New details of Delphi Bridge Murders reveal victims died in bloodbath, killer took ‘souvenir’

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The victims of a notorious unsolved 2017 murder were found covered in blood – and their killer took a twisted souvenir, a search warrant has revealed.

Delphi Bridge murder victims Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, were found to have lost a large amount of blood when discovered dead close to an Indiana hiking trail in February 2017.

‘A large amount of blood was lost by the victims at the crime scene,’ an FBI search warrant read. It did not note how the girls had been wounded, but noted that there were no signs of a ‘struggle or fight.’

The warrant, obtained by the Murder Sheet podcast and released to Indianapolis FOX59, offered no further information on a murder weapon or cause of death.

Police have never disclosed how the two friends died after being stalked by their killer on a hiking trail, with information on the bloody crime scene offering a gruesome new detail. 

Their killer likely got his victims’ blood on his clothes, the warrant also revealed, although no-one has ever been charged with the double-homicide. 

Indiana State Police said in February they know who killed the girls, but say they have insufficient evidence to make an arrest.  

New details of Delphi Bridge Murders reveal victims died in bloodbath, killer took ‘souvenir’

Abby German was 14 when she was killed

Libby Williams, 13 (left), and Abby German, 14, (right), were found bloodied and murdered after going missing on February 13, 2017, in Delphi, Indiana

Chillingly, FBI investigators believe the young friends’ killer took a souvenir from their corpses to provide a warped memento of his appalling crimes. 

The warrant offered no further detail on what the souvenir was, although it did say that ‘the rest of (the girls’) clothing was recovered,’ implying that the killer had taken something they’d been wearing. 

And sickeningly, the murderer ‘staged’ the girls’ bodies in a particular way after killing them, although it remains unclear exactly how he did this. 

Investigators believe photographs or videos were likely shot of the grotesque set-up to ‘memorialize’ the crime scene. 

The warrant further revealed that the FBI had probable cause to search the home and property of Ron Logan.

He was the owner of the land where the girls’ bloodied bodies were found. They were discovered about 1,400 feet from Logan’s house. 

Logan was arrested shortly after the killings, but was never charged, and died in 2020. He was a habitual traffic offender who served time behind bars for his crimes, but is not considered a suspect in the murders of Williams and German. 

The 2017 murder of Abby, 13, and Libby, 14, became notorious after investigators released chilling footage the girls recorded of a man following and approaching them across the Manon High Bridge in the woods of Delphi, Indiana. 

A brief snippet of audio was released, of the man saying ‘Down the hill.’ The full clip is 43 seconds long, but its contents are believed to be too disturbing to share in full.

The voice in the clip did not match that of Logan, the FBI investigation concluded. A brief clip of the man walking towards the girls on the Monon High Bridge Trail was released too.  

Footage found on the girls' phone showed a man following them down the train tracks they were walking on. He can be heard telling them 'Guys, down the hill.' Police suspect he is the killer

Footage found on the girls’ phone showed a man following them down the train tracks they were walking on. He can be heard telling them ‘Guys, down the hill.’ Police suspect he is the killer 

Just before the girls disappeared they posted photos and video to social media showing them walking down the train tracks near the Monon High Bridge Trail (above)

Just before the girls disappeared they posted photos and video to social media showing them walking down the train tracks near the Monon High Bridge Trail (above)

A shot of the Monon High Bridge Trail that the girls posted on social media before their disappearance. Their bodies were found 1,400 feet from Ron Logan's home

A shot of the Monon High Bridge Trail that the girls posted on social media before their disappearance. Their bodies were found 1,400 feet from Ron Logan’s home  

The FBI agent who wrote the warrant said that she had probable cause to search the property of Logan, including his house, any outbuildings, and his car for anything that might be linked to the murders, including bodily fluids, hair, and guns or cutting instruments. 

The FBI also wanted to check for cameras or anything where photos or videos could be stored.

The document also stated that Logan’s  ‘voice is not inconsistent with that of the person in the video,’ and that he was known to own numerous handguns and knives.

The warrant also revealed that Logan lied about his alibi to police, noting that he had told investigators that on the day of the murder on February 13 a friend had picked him up and driven him to a store between ‘2pm and 2:30pm.’

Logan reached out to a family member the following morning on February 14 and asked them to tell police about his trip the previous day, and to say he returned home between 5pm and 5:30pm.

Ron Logan spoke with reporters on his property days after the girls' bodies were found. He told them he had no idea how they could have gotten to where they were found

Ron Logan spoke with reporters on his property days after the girls’ bodies were found. He told them he had no idea how they could have gotten to where they were found

Logan was arrested in April 2017 after confessing to violating parole related to serial traffic violations. He was never named as a suspect in the killings of the girls and died in January

Logan was arrested in April 2017 after confessing to violating parole related to serial traffic violations. He was never named as a suspect in the killings of the girls and died in January

The family member Logan asked to lie for him told police Logan’s lie on March 7, 2017, then two days later admitted he’d lied because Logan asked him to, adding that Logan ‘had never asked [him] to lie in the past.’

Investigators noted that Logan appeared to have asked the family member to lie for him before the crime had even been discovered. 

The warrant wrote that Logan made ‘statements that were found to be factually false and intentionally designed to deceive.’

A search of Logan’s property in March 2017 turned up a receipt timestamped 5:21pm from a town 30 minutes from his house, making his return home at the time he reported in his alibi doubtful.

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Cellphone data also revealed Logan to be in Delphi and near the Monon High Bridge where the girls went missing on the afternoon of their disappearance.

In April of 2017 Logan was arrested after he confessed to violating a parole related to serial traffic violations. 

