Onopgeloste Mysterie: De Delphi Moorden
Today I present to you an unsolved case from the American state of Indiana that can genuinely keep me awake at night and make me incredibly angry. The fact that this perpetrator has not yet been caught is something I really can't wrap my head around. Earlier, I tipped a podcast about this murder case that is really a must-listen, but if you don't feel like listening to a number of hour-long episodes: I'll give you a brief overview.
Abigal ‘Abby’ Williams and Liberty ‘Libby’ German had a snow-free day on February 13, 2017. This sounds a bit misleading because it wasn't snowing at all: their school had a number of snow-free days left, and therefore they got this day off. The best friends lived in Delphi, Indiana, and wanted to go to a nature reserve nearby on their day off. Libby’s sister Kelsi dropped them off there around one o'clock in the afternoon. An hour later, Libby uploaded a photo of Abby on her Snapchat: they are on the Monon High Bridge, an aging bridge, over 19 meters high and nearly 260 meters long. Abby was never allowed by her parents to go on this bridge due to its dilapidated state and because it was easy to fall off.
The girls were to be picked up by Libby’s father, who arrived between three and half past three. He called Libby, but there was no answer. After walking around and asking around in the nature reserve, he reported them missing around half past five. That same evening, a search was organized with many local residents of Delphi (a village with fewer than 3,000 inhabitants), which was eventually called off because it was getting too dark.
The next morning, on February 14, the two lifeless bodies of Abby and Libby were found on the other side of the Monon High Bridge, in the water that runs underneath, called Deer Creek.
What makes this case so special is, first of all, that the perpetrator must have acted very quickly. The photo was uploaded to Snapchat at two o'clock, and by three o'clock, Libby’s father could no longer reach them. Additionally, the police have spoken to multiple eyewitnesses who saw the suspected perpetrator walking at the beginning of the nature reserve. All in all (considering the time it takes to walk to the place where they were found, as the police believe that was also the murder location), he had no more than twenty minutes.
But what makes it perhaps even more remarkable is that Libby has the perpetrator on video on her phone. With her phone's camera, presumably in selfie mode, she recorded him as he walked towards the two girls on the bridge. And not only that: when he approached the two, she continued filming. This means that the police have footage of the perpetrator and have heard his voice, but now, over four years later, they still do not know who he is.
As I mentioned, Delphi is a small town with fewer than 3,000 inhabitants. The police have repeatedly stated that they believe the perpetrator is a local person. That should mean that someone in that small village knows more, right? I must say that the police have not been very consistent in their approach here, but that is to be expected: such a small village does not have a large police force with experience in these kinds of horrific murder cases. The police have stated multiple times that they have DNA, but that has also been refuted multiple times.
On Reddit, this is perhaps the most discussed case, with an extremely active subreddit. Very interesting, but do be careful: most users consider themselves real detectives and do not hesitate to publicly accuse residents of Delphi. There, too, the majority believes that it must have been someone from the village itself, and then it is of course a matter of going through the individuals who somewhat resemble the man from the video (referred to online as ‘Bridge Guy’).
All in all, a very sad case that — I hope — will someday be solved. If you want to know more about it, definitely listen to the podcast I mentioned earlier. So interesting. But the subreddit is also a recommendation. Last year, someone was arrested in a town near Delphi who looks a lot like the perpetrator from the video, but that also seems to be a dead end. And so, in recent years, several ‘suspects’ have come and gone, but unfortunately, the right one is still not among them. A rabbit hole that you can't escape from, for sure.
