I am, like so many of us, unable to stop thinking about Abby and Libby. It’s been three years now, and I do not know if we’ll ever have answers. I think the girls are both heroes (Abby for staying with Libby, which we believe but can not confirm is the case, and Libby for having the unbelievable instinct to film the person known as “Bridge Guy” or BG and somehow keep her phone from being spotted and confiscated by the killer(s)) and I think about them literally every day and pray about them every night.
The Down The Hill podcast is as tasteful a podcast you can make about such a horrible topic, and YouTube is a dangerous cesspit of speculative videos and random private citizens getting hounded. I also follow the (now very well-policed and moderated) subreddit r/DelphiMurders.
This is a thread to just talk about the case, the girls, etc. You can talk about suspects, but let’s try to be as careful as possible with our language and speculation. If you have somehow not heard anything about these murders, please watch the video and listen to the audio. I do believe someone who is not involved in the crime knows who did it. I also think the guilty party/parties may be dead.
The trail is colder by the day, but I think those of us who hope that one day we will have an answer believe that the audio and video *will* play the greatest role in getting us to that place.
We do not know much about the unreleased portion of the recording. Investigators have been careful to say *the video* did not record the deaths of the girls, nor do we know the manner in which the girls were killed. We understand it was a terrible, terrible crime scene. I personally think the responsible party/parties were likely to have some awareness of the area, and less likely to be someone passing through town.
It’s always complicated for true crime coverage to avoid ghoulishness, but the constant looping of the video and audio evidence remains our best bet at finding out what happened to Abby and Libby.
Skip this thread if you can’t deal with it (my husband has strictly banned me from talking about it any more, he has hyper-empathy and just comes unglued), but I do want to have one place to talk about this case, and this thread can stay active until, universe willing, we as a country have the answers that will give closure to the people who love and knew the girls.
Okay. Let’s talk. Even just to say “I’m real sad about this.”
I think about Asha often and can't believe I haven't heard of this case before, except that it was during grad school, and I was a little out of the news. Adding my prayers to yours.
The timeframe in which everything happened that day is so, so tight, which is also notable. Law enforcement got a lot of flack for not searching through that first night, but they simply didn’t have the kind of lighting that would have allowed for a search that wouldn’t have involved possibly stomping on evidence. It’s such a small community, and until other agencies and jurisdictions got involved, I just do not think they were equipped to handle anything better than they did in that first vital 24 hours.
I can’t wrap my head around the tight timeframe this all occurred. Everything must have happened so quickly and quietly enough that the other hikers who were in the area soon after didn’t hear anything.
I'll think about reading all this in more detail after I go vote (early voting in CA up to a month before election day, and STILL I procrastinate!). I always feel weird participating in true crime stuff - I don't feel good treating it as entertainment. My mother was murdered in 1998, and was almost the subject of an AMERICA'S MOST WANTED segment, so that colors my view a bit. IF I actually dig into this, I want, no I need something good and concrete to come out of the time I might spend.
I’m so sorry for your loss. There was a lovely man on Twitter who told me he used to love watching Cold Case, etc, until his mother went missing from a parking lot nine years ago, and was never seen again. And now he cannot watch anything in the true crime space.
Thank you for your compassion. This is very. much a self care thing; believe me, I do get the lurid attraction, and I can be.... intense. So, we'll see.
I think the reason why I've been stuck on this case is because it seems so contrary to many of the hallmarks of danger women and girls are taught: it was broad daylight instead of night, it was two girls ("safety in numbers"), other people were in close proximity, etc. Even the evidence of both audio and video of the suspect is unusual, yet somehow it's remained unsolved.
I hadn't heard about this case until Nicole's email yesterday. I get really upset really fast about things like this, so I didn't intend to read very much...then of course clicked on the timeline Nicole recommended which is indeed very skilfully done--detailed and precise without being confusing. Then of course I went down the rabbit hole on the subreddit for a while.
The sub does seem well-moderated, esp for Reddit, but the comments wondering aloud why the girls didn't do [X] or think [Y] are infuriating. I was in that situation so many times as an adolescent girl--strange man, bad vibes, not many people around...I remember encountering "Bridge Man's" creepy, slouching, menacing brethren many times in early-2000s WA. My blood literally drains out of my upper body, remembering what happened then and knowing what I know now.
