Delphi murders: Police search of Indiana river is connected to unsolved 2017 case, true crime podcasters say

Search of Wabash River is a promising sign in investigation into tragic deaths of Libby German and Abby Williams, The Murder Sheet podcast hosts say

Best friends Abigail Williams, left, and Liberty German were found dead on a hiking trail near Delphi, Indiana, in 2017 (Facebook)

True crime podcasters investigating the brutal 2017 murders of two young girls in Delphi, Indiana, say they spotted law enforcement conducting a search of waters close to where their bodies were found.

The police sweep of the Wabash River near Peru, Indiana, on 23 August has raised hopes of a possible breakthrough in the high-profile investigation into the murders of Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13.

Journalist Áine Cain and attorney Kevin Greenlee, who host The Murder Sheet podcast, told The Independent they received a tip that police were searching the river on 23 August.

They headed straight to the location, roughly 35 miles east of Delphi, and found around 12 Indiana State Police officers searching the waterway with buckets, shovels, and what looked like metal detectors.

Law enforcement officers search the Wabash River in Indiana. The search raised hopes of a breakthrough in the Delphi murder investigation (Courtesy of The Murder Podcast)

The officers from the Indiana State Police used metal detectors and shovels to search the river (Courtesy of The Murder Podcast)

Best friends Abigail Williams, left, and Liberty German were found dead on a hiking trail near Delphi, Indiana, in 2017 (Facebook)

The Indiana State Police have refused to say if the search was connected to the Delphi probe.

“We believe that it is too soon to tell if the water search going on in Peru, Indiana, signals a breakthrough in the Delphi case,” the podcasters said in a statement to The Independent.

“That being said, our sources indicate that it is connected with the unsolved murders of Libby German and Abby Williams. And such a visible event certainly gives us a strong indication that many things are happening behind the scenes in the case.”

Libby and Abby went missing after going for a hike near the Monon High Bridge in Carroll County, Indiana, on 13 February 2017.

Their bodies were discovered about half a mile from the trail the next day.

Several suspects have been identified in the case, but no-one has been charged.

In May, Ms Cain and Mr Greenlee uncovered police documents that suggested the killer may have moved and staged the victim’s bodies and taken a souvenir from their 2017 slayings.

The new details came from a 2017 FBI warrant carry out a search on the home of Ronald Logan.

Mr Logan’s home was just 1,400 feet from the location where Libby and Abby’s bodies were discovered.

On the day the girls went missing, Libby posted photos on Snapchat of her and Abby walking along the trail.

The 14-year-old also captured a grainy video on her phone of a man dressed in blue jeans, a jacket and a hoodie walking along the abandoned railroad bridge.

Investigators released a still image from the video and a chilling audio of the man telling the two girls: “Go down the hill.”

Image of Abigail Williams walking across the Monon High Bridge was recovered from her Snapchat account on the day she disappeared (Snapchat)

Police issue fresh appeal on fifth anniversary of ‘Delphi Murders’ (Indiana State Police)

Investigators have long suspected that this man is the girls’ killer and have praised the girls for documenting the video as evidence.

The man has never been identified. He is described as a white male aged between 16 and 40 years old, between 5’ 6” and 5’ 10” in height and weighing between 180 and 200 pounds.

In December, Indiana State Police revealed they had linked the girls’ disappearance to a fake online profile named “anthony_shots” and appealed for anyone who had interacted with them to come forward.

The bogus account was active from 2016 to 2017, and had been known to try to groom and meet young girls in a deceptive online practice known as “catfishing”.

Investigators said the person behind the account posed as the model in order to groom underage girls and get them to send nude photos and their addresses and try to get them to meet.

The man who set up the fake account was identified in court documents as 27-year-old Kegan Anthony Kline.

Kline is due to face trial later this year on 30 felony charges including child exploitation, possession of child pornography, obstruction of justice and synthetic identity deception.