EPISODE 7 - THE DELPHI CASE: PART 1

In Episode 7 of The Casewalker Chronicles, we begin a multi-part examination of the murders of Liberty “Libby” German and Abigail “Abby” Williams, who disappeared while walking the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Indiana, on February 13, 2017.

Their deaths would become one of the most widely followed criminal investigations in Indiana history.

This episode does not attempt to resolve the case or reinterpret the outcome of the prosecution.

Instead, Part 1 establishes the documented timeline of February 13, 2017, reconstructing the movements of Abby and Libby, the geography of the Monon High Bridge Trail system, the early search efforts, and the evidence that first entered the public record.

Using the Casewalker Evidence Book Method, we examine the case through publicly documented information, including law-enforcement statements, publicly released materials, and the timeline reflected in investigative reporting. Throughout the episode, we clearly distinguish between documented facts, official summaries, and areas where the public record remains incomplete.

This episode establishes the evidentiary foundation for the series that follows.

Every timeline entry.
Every released detail.
Only what the record supports.

⚠️ Listener Note:
This episode discusses the murders of two minors and the early stages of an active criminal investigation that has since resulted in a criminal prosecution. Listener discretion is advised.

🔦 Missing Person Spotlight:
This episode includes a spotlight on Penelope McGowan, a 17-year-old missing from Plainfield, Indiana.

Full documentation, sources, missing-person spotlights, and episode updates are available at:
www.thecasewalkerchronicles.com

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:33

I crawled across the Monon High Bridge. Not metaphorically, not emotionally, literally. Hands on the wooden railroad ties. Knees scraping against timber that has been exposed to more than a century of Indiana winters. Halfway across that bridge, my body stopped cooperating. The wind was moving through the Deer Creek Valley below me. The wooden ties shifted under my weight. And through the gaps between those boards, you can see straight down. Not dirt, not rocks, air. Open space dropping roughly 70 feet to the creek below. If you've only seen the Monon High Bridge in photographs online, it looks adventurous, maybe even beautiful. But photographs flatten places. Standing there does not. The Monon High Bridge stretches approximately 853 feet across Deer Creek. Constructed in the late 1800s as part of the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway, commonly known as the Monan High Railroad Line. Trains once crossed this bridge carrying freight across northern Indiana. But by the late 20th century, railroad traffic stopped. The tracks were abandoned, and the bridge slowly transitioned from infrastructure into something else. A relic, a landmark, a place local teenagers dared each other to cross. But one detail about that bridge matters more than anything else. There are no guardrails. None. Just two steel rails and a series of wooden ties spaced wide enough that if you misplace your foot, there's nothing underneath you. Every step requires attention. Every step reminds you how high you are. Halfway across that bridge, my brain understood something my body had already figured out. I was exposed. Completely exposed. The valley opened around me. The creek wound through the trees below. And suddenly, that bridge didn't feel like a trail anymore. It felt like a ladder suspended across open air. So I did the only thing I could do. I got down, hands first, then knees, and I crawled, wood scraping my palms, my weight shifting forward, tie by tie. Nick had to come back and help me finish the crossing. And the entire time I was moving across that bridge, one thought repeated in my head. Abigail Williams and Liberty German walked this bridge too. But they didn't crawl. They walked. Because when I stood there, I knew the story. I knew the tragedy. I knew what had happened in those woods. But Abby and Libby didn't know any of that. They were kids. Kids exploring a trail. Kids with a cell phone. Kids crossing a bridge that looked exciting. Not dangerous. And that difference? The difference between innocence and knowledge is where this story begins. This is the Casewalker Chronicle.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Delphi, Indiana sits in Carroll County, approximately 70 miles northwest of Indianapolis. Population, roughly 3,000 residents. It is the kind of town where people know each other, where families have lived for generations, where kids ride bikes across neighborhoods, and people still wave when they pass each other driving down the road. And just outside that town sits the Monon High Bridge Trail, a walking path built along the corridor of a former railroad line. The trail winds through wooded terrain above Deer Creek, a tributary that cuts through steep ravines and wooded valleys across Carroll County. To locals, it was simply somewhere to walk. Somewhere teenagers explored. Somewhere people took pictures. It was not considered dangerous. It was not considered a crime scene. Until February 13th, 2017.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Before we go any further into this case, there's something we need to say. Because Delphi has lived online for years, and the internet has turned this investigation into something it was never meant to be. Arguments. Speculation. People repeating things they heard without ever reading the documents those claims came from. That's not how we do this here. Casewalker follows a different method. We walk the ground. We read the record. We follow the timeline. Because when we talk about Abby Williams and Libby German, we are not talking about characters in a story. We are talking about two young girls, two families, two lives taken from a small Indiana community. And if we're going to tell this case, we're going to tell it correctly. So we begin the way investigators had to begin. With the day it happened.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