And even aside from the overwhelming social conditioning about manners and niceness, you know on a gut level that whatever you do, you are probably not going to be able to avoid an unpleasant and dangerous interaction. Walk past him, turn back, say nothing, be chipper, take a photo, hide the phone--you are already in danger just by virtue of existing, outside, in the world. Whatever you do will be a provocation, because that's how these dudes think. And when he flies off the handle or says something disgusting, it will still be considered your fault for not handling it right. That Libby and Abby were able to take any action at all in the face of what they clearly knew was a terrifying situation, is frankly astounding.
I had nightmares all last night. Literally. God rest these smart, loving, brave children. I hope their families see justice someday. That's all I got.
Yeah, that's a really good point; the other problem I had with the subreddit was that there were some comments about how the bridge guy must have been primarily interested in one or the other of the girls because she looked older or more conventionally attractive, which is wrong on a lot of levels (these are KIDS; this is about power, which LE understands very well in this case). It was only a couple of comments but it did make my stomach turn.
I hadn't seen those comments but completely believe you. How completely obtuse and offensive; people are so disappointing. What I was shocked by was how very, very young they BOTH look in photos (though I realize a lot of Abby's in particular are from before 2017). I was sure I'd misread their ages at first. That even people in a "true crime"-type community can believe assault has anything to do with conventional attractiveness is...striking. That they feel it's appropriate to publicly muse on which kid is more so is revolting.
It was pretty awful! I believe it was an older thread that isn't on the main page anymore (I really got sucked in). And I know some people get really obsessed with "why" questions out of anxiety or a desire to get a handle on a scary world, but come on, it's both harmful and nonsensical to make those kinds of guesses. I strongly believe that evidence for "why these two girls" points to a combination of horrible person looking for youth + perceived vulnerability + wrong place wrong time.
Funny you use the word Obtuse because Dennis always uses that word . In case you are all wondering who Dennis is lets just say The Bridges of Madison County is not calling.
I too went down this rabbit hole yesterday and had nightmares last night. Can’t even begin to imagine what those poor girls went through and the ongoing suffering of their families and the rest of the town in the aftermath.
A family friend was the victim of a horrible and unsolved murder in my childhood, and I think often of how much solving these awful crimes can provide closure to families. So so horrific.
I was just telling my husband about the Delphi Murders yesterday, I’ve been obsessed with it for a while. I can’t get over how odd and creepy it is. These girls were so, so brave. I’m convinced the authorities have a pretty good idea of who it is but are keeping everything close to the chest, waiting for the killer to reveal too much to someone or something similar. Or that’s my hope anyway.
The bravery of the girls really does make it stick in my mind. It’s a daylight crime, it’s a horrible crime, we have unprecedented visual and audio evidence (for an unsolved case), and I think there’s a lot of reasons that many of us just cannot shake this one.
for these girls, for their families, for this community. (I grew up in the shadow of Jacob Wetterling's case, I hope this case is solved, and I hope it takes less than 27 years. I didn't know how much it affected my life until it as solved and I cried for an hour.)
The press conference when they found him destroyed me. We “all knew” he was dead but you could see his mom didn’t know until they found him and was in a full state of grief and I think about the law enforcement failures in that case were so extraordinary.
They held out hope for SO LONG. IDK if you've ever been to MN, but there used to be billboards on all the major highways, with his famous school photo, and then an "aged" photo of what he might look like today. (Of course, they've all been taken down now.) I couldn't watch the full press conference, and I was working for a state news agency at the time and it was just... really freaking hard. To get through that week. Probably one of my toughest weeks.
I'm listening to Down the Hill and it's really reminding me of In the Dark. Totally different cases, of course. But I can't help but compare them. Both seem excellent.
I do too. People feel such compulsion to unburden themselves eventually to SOMEONE. And we have to hope that person will do the right thing. I don’t want a cop-out deathbed confession in forty years. I want this person/persons off the damn street.
