Indiana police arrest man who killed two teenage girls in 2017 | National

DELPHI, Ind. (AP) — Authorities in Indiana have arrested a man in the the unsolved murders of two teenage girls who were killed while hiking five years ago near their small community in their northern Indiana hometown, police said Monday.

Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said during a news conference that 50-year-old Richard Matthew Allen was arrested Friday on two counts in the February 2017 murders of Liberty Herman, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, in a case that haunts Indiana. a town with a population of about 3,000 people.

The bodies of Libby and Abby were found in a mountainous area near a hiking trail on February 14, 2017, a day after they disappeared while hiking during the school day.

A relative of one of the teenagers dropped them off on a hiking trail near the high Monon Bridge near their hometown of Delphi, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis. They went missing on the evening of February 13, 2017, after failing to show up at a pre-arranged meeting place.

Their deaths have been ruled a double homicide, but more than five years after the killings, police have not revealed how the girls died or described what evidence they have in the case.

A few days after the murders, investigators released two grainy photos of the suspect a walk on an abandoned railway bridge, which the girls visited, and an Audio recording of a person the suspect is believed to be saying “downhill.”

After that, authorities released two sketches of the suspected killer, including one in April 2019 based on Libby’s cell phone video, which is believed to be more accurate than the sketch released in July 2017.

Police also released the video in April 2019 which shows a man suspected of murdering teenagers walking across an abandoned railway bridge that the girls frequented.

The short video, photos and audio of the suspect came from Libby’s cell phone. Authorities hailed her as a hero for recording potentially important evidence before she was killed.

In December 2021, state police announced they were seeking information from people who had contact with someone using a fake online profile to communicate with young girls.

At the time, state police said investigators investigating their deaths discovered a fake online profile called “anthony_shots” used from 2016 to 2017 on Snapchat, Instagram and other social media sites.

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