February 13th, 2017, a Monday, schools in the Delphi area were closed that day. For Abby Williams and Liberty German, that meant something simple. A day off.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Before we move forward in this timeline, we need to stop. Because cases like Delphi can become something dangerous over time. They become headlines, then evidence, then debate. And eventually people forget something very simple. Before this became a case, before it became a trial, before it became an argument on the internet, there were two girls, Abigail Joyce Williams, Liberty Rose Lynn German. Two girls who should have been worried about school dances, homework, friends, the ordinary things that fill the lives of 13 and 14-year-olds. Instead, their names are now permanently attached to a place, a bridge, a trail, a case file, thousands of pages long. But if we're going to tell this story correctly, we start with who they were, not how they died. Who they were.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Abigail Williams was 14 years old. Friends and family described Abby as thoughtful, quiet in the way some observant kids are quiet. She liked animals, she liked photography, and she had the kind of personality that people often describe as gentle. Abby lived with her mother, Anna Williams, in Delphi. She was known as a dependable friend, the kind of kid who showed up when she said she would, the kind of kid who made other people feel comfortable.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Liberty German, Libby, was 13 years old. Where Abby was quiet, Libby had energy, personality, curiosity. Libby loved photography. She loved documenting the world around her. Her phone camera was always nearby. Friends, landscapes, little moments teenagers capture constantly now. Libby lived with her grandparents, Mike and Becky Patty. Family members describe Libby as someone who filled a room. Funny, creative, outgoing. And that difference between Abby and Libby actually made their friendship stronger. Because they balanced each other out.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

The girls were close, the kind of close that starts to feel like family. They spent time together, the way teenagers do. Talking, exploring, taking pictures, posting moments online. The kinds of everyday interactions that feel small while they're happening, but become precious later. And on February 13th, 2017, that ordinary teenage routine continued.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

February 13th, a Monday. Schools in the Delphi area were closed. For kids in Indiana, an unexpected day off in February usually means one thing. You go outside. The temperature that day had climbed into the mid-40s, which might not sound warm, but in the middle of an Indiana winter, 45 degrees can feel like spring. The snow had melted, the ground was a little bit damp, but the air was mild enough that sitting inside felt like wasting the day. So Abby and Libby started making plans.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

The plan itself was simple. They wanted to go to the Monon High Bridge Trail. This was not some secret location, it was well known locally. Teenagers had visited the bridge for years, walking the trail, taking photos, crossing the old railroad structure or the view of the valley, and that familiarity matters. Because when Abby and Libby decide to go there, they were not going somewhere they believed was dangerous. They were going somewhere kids had gone many times before.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

But teenagers usually need one thing: a ride. Libby's older sister, Kelsey German, agreed to take them. That small detail would later become important to investigators, because Kelsey's drop-off established the last confirmed time the girls were seen arriving at the trail. And in homicide investigations, those timeline anchors matter.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

According to investigative records, Kelsey German dropped Abby and Libby off near the Monon High Bridge trail entrance around 1.49 p.m. The drop-off occurred near the Freedom Bridge access point. From there, the girls would walk along the trail system towards the Monon High Bridge, a route that takes several minutes. The path moves through wooded terrain, dirt and gravel, uneven ground, and eventually the trees open up into a clearing. That clearing is where the bridge appears.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

And this detail matters because when you walk that trail, you don't see the bridge immediately. You move through the woods first. Bare winter trees. The sound of Deer Creek somewhere below. Then the ground opens. The valley appears. And suddenly, the bridge is there in front of you. Steel rails stretching across open air. Wooden ties leading forward like the rungs of a ladder suspended over the valley. And that's where Abby and Libby were heading.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

After being dropped off, the girls began walking the trail. Investigators later reconstructed portions of their movement using phone data and social media activity, and one of the most important pieces of that timeline appears at 2.07 p.m.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