I live in Indiana, so this one literally hits close to home. As a Hoosier, the only other case I think of as much is Lauren Spierer. I 100% believe the boys who were with her know what happened. My heart breaks that the family has been unable to get answers from them after all these years.
I didn't know many of the details of this; I'm real sad about this; I regret taking a break from grading papers to rummage through my inbox; I should have known better than to click because I probably skew closer to Steve where things like this are concerned; I'm never letting my daughter out of my sight again.
I haven’t done a deep dive on this quite yet but the first thing that struck me is how quick it was. The murderer happens to cross the bridge at the same time as the girls, at the same time no one else was on the bridge, and somehow manages to control both of them immediately. It’s just happenstance & terrible.
I've been listening to Down The Hill, and it makes me so, so sad. I also understand the authorities wanting to keep some stuff close to the vest in case they ever get a real suspect, to avoid those people who just compulsively confess to crimes. But I can't help but be curious about the video--they said that the video shows "criminal activity," and I get why they haven't revealed what, but I almost wish they would at least give us a hint if they don't want to release the full video. I can't help but wonder if maybe knowledge of that would help someone pinpoint the culprit. I also never thought about your point that you think the perpetrator might be dead, but I think it's possible, given how cold this case has gotten despite the video and audio evidence.
People have a misconception that anyone who is incarcerated has their DNA uploaded to CODIS, and that is just not true. DNA was collected at the scene, but that doesn’t mean it’s as simple as running it through a database and getting hits on someone who is doing time for a series of misdemeanors, for example.
Also - my husband is like Steve with animal stuff. I recently watched two documentaries about Americans keeping big cats (Cat Dancers and The Tiger Next Door) and he walks past, yells "WHY DO YOU WATCH THESE THINGS" and walks out.
This case gets to me too. I think it was certainly someone local or at least familiar with the area - the perpetrator was so confident and to do so during daytime too. One of the more confusing pieces of the puzzle is the two artists sketches showing seemingly different people. The younger-looking one was created days after the crime if I am remembering correctly but it wasn’t released until at least a year later. It definitely makes me think the police have a suspect in mind but can’t prove anything. I hope they get him sooner rather than later.
I remember reading about this when you tweeted about it a while back. I make a point of not reading about murders because I tend to go down wikipedia rabbit holes that are awful for my mental health but I hope they solve this case, and I'm so sorry for everyone involved.
I usually find true crime pretty unappealing but I live 20 miles southwest of Delphi and of course most everyone here has heard about it. Thank you for using your platform to let other people know about it in a sensitive way, especially people who might not have otherwise heard about it. I think the more people who know, the better.
Thanks: I try to moderate my own true crime ghoulishness but also it’s so unsolved and SOMEONE will see/hear the evidence and make the call. It’s unlikely to be one of us, but one of us could show a friend and you never know. You just don’t.
Wow, I really went down a hole reading everything I could find about this. Awful, awful, awful. I agree that the person is from the area or at least familiar with it... it also really strikes me as a crime of opportunity in the sense that the killer was not targeting Abby and Libby specifically (though it sounds like he came prepared with a weapon to do some harm to someone). I really wonder how he managed to get them both off the bridge and herd or chase them to the spot where he killed them. :(
The Evansdale Murders happened the week my eldest child was born. As we live in Des Moines, you couldn’t turn on the TV without hearing about it - all while I have a newborn girl. That one has really stuck with me.
Oh, this is so awful and so sad. Is there a transcript of the podcast or a long form article available that sums up what we know/can speculate? I find it kind of hard to listen to true crime podcasts but find it easier to digest the information when written, for some reason.
A family member of mine was murdered by a stranger shortly before I was born (a spree killer; they found the guy, he was convicted and he died in prison) and for those who knew my family member, the trauma persists to this day. My heart is broken for these girls’ families.
Welp, now I'm sucked in. You mentioned Abby sticking with Libby, but I dont see a reference to that (and I havent started in on the podcast yet, just read the timeline). What is the story with that?
In any case w more than one victim, there’s the “run in opposite directions” option, and Libby’s sister Kelsi has said that law enforcement implied to her that Libby was more immediately physically targeted and Abby stayed and they fought together. We have gotten little snippets from family members who have just a little more info than was released to the general public.
