to the murders of Indiana teens Libby German and Abby Williams, according to local news outlets, nearly six years after they were slain on a popular hiking trail.
Citing police sources, FOX 59 and WTHR 13 reported that 50-year-old Richard Allen was booked into jail early Friday morning in Delphi, the same city where German, 14, and Williams, 13, were killed in 2017.
Cops have remained tight-lipped about Allen’s arrest. A spokesperson for the Indiana State Police told The Daily Beast they plan to announce a “significant” update on the case at 10 a.m. Monday.
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While insisting “nothing is confirmed at this time,” Kelsi German, Libby’s older sister, appeared to celebrate the breakthrough on Friday.
“Just know how grateful I am for all of you,” Kelsi tweeted. “No comments for now, any questions please refer to the Carroll county prosecutor’s office. There is tentatively a press conference Monday at 10am. We will say more then.”
Kelsi closed her statement by adding, “Today is the day 💜.”
The case has haunted Indiana ever since Libby and Abby didn’t return home from their stroll on Feb. 13, 2017. A massive search party was convened that night and the girls’ bodies were found the next day, next to a creek.
A mystery man was captured in a grainy video taken on Libby’s phone the day of her disappearance, which allegedly showed him walking on a bridge near where the girls were last seen.
Police also released a voice they say belonged to that suspect, which creepily told the girls to “come down the hill.” The audio and footage were released in 2019, and a sketch for the suspect—drawn based on the video and witnesses from the trail—was created, which varied significantly from an initial sketch drawn in 2017.
But despite all the twists and turns over the years, and the evidence gathered on multiple suspects, no arrests have ever been made in connection with their deaths.
In the course of the investigation, detectives found that a man named Kegan Kline had messaged Libby using a “catfish” Instagram account with the profile name “anthony_shots.” He was accused of posing as a male model to solicit nudes from Libby and asking to meet her.
He is now awaiting trial elsewhere in Indiana for child exploitation and child pornography charges but he was never arrested in connection to the girls’ deaths, despite being interviewed by detectives in December.
Allen’s arrest is the newest twist in the ongoing saga, as he’d never been publicly named a suspect. A number listed as Allen’s was disconnected when called by The Daily Beast on Friday. A woman who shared the same address and last name as Allen also didn’t answer a call.
A jail log shows that Allen was booked into the Carroll County Jail early Friday morning, but does not list what charges he faces. Address records show that Allen lives in Delphi.
An employee of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that she wouldn’t take questions about Allen’s arrest. A state police spokesperson said all available details would come Monday, declining to say what Allen has been charged with.
Citing police sources, FOX 59 that Allen was transported to a state facility on Friday from the local jail “for his safety.”
Allen’s arrest log does not say who the arresting agency was. State police and the local sheriff’s office have worked together in their investigation since 2017.