At 2.07 p.m., Libby posted a photograph to Snapchat. The image shows Abby walking across the Monon High Bridge. Abby is walking away from the camera. Wooden railroad ties stretch forward. Bare February trees surround the valley. The sky is pale. Nothing in that photograph suggests danger. It looks exactly like what it was at that time. Two girls spending an afternoon exploring a trail, taking pictures, documenting a moment. But hindsight does something cruel to ordinary images. Because now, when people see that photograph, they're not just seeing a girl on a bridge. They are seeing the last confirmed photograph taken before everything changed.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

After that photograph, the timeline becomes extremely narrow. Because sometime shortly afterward, Libby's phone began recording video, and that recording would become one of the most unusual pieces of evidence in modern homicide investigations.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

The video captured a man walking towards the girls on the bridge. The clip is short, grainy, taken from a distance, but it contains two things investigators almost never get simultaneously in a homicide investigation. An image and a voice.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

Those still frames would become one of the most recognizable images associated with this case. The man would become known simply as Bridge Guy.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

But the image was only part of what Libby's phone captured. There was audio. Four words. Four words that millions of people would eventually hear. Guys down the hill.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

According to investigators, the recording capturing that moment occurred at approximately 2.13 p.m. That means only about 24 minutes had passed between the girls arriving at the trail and the moment that video was recorded. 24 minutes. Less than half an hour. In that time, the girls arrived. They walked the trail, they crossed the bridge, they took a photo, and they encountered a man. What happened after that moment is where the timeline disappears into the woods.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

But there is something else about this moment investigators have talked about many times. Libby pressed record. That decision matters. Because when you listen to that clip now, you hear something subtle. The recording does not begin with panic, it begins quietly. Which has led investigators to believe Libby may have sensed something was wrong. Maybe suspicion. Maybe instinct. Maybe caution. We cannot know exactly what she was thinking. But we do know this. Without that recording, there would be no image. No voice, no suspect captured on video. And one teenage girl's instinct created a piece of evidence that investigators would rely on for years.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

But at 2 13 p.m., no one else in Delphi knew anything had gone wrong. The girls were still supposed to be enjoying an afternoon walk. Their families believed they would be picked up later that day. And somewhere beyond the south end of the Monan High Bridge, the timeline went silent. After the recording captured on Liberty German's phone at approximately 2.13 p.m., the public timeline becomes much less clear. Investigators know the girls were somewhere near the south end of the Monan High Bridge. But the exact movements that followed remain only partially reconstructed through investigation. What we do know is what was supposed to happen next. The girls were supposed to be picked up, and in small towns like Delphi, that kind of plan is completely normal. A ride to the trail, a few hours outside, then someone returns to pick you up. But on February 13th, 2017, that routine started to break.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Libby's father, Derek German, had arranged to pick the girls up later that afternoon. Around 3.11 p.m., Derek arrived near the Monon High Bridge Trail to collect them. The plan was simple. The girls would meet him near the trail entrance. They would get into the car, and they would go home. But when Derek arrived, they weren't there.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

At first, the situation did not immediately appear to be an emergency. Teenagers sometimes lose track of time. Phones run out of battery. Plans shift. Maybe they had walked farther down the trail. Maybe they were still crossing the bridge. Maybe they were sitting somewhere nearby. But minutes passed, and the girls did not appear.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

If you've ever waited for someone who didn't show up, you know this moment. At first it feels small, an inconvenience. Then it becomes a question. Then a knot forms in your chest. You start looking down the path. You expect them to appear any second. You start calling their names. And when they still don't appear, that quiet question begins turning into something heavier.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Derek Derman began walking the trail, looking, calling for the girls, Libby, Abby. At the same time, he began calling Libby's phone, but there was no answer. And that detail became important to investigators later, because Libby's phone had been active earlier in the afternoon, posting a Snapchat photo, recording video, but now the calls were going unanswered.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

So the search began in the most human way possible. Family members started walking the trail, calling the girls' names into the woods. Abby. People who loved them, trying to find them. But as the minutes continued to pass, the circle widened.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Friends arrived. Neighbors arrived. People who heard what was happening came to help. Because that is what small towns do when something feels wrong. They show up. And soon people were spreading across the trail system, walking the paths, looking down toward Deer Creek, searching the woods surrounding the Monon High Bridge.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Imagine those woods that afternoon. Bare February trees, the ground still damp from melting snow, the creek running beneath the bridge, voices calling out names, people walking farther and farther into the woods, each person carrying the same hope that the girls had simply wandered farther than expected, that they were sitting somewhere waiting to be found, that this would end with relief. Because the alternative was something no one wanted to think about.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