Ok, I did the thing and kept reading and answered my own question which I'll share here (in case others are wondering the same). One of the girls lost her shoe during the pursuit and its assumed the other went back to help. And now I'm crying. Babies, poor sweet babies.
I'm very sad. This case struck my heart in a way I can't explain. I think it was just that they were having fun, uploading pics, being little girls ,being happy, but they were on a countdown to death. That just strikes me to the bone that just in a matter of minutes not hours minutes after posting the pics that the monster was on the bridge coming after them!😫
I'm obsessed with this case now, thanks. It's heartbreaking. Those poor, poor girls. Their poor families.
As far as the case... very unusual. Broad daylight, active area, traveling in groups, etc. And the FBI is involved! I believe the killer planned some aspects of this and I believe they lived/lives in Indiana for many years. Personally, I don't think they were planning to kill that day but lost control when an opportunity presented itself. Bizarre to do this in BROAD DAYLIGHT with *two* victims. Seems the killer wasn't too careful with evidence. I can't get over this. I hope, I hope so deeply that the killer is apprehended. I want closure and justice for Abby, Libby, their families and friends.
I had never heard about this, but it is so sad. And terrible! I'm curious about the photo- did they just capture him in the background? Was he already chasing them? What made them take that shot?
the unreleased audio had the girls talking about the creepy guy they saw on their way in and that they could not get back across the bridge without encountering him, also he was 40 feet away from them when Libby filmed him
Hypothetically speaking, if a family member went missing, how quickly would you call in the Redditors to start searching? I mean, cops first of course, but then how long?
I have a question, does libby & abbys parents know exactly how they were killed? Im sure the parents have the right to know.So heart breaking I cant stop thinking about this bc its scary knowing they have a video & DNA w/all modern technology we have in the USA.Im so disappointed and feel unsafe.Hope they catch this devil.
I’m real sad about this.
I also have hope that we are a little closer to finding what happened to Asha Degree, and if we can do that, anything is possible: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article219720915.html
I was just thinking about Asha earlier today - her case really haunts me. I hope her family will get the answers they deserve soon.
I think about Asha often and can't believe I haven't heard of this case before, except that it was during grad school, and I was a little out of the news. Adding my prayers to yours.
The timeframe in which everything happened that day is so, so tight, which is also notable. Law enforcement got a lot of flack for not searching through that first night, but they simply didn’t have the kind of lighting that would have allowed for a search that wouldn’t have involved possibly stomping on evidence. It’s such a small community, and until other agencies and jurisdictions got involved, I just do not think they were equipped to handle anything better than they did in that first vital 24 hours.
They also really hoped the girls went to a friends’ house, even though both families told LE immediately that the girls would have checked in.
I can’t wrap my head around the tight timeframe this all occurred. Everything must have happened so quickly and quietly enough that the other hikers who were in the area soon after didn’t hear anything.
how would You know it was soon after? Sounds like a statement the killer would make.
Yes, you caught me.
This is a very good and accurate timeline, incidentally: https://www.reddit.com/r/DelphiMurders/comments/cq64p7/delphi_timeline/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
I'll think about reading all this in more detail after I go vote (early voting in CA up to a month before election day, and STILL I procrastinate!). I always feel weird participating in true crime stuff - I don't feel good treating it as entertainment. My mother was murdered in 1998, and was almost the subject of an AMERICA'S MOST WANTED segment, so that colors my view a bit. IF I actually dig into this, I want, no I need something good and concrete to come out of the time I might spend.
I’m so sorry for your loss. There was a lovely man on Twitter who told me he used to love watching Cold Case, etc, until his mother went missing from a parking lot nine years ago, and was never seen again. And now he cannot watch anything in the true crime space.
Thank you for your compassion. This is very. much a self care thing; believe me, I do get the lurid attraction, and I can be.... intense. So, we'll see.
Save yourself. I cannot with the true crime or the horror. We all have our chosen genres and they are many and ever changing. Love. So much love.
I'm so sorry for your loss. I wish AMW had made a show about it maybe it would have helped!