Suspected pedophile Kegan Kline talked to Libby German using a fake Instagram account. He denies murdering the girls, and said his father could be involved

Suspected pedophile Kegan Kline talked to Libby German using a fake Instagram account. He denies murdering the girls, and said his father could be involved  

In December, police revealed the girls may have been communicating with someone online using these photos. It was a fake account and the pictures belong to a model and cop who lives in Alaska. The information about the fake Instagram account led to 'a tremendous number of leads' but police still have not made any arrests

In December, police revealed the girls may have been communicating with someone online using these photos. It was a fake account and the pictures belong to a model and cop who lives in Alaska. The information about the fake Instagram account led to ‘a tremendous number of leads’ but police still have not made any arrests

In March, Kegan Kline was named as a possible suspect in the girls’ murders.

Kline, 27, Peru in Indiana, is said to have admitted talking to Libby German using a fake Instagram profile called Anthony_shots.

The suspected pedophile – who is heavy-set and pasty-faced – used an image of a ripped and muscular young man to trick underage girls into speaking to him.

Kline is said to have arranged to meet with Libby on the Delphi High Bridge the day before she was murdered while walking along it. 

But he is also said to have shared his Anthony_shots password with others – including his father – and said his dad could be a prime suspect in the killings.

Kline is being held in jail after being arrested on separate child porn charges in 2020. Neither he nor his father have been arrested over the Delphi Bridge killings, which police continue to investigate.  

MEN LINKED TO NOTORIOUS UNSOLVED MURDER 

Kegan Kline 

Kegan Kline, 27, of Peru, Indiana, was named as a possible suspect in the girls’ murders. He is said to have admitted talking to Libby German using a fake Instagram profile called Anthony_shots.  

The suspected pedophile – who is heavy-set and pasty-faced – used an image of a ripped and muscular young man to trick underage girls into speaking to him.

Kline is said to have arranged to meet with Libby on the Delphi High Bridge the day before she was murdered while walking along it. 

Kegan Kline, 27, in real life. He confessed to speaking to Abby and Libby online

The man Kegan Kline posed as when speaking to Abby and Libbu online

Kegan Kline, 27, (right) confessed to talking to Abby and Libby online before they were murdered. He posed as the ripped gentleman online when speaking to the girls

But he is also said to have shared his Anthony_shots password with others – including his father – and said his dad could be a prime suspect in the killings.

Kline is being held in jail after being arrested on separate child porn charges in 2020. Neither he nor his father have been arrested over the Delphi Bridge killings, which police continue to investigate.

James Chadwell II

James Chadwell, 43, was added as a suspect in 2021 after he was arrested and convicted for luring a nine-year-old girl to his home where he sexually assaulted and strangled her in his basement, 20 miles from where Abby and Libby were murdered. 

The girl survived, and Chadwell is currently serving a 90-year sentence for the attack.

In an interview with Inside Edition in 2021, Chadwell’s brother characterized him as being an ‘absolute evil person,’ a ‘monster,’ and more than capable of the Delphi murders.

Authorities have released no connections between Chadwell and the Delphi murders.

Thomas Bruce, a killer and former pastor, resembled the man in the Delphi video

Thomas Bruce, a killer and former pastor, resembled the man in the Delphi video

Thomas Bruce

Thomas Bruce, a former pastor, was charged with fatally shooting one woman and sexually assaulting two others at a Catholic Supply store in St. Louis, Missouri, in November 2018.

Bruce was noted for having a similar stature to the man seen in the Delphi video, and also wore similar clothes during his St. Louis crime as the man in the video Libby and Abby took.

Indiana police looked into Bruce in connection to the Delphi murders, but no charges have been handed down. He is currently serving life in prison for his St. Louis crime.

Charles Eldridge

Charles Eldridge was arrested in Union City, Indiana, in 2019, after he arranged to meet somebody he thought was a teenage girl for sex.

Charles Eldridge bore a striking resemblance to a preliminary police sketch of the Delphi suspect

The original sketch of the Delphi suspect released by authorities. It later was updated show a clean-shaven man

Charles Eldridge (left) bore a striking resemblance to a preliminary police sketch of the Delphi suspect (right). The sketch was later updated to show a clean-shaven man

He was charged with child molestation, and was linked to the Delphi murders because of his strong resemblance to the man in the Delphi video, and a preliminary police sketch investigators had circulated of the suspect. 

Police say they ruled Eldridge out as a suspect, and that he did not match an updated sketch of the suspect.

John Miller

John D. Miller was arrested in 2018 for the 1988 murder of an 8-year-old girl, and threatened to kill again over the years

John D. Miller was arrested in 2018 for the 1988 murder of an 8-year-old girl, and threatened to kill again over the years

John Miller, 63, was arrested in 2018 for the 1988 cold-case rape and murder of 8-year-old April Tinsley. Miller lived two hours from Delphi at the time of his arrest. 

In the years before his arrest, Miller had left numerous notes in public places saying the killer of Tinsley would strike again. 

“I kill 8-year-old April Marie Tinsley. I will kill again,’ one note found in 1990 read. 

No charges have been issued against Miller in relation to the Delphi case.

Daniel Nations

Daniel Nations, a registered Indiana sex-offender, was arrested in Colorado in September 2017 after threatening hikers with a hatchet. It was also reported that a cyclist was murdered on the same trail around the same time Nations was threatening the hikers. 

Nations was connected to the Delphi murder because of the similarities between the crimes, and because he bore a strong resemblance to the preliminary police sketch of the Delphi suspect. Police cleared nations as a suspect.

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