As the afternoon moved toward evening, the search expanded, more people arrived. Some searched the trails, others moved toward the creek. Flashlights began appearing as daylight faded, and eventually law enforcement became involved. Local deputies responded. Officers began coordinating search efforts. But the terrain around the Monon High Bridge presents real challenges.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Because this is something you have to understand about that location, the area surrounding the bridge is not flat parkland. It is a valley, steep slopes dropping toward Deer Creek, thick woods, uneven ground. If someone moves down those hillsides, they can disappear from view quickly, even during Daylight, and once darkness comes, visibility drops fast.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

As the sun set on February 13th, searchers continued moving through the woods, flashlights cutting through branches, voices calling names again and again, search teams moving along the creek, others checking the trail, others moving across the bridge itself, and above it all, the Monon High Bridge stood silent.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

Because somewhere in those woods were two girls. But that night no one found them.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Search efforts continued into the evening hours, but eventually the conditions made searching more difficult. Darkness, cold, the steep terrain around Deer Creek. And as the night continued, one of the most haunting realities of this case began to take shape. Two girls had vanished from a public trail in the middle of the afternoon, and no one yet knew what had happened.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

Think about that. A public trail. In daylight. Two girls walking. A photograph. A video. A voice. And then silence.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

The search resumed the next morning, February 14, 2017, and what investigators would discover that day would change Delphi forever.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Because sometime during that search, in a wooded area near Deer Creek, the girls were found. Abigail Williams, Liberty German. The search that had begun with hope ended in tragedy. And in that moment, the Delphi search operation became a homicide investigation.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

Morning came to Delphi on February 14th, 2017. Valentine's Day. But in Carroll County that morning had nothing to do with flowers or cards. It was about continuing a search that had begun the evening before. Two girls were still missing. Abigail Williams, Liberty German. Search efforts resumed early that morning. Volunteers returned. Law enforcement returned. Searchers began moving again through the woods surrounding the Monon Highbridge Trail and the valley around Deer Creek. The same terrain they had searched the night before. But now in daylight, and daylight changes a search. You can see farther, you can move faster, and details that disappear in darkness begin to appear again.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Somewhere during that search, a discovery was made. In a wooded area near Deer Creek, not far from the Monon High Bridge, searchers located two bodies, the bodies of Abby Williams and Libby German. The search operation immediately changed. Because from that moment forward, the wooded valley near Deer Creek was no longer a search area. It was a crime scene.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Once investigators determine a homicide has occurred, the area must be secured. Evidence must be preserved. Movement becomes controlled. Investigators begin documenting every detail of the location. And in Delphi, that meant multiple agencies became involved very quickly. The investigation included Carroll County Sheriff's Office, Indiana State Police, local emergency personnel, additional investigators assisting with forensic processing. Large homicide scenes often require coordination between several agencies because the work is extensive. Photographing the scene, mapping the terrain, documenting positions of evidence, collecting physical material that might explain what happened.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

And the terrain where the girls were found matters, because the land around Deer Creek is not simple. This isn't flat ground, it's a valley, steep slopes, thick woods, uneven earth that drops sharply toward the water. Standing there today, you can see how easily someone could move down those slopes and disappear from view from the bridge above. That geography became an important part of the investigation. Because investigators needed to understand exactly how events had unfolded in that environment.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

While investigators processed the scene, one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case had already been secured. Libby German's phone. The phone investigators recovered contained digital evidence, evidence that would eventually define the entire case.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

Inside that phone was the recording Libby had started the afternoon before. The recording investigators later confirmed contained video of a man walking toward the girls on the bridge, and audio capturing his voice. Those recordings created something extremely rare in homicide investigations. Investigators had an image of a possible suspect, and they had his voice.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

Not long after the discovery of the girls, investigators began preparing information that could be shared with the public. Because public assistance often becomes critical in cases like this. Especially when investigators believe someone may have been seen in a public area shortly before a crime occurred. So investigators began reviewing the footage captured on Libby's phone, and from that video they extracted a still image.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