I think the reason why I've been stuck on this case is because it seems so contrary to many of the hallmarks of danger women and girls are taught: it was broad daylight instead of night, it was two girls ("safety in numbers"), other people were in close proximity, etc. Even the evidence of both audio and video of the suspect is unusual, yet somehow it's remained unsolved.
In general it doesn’t seem to be how most murders operate either. It’s very strange!
I keep wondering if the killer had an accomplice or help of some kind. I don't believe they did, but the thought is persistent.
I hadn't heard about this case until Nicole's email yesterday. I get really upset really fast about things like this, so I didn't intend to read very much...then of course clicked on the timeline Nicole recommended which is indeed very skilfully done--detailed and precise without being confusing. Then of course I went down the rabbit hole on the subreddit for a while.
The sub does seem well-moderated, esp for Reddit, but the comments wondering aloud why the girls didn't do [X] or think [Y] are infuriating. I was in that situation so many times as an adolescent girl--strange man, bad vibes, not many people around...I remember encountering "Bridge Man's" creepy, slouching, menacing brethren many times in early-2000s WA. My blood literally drains out of my upper body, remembering what happened then and knowing what I know now.
And even aside from the overwhelming social conditioning about manners and niceness, you know on a gut level that whatever you do, you are probably not going to be able to avoid an unpleasant and dangerous interaction. Walk past him, turn back, say nothing, be chipper, take a photo, hide the phone--you are already in danger just by virtue of existing, outside, in the world. Whatever you do will be a provocation, because that's how these dudes think. And when he flies off the handle or says something disgusting, it will still be considered your fault for not handling it right. That Libby and Abby were able to take any action at all in the face of what they clearly knew was a terrifying situation, is frankly astounding.
I had nightmares all last night. Literally. God rest these smart, loving, brave children. I hope their families see justice someday. That's all I got.
Yeah, that's a really good point; the other problem I had with the subreddit was that there were some comments about how the bridge guy must have been primarily interested in one or the other of the girls because she looked older or more conventionally attractive, which is wrong on a lot of levels (these are KIDS; this is about power, which LE understands very well in this case). It was only a couple of comments but it did make my stomach turn.
That HORSESHIT nonsense
This is why everyone (everyone sensible) was so glad when the new moderators started policing the subreddit.
I was so glad to see they don't let you name suspects who law enforcement have not themselves named. That could get so ugly so quickly!
I hadn't seen those comments but completely believe you. How completely obtuse and offensive; people are so disappointing. What I was shocked by was how very, very young they BOTH look in photos (though I realize a lot of Abby's in particular are from before 2017). I was sure I'd misread their ages at first. That even people in a "true crime"-type community can believe assault has anything to do with conventional attractiveness is...striking. That they feel it's appropriate to publicly muse on which kid is more so is revolting.
It was pretty awful! I believe it was an older thread that isn't on the main page anymore (I really got sucked in). And I know some people get really obsessed with "why" questions out of anxiety or a desire to get a handle on a scary world, but come on, it's both harmful and nonsensical to make those kinds of guesses. I strongly believe that evidence for "why these two girls" points to a combination of horrible person looking for youth + perceived vulnerability + wrong place wrong time.
Funny you use the word Obtuse because Dennis always uses that word . In case you are all wondering who Dennis is lets just say The Bridges of Madison County is not calling.
*"Bridge Guy", whoops
I too went down this rabbit hole yesterday and had nightmares last night. Can’t even begin to imagine what those poor girls went through and the ongoing suffering of their families and the rest of the town in the aftermath.
A family friend was the victim of a horrible and unsolved murder in my childhood, and I think often of how much solving these awful crimes can provide closure to families. So so horrific.
I was just telling my husband about the Delphi Murders yesterday, I’ve been obsessed with it for a while. I can’t get over how odd and creepy it is. These girls were so, so brave. I’m convinced the authorities have a pretty good idea of who it is but are keeping everything close to the chest, waiting for the killer to reveal too much to someone or something similar. Or that’s my hope anyway.