The image shows a man walking along the Monan High Bridge, hands in his pockets, wearing jeans, a dark jacket, possibly a hat. The figure appears to be moving steadily across the bridge toward the girls. That image would soon be released publicly, and once it was, it spread across the country. The man in that image quickly became known by a name investigators themselves never originally used. The internet gave him that name.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

Along with the image, investigators also released a portion of the audio captured on Libby's phone. Four words. Just four. Guys, down the hill. Those words would become some of the most widely recognized audio evidence in modern criminal investigation. Played repeatedly on news broadcasts, shared across social media, analyzed by investigators, and the public alike. Everyone listened for something. A voice they might recognize.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

But here is the reality investigators were facing. The image was grainy. The video had been recorded from a distance. And the audio clip that was released to the public was short, which meant identifying the person responsible would not be simple. So investigators turned to the public. They asked anyone who had been on the Monon High Bridge Trail on February 13th to come forward. Anyone who had seen someone matching the image. Anyone who had noticed something unusual.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Tip lines were established, and almost immediately the calls began. Hundreds, then thousands. People from Delphi, people from surrounding counties, people from across the country who believed they recognized something in the image or the voice. Each tip had to be documented. Each tip had to be evaluated. Because investigations like this, one detail can matter. A person seen walking, a car parked somewhere unusual, a brief interaction that seemed meaningless at the time. Investigators began building a timeline not only of Abby and Libby's movements, but of everyone who had been near the trail that afternoon.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

And that is something that often surprises people about homicide investigations. They are not solved instantly. They are built piece by piece. Witness statements, phone data, physical evidence. Every fragment of information has to be tested, because the burden investigators face is not suspicion, it's proof. Under Indiana Code 35-42-1-1, murder is defined as knowingly or intentionally killing another human being. But proving that charge requires evidence. Evidence strong enough to withstand the scrutiny of a courtroom.

SPEAKER_01 31:31

As the investigation continued, one question remained at the center of everything. Who was the man on the bridge? Where had he come from? Where had he gone after the encounter captured on Libby's phone? And perhaps the most haunting question of all, how could someone commit a crime in that location during daylight and disappear?

SPEAKER_00 31:55

Those questions would define the investigation for years. Years of tips. Years of searching. Years of investigators trying to identify the man captured on Libby's phone. But in the days immediately following the murders, Delphi was still in shock. A small town had lost two children, and the entire country was beginning to watch.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

In the days following the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German, investigators were working two parallel efforts, one happening quietly, the other happening publicly. Behind the scenes, detectives were processing the crime scene, analyzing evidence, interviewing witnesses, but publicly, law enforcement needed help because the man captured on Libby German's phone had not yet been identified. And investigators believed someone out there might recognize him.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

So investigators made a decision. They would release part of the evidence to the public. This is not something law enforcement does lightly. Evidence in homicide cases is usually guarded carefully, because releasing information too early can compromise an investigation. But in Delphi, investigators believe the public might hold the key.

SPEAKER_01 33:22

On February 15, 2017, Indiana State Police released the first still image taken from the video on Libby's phone. The image showed a man walking across the Monon High Bridge, hands in his pockets, blue jeans, a dark jacket, head slightly lowered. The figure appeared to be moving steadily along the wooden railroad ties toward the girls.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

And once the image was released, it spread instantly. Local news stations aired it. Regional newspapers printed it. National media outlets began covering the story. And social media carried the image across the internet faster than investigators could have predicted. Suddenly, millions of people were looking at the same photograph, trying to answer the same question. Who is this man?

SPEAKER_01 34:19

Investigators referred to him simply as the individual captured in the still image, but the internet quickly gave him a name. The name stuck, and within days, the image had become one of the most widely recognized suspect photographs in modern criminal investigations.

SPEAKER_00 34:38

But investigators released something else along with the image. Audio. A short clip taken from Libby's phone recording. Four words. Guys, down the hill. Those four words would become one of the most analyzed pieces of audio evidence in true crime history, played repeatedly on television broadcasts, shared across podcasts, studied by voice analysts, and replayed millions of times online. People listening again and again, trying to hear something familiar. An accent.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

Call the tip line. Report anything unusual they had seen near the trail. Anyone who had been in the area that afternoon. Anyone who had noticed someone behaving strangely. Anyone who might recognize the man in the image.

SPEAKER_00 35:51

And the calls began almost immediately. Hundreds, then thousands. People from Delphi called. People from neighboring counties called. People from other states called. Some believe they recognize the voice. Others thought the clothing looked familiar. Others reported people they believed might resemble the image. Every tip had to be logged. Every lead had to be reviewed. Because in homicide investigations, even a small detail can matter.

SPEAKER_01 36:25

Investigators began reconstructing the entire timeline of February 13th. Who had been on the trail? Who had crossed the bridge? Who had seen Abby and Libby? Who had seen the man investigators believed was captured in Libby's recording? Witness statements became critical because someone might have seen something they didn't realize was important at the time.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

And this is something people often misunderstand about investigations. Witnesses rarely realize they are witnessing something significant in the moment. A person walking down a trail. Someone standing near a bridge. Those things look ordinary until later. Until investigators begin asking questions. Until people realize they might have seen something that matters.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Investigators also began reviewing surveillance footage from businesses and traffic cameras in the area. Looking for vehicles that may have passed near the trail. Looking for anything that could help place someone near the scene during the narrow timeline investigators were working with. Because remember, the critical window between the girls arriving and Libby's recording was extremely short. Approximately 24 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 37:55

And as the investigation expanded, the story of Delphi began spreading across the country. Major national outlets began reporting on the case. CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, newspapers across the United States began covering the murders of two girls on a bridge in rural Indiana. And with that national attention came something investigators often struggle with speculation.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

Online forums began discussing the case. True crime communities began analyzing what was released to the public. People debated the identity of the man on the bridge. Some believed he looked familiar. Others believed the clothing disguised his identity. Others believed investigators were withholding more evidence. But speculation is not evidence. And investigators still need something concrete, something that would identify the man in Libby's recording.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

Meanwhile, for the families of Abby and Libby, life had changed completely. Funerals were held, the community gathered, schools mourned, and two families were forced to face the unimaginable reality of losing their children. But through all that grief, one question remained.

SPEAKER_01 39:18

Investigators continued following leads, interviewing people, reviewing evidence, analyzing the recording. And as weeks passed, they made another decision.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

Because when investigators believed someone might recognize a face, even if the image from the bridge was unclear, even if the video did not provide enough detail, a sketch might trigger recognition.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

In July of 2017, investigators released the first suspect sketch. The sketch depicted an older man, facial hair, a heavier face. Someone witnesses believed resembled the individual seen near the trail. The hope was simple. Someone would see that sketch and recognize the person responsible.

SPEAKER_00 40:11

But what investigators did not yet know was that the Delphi investigation would become far more complicated than anyone imagined. Because years would pass, thousands of tips would be investigated, and still, the man on the bridge would remain unidentified.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

By the summer of 2017, the Delphi investigation had already produced several pieces of evidence rarely seen together in a homicide case. Investigators had a video recording of a suspect, audio of the suspect speaking, a narrow timeline, and a public trail where multiple people had been present that afternoon. But even with those elements, identifying the man known as Bridge Guy proved extremely difficult, because none of that evidence included the one thing investigators needed most: a name.

SPEAKER_00 41:15

The release of the suspect sketch in July of 2017 was meant to help change that. The sketch depicted a man believed to resemble someone seen near the trail. Older, heavier facial features, facial hair. Investigators hoped someone would recognize the face. A neighbor, a co-worker, a family member, someone who would look at that sketch and realize they knew that person.

SPEAKER_01 41:46

And once again, the public responded. More tips came in. Thousands. Investigators reviewed them, followed leads, interviewed individuals, tracked down people whose appearance resembled the sketch. Because in major investigations like this, tips become the lifeblood of the case. Everyone must be evaluated, even the unlikely ones.

SPEAKER_00 42:10

But months passed, then a year, then two years, and the Delphi case remained unsolved. For the families of Abby and Libby, that meant living inside uncertainty. The investigation was still active. Investigators were still working. But the person responsible had not been publicly identified.

SPEAKER_01 42:35

Behind the scenes, investigators continued reviewing the evidence recovered from the crime scene. Digital evidence, witness statements, forensic analysis, and the recording captured on Liberty's phone remained central to the investigation, because that recording confirmed something investigators already knew. The suspect had been physically present on the bridge, and he had spoken to the girls.

SPEAKER_00 43:00

But identifying someone from that video remained challenging. The footage was short, the resolution was limited, and the suspect's face was not clearly visible. Investigators believed the man in the video was responsible, but proving that required something stronger than suspicion. It required evidence that could stand inside a courtroom.

SPEAKER_01 43:24

During those early years, investigators also continued re-examining witness statements from people who had been on the trail. Because witnesses had reported seeing a man matching the general description near the area. Some described a person walking along the trail. Others described someone near the bridge. And investigators needed to determine whether those observations referred to the same individual captured in Libby's video.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

Meanwhile, the case continued gaining national attention, television specials, news documentaries, Podcasts discussing the investigation. Millions of people across the country began following the Delphi case, which created both advantages and challenges.

SPEAKER_01 44:13

The advantages was awareness. The more people who saw the image of Bridge Guy, the greater the chance someone might recognize him. But the challenge was speculation. Online communities began analyzing every detail of the case. The video, the audio, the sketches. People developed theories. Some focused on individuals in Delphi. Others believed the suspect may have come from outside the community. But speculation can sometimes complicate investigations, because investigators must separate real evidence from public rumor.

SPEAKER_00 44:49

And during those years, one question continued appearing in headlines. How could a case with video evidence and audio of the suspect remain unsolved? The answer is something investigators understand well. Evidence must lead to proof. And proof must survive the scrutiny of the legal system. Under Indiana criminal law, prosecutors must establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That standard is intentionally high, because the consequences of conviction are severe, which means investigators cannot rely on suspicion. They must build a case strong enough to withstand defense challenges in court.

SPEAKER_01 45:36

So investigators continued working, following leads, re-examining evidence, re-interviewing witnesses, and eventually, the investigation would take a turn that surprised many people following the case.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

Because in April 2019, more than two years after the murders, law enforcement held a press conference in Delphi. A press conference that would introduce a new development in the case and raise new questions.

SPEAKER_01 46:07

At that press conference, Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter addressed the public. Carter announced that investigators were moving in what he called a new direction. And with that announcement came a change that surprised many observers. Investigators released a second suspect sketch.

SPEAKER_00 46:31

And this sketch looked very different from the first. Younger, clean-shaven, a completely different facial structure, which created immediate confusion. Because for two years the public had been looking for a man who resembled the first sketch. Now investigators were introducing a new image.

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People began asking the obvious question: which sketch was correct? Were investigators now looking for a different suspect? Had the first sketch been wrong? Or were both sketches connected somehow? Law enforcement attempted to clarify that the new sketch represented the person investigators now believed to be responsible. But the shift created uncertainty among the public.

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During that same press conference, Doug Carter addressed the killer directly. His remarks were emotional, personal. At one point, he said investigators believed the killer might be hiding in plain sight. He told the killer, quote, we believe you are hiding in plain sight, end quote. Those words became one of the most memorable statements in the entire investigation.

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But despite the renewed attention following that press conference, the case remained unsolved. The image of Bridgeguy continued circulating, the audio continued being played, and the families of Abby and Libby continued waiting for answers.

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Years passed. Investigators continued working quietly behind the scenes, following new leads, re-examining earlier evidence. And then, in October of 2022, more than five years after the murders, something changed.

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Investigators announced they had arrested a man in connection with the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German. A man who lived in Delphi. A man named Richard Matthew Allen. For more than five years, the Delphi investigation remained one of the most closely watched, unsolved cases in the United States. Five years of tips, five years of speculation, five years of investigators continuing their work quietly behind the scenes. And then, in October of 2022, that all changed.

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On October 26, 2022, law enforcement officers arrested a man from Delphi. His name was Richard Matthew Allen. Allen was not a transient. He was not someone passing through town. He was a resident of Delphi, a pharmacy technician who had lived in the same community where Abby and Libby had been murdered. And when news of the arrest became public, it stunned many people following the case, because Richard Allen's name had not dominated the speculation that had circulated online for years.

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After the arrest, prosecutors filed a probable cause affidavit outlining the evidence investigators believed connected Allen to the murders. The affidavit described several key elements investigators believed linked Allen to the crime. One of those elements came from Alan himself, because during the investigation, Alan admitted that he had been on the Monon High Bridge Trail on February 13, 2017.

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According to the affidavit, Alan told investigators he had gone to the trail that afternoon. He said he had walked toward the bridge, and that he had been wearing clothing similar to what appears in the video captured on Libby's phone. That statement immediately caught investigators' attention because the video recorded on Libby's phone had captured a man walking on that same bridge during the same time frame.

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Investigators also relied on witness statements included in the affidavit. Several witnesses reported seeing a man on the trail that afternoon, a man described as wearing dark clothing, a man walking toward the bridge. One witness reported seeing a man who appeared muddy or bloody walking along the road later that day. Investigators believed those statements supported their timeline.

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But one of the most debated elements of the affidavit involved a piece of physical evidence, a 40-caliber unspent cartridge recovered near the location where the girls were found. Investigators later conducted forensic analysis on that cartridge. According to the affidavit, examiners concluded the cartridge had been cycled through a firearm belonging to Richard Allen. The firearm was a Sigsour P-226 pistol owned by Allen. Investigators argued that the cartridge found near the crime scene could be linked to that weapon through tool mark analysis.

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Tool mark analysis examines the microscopic markings left on ammunition when it is cycled through a firearm. When a round is chambered or ejected, the metal surfaces inside the firearm can leave unique marks on the cartridge. Investigators believed the markings on the cartridge recovered near the scene were consistent with Alan's gun. And prosecutors argued that connection helped place Alan at the crime scene.

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But the affidavit included something else that investigators considered significant. Alan had reportedly told investigators he had been on the trail that afternoon, yet no one had identified him publicly during the early years of the investigation, which raised questions about how that information had been handled during the initial investigation.

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Following Alan's arrest, prosecutors charged him with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Abigail Williams and Liberty German. But as the case moved toward trial, new questions began emerging. Questions about the evidence, questions about the investigation, and questions about how the justice system would handle one of Indiana's most closely watched cases.

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Because an arrest is not the end of a case, it's the beginning of a different phase. The courtroom, where evidence must be presented, witnesses must testify, and every decision investigators made can be examined by defense attorneys. The case now moved into the legal system, and that meant the evidence investigators believed pointed to Richard Allen would soon be tested in court.

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The Delphi trial would involve extensive pretrial motions, legal arguments over evidence, disputes over investigative methods, and debates about what information the jury would ultimately hear. Because once a case reaches a courtroom, the process becomes governed by rules of law. Evidence must be admitted according to legal standards, witness testimony must be scrutinized, and every piece of the investigation can be challenged.

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For Abby and Libby's families, the hope was simple: justice. The hope that the person responsible for the murders of their daughters would be held accountable. But the road to that outcome would not be simple, because what happened inside the courtroom would raise new questions. Questions about evidence, questions about investigative decisions, and questions about how the legal system handles cases like Delphi.

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And that is where the next chapter of this story begins. Because the Delphi case did not end with Richard Allen's arrest. In many ways, it was just the beginning.

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In the next episode of the Case Walker Chronicles, we move inside the courtroom, the investigation, the evidence, the arguments, and the legal battle that followed the arrest of Richard Allen. Because understanding Delphi means understanding more than what happened on the bridge. It means understanding what happened after. Every episode of the Casewalker Chronicles includes this segment because visibility matters and because missing persons deserve attention while there is still time to help. This week, the spotlight shines on Penelope McGowan.

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Penelope McGowan is 17 years old and is missing from Plainfield, Indiana. According to the Indiana State Police Missing Person Spreadsheet, Penelope was last seen on February 9, 2026. According to the Plainfield Police Department, Penelope was last seen leaving school with her older sister. Investigators say her sister later dropped her off in the neighborhood where Penelope lives with her father. Her last known GPS location was southbound on Moon Road, just south of US 40, before her phone was believed to have been turned off.

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Penelope was last seen wearing a white shirt, blue pants, and a black jacket with fur on the hood. She was also carrying a backpack. She is described as 5'4, approximately 130 pounds, with red hair and hazel eyes.

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Police say Penelope has not made contact with friends or family that investigators are aware of, and her current location is unknown. If you have any information about the whereabouts of Penelope McGowan, you are asked to contact 911.

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If you value the work we do here at the Casewalker Chronicles, the research, the record requests, and the time it takes to build these investigations, you can now support the show on Patreon.

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Support from listeners helps fund research, document review, public records request, and the production of the podcast.

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If you'd like to support the work, you can find our Patreon page in the episode description. And to everyone listening and sharing the show, thank you. This has been the CaseWalker Chronicles.

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And we hope you keep walking with us.