The bravery of the girls really does make it stick in my mind. It’s a daylight crime, it’s a horrible crime, we have unprecedented visual and audio evidence (for an unsolved case), and I think there’s a lot of reasons that many of us just cannot shake this one.
my heart
for these girls, for their families, for this community. (I grew up in the shadow of Jacob Wetterling's case, I hope this case is solved, and I hope it takes less than 27 years. I didn't know how much it affected my life until it as solved and I cried for an hour.)
The press conference when they found him destroyed me. We “all knew” he was dead but you could see his mom didn’t know until they found him and was in a full state of grief and I think about the law enforcement failures in that case were so extraordinary.
They held out hope for SO LONG. IDK if you've ever been to MN, but there used to be billboards on all the major highways, with his famous school photo, and then an "aged" photo of what he might look like today. (Of course, they've all been taken down now.) I couldn't watch the full press conference, and I was working for a state news agency at the time and it was just... really freaking hard. To get through that week. Probably one of my toughest weeks.
I'm listening to Down the Hill and it's really reminding me of In the Dark. Totally different cases, of course. But I can't help but compare them. Both seem excellent.
both seem excellent? what the hell is wrong with you? none of this is excellent!
I believe this case will be solved.
I do too. People feel such compulsion to unburden themselves eventually to SOMEONE. And we have to hope that person will do the right thing. I don’t want a cop-out deathbed confession in forty years. I want this person/persons off the damn street.
I live in Indiana, so this one literally hits close to home. As a Hoosier, the only other case I think of as much is Lauren Spierer. I 100% believe the boys who were with her know what happened. My heart breaks that the family has been unable to get answers from them after all these years.
Absolutely agree about the boys that were with Lauren.
I was living in Bloomington when she disappeared & I feel the same way.
I had graduated a few years before. Our first trip back after they had finally taken down the billboard near campus was hard.
I didn't know many of the details of this; I'm real sad about this; I regret taking a break from grading papers to rummage through my inbox; I should have known better than to click because I probably skew closer to Steve where things like this are concerned; I'm never letting my daughter out of my sight again.
I haven’t done a deep dive on this quite yet but the first thing that struck me is how quick it was. The murderer happens to cross the bridge at the same time as the girls, at the same time no one else was on the bridge, and somehow manages to control both of them immediately. It’s just happenstance & terrible.
That bridge is absolutely terrifying btw.
I've been listening to Down The Hill, and it makes me so, so sad. I also understand the authorities wanting to keep some stuff close to the vest in case they ever get a real suspect, to avoid those people who just compulsively confess to crimes. But I can't help but be curious about the video--they said that the video shows "criminal activity," and I get why they haven't revealed what, but I almost wish they would at least give us a hint if they don't want to release the full video. I can't help but wonder if maybe knowledge of that would help someone pinpoint the culprit. I also never thought about your point that you think the perpetrator might be dead, but I think it's possible, given how cold this case has gotten despite the video and audio evidence.
Dead, or incarcerated for an unrelated crime. I think these are both very real possibilities.
People have a misconception that anyone who is incarcerated has their DNA uploaded to CODIS, and that is just not true. DNA was collected at the scene, but that doesn’t mean it’s as simple as running it through a database and getting hits on someone who is doing time for a series of misdemeanors, for example.
Also - my husband is like Steve with animal stuff. I recently watched two documentaries about Americans keeping big cats (Cat Dancers and The Tiger Next Door) and he walks past, yells "WHY DO YOU WATCH THESE THINGS" and walks out.
I have an empath husband too who cannot watch my “scary shoes” with me. I am always curious and interested in this phenomenon in men.
Shows not shoes. 🙄
I think the 16 yo witness who called in BG being creepy right away is also a hero
This case gets to me too. I think it was certainly someone local or at least familiar with the area - the perpetrator was so confident and to do so during daytime too. One of the more confusing pieces of the puzzle is the two artists sketches showing seemingly different people. The younger-looking one was created days after the crime if I am remembering correctly but it wasn’t released until at least a year later. It definitely makes me think the police have a suspect in mind but can’t prove anything. I hope they get him sooner rather than later.
I remember reading about this when you tweeted about it a while back. I make a point of not reading about murders because I tend to go down wikipedia rabbit holes that are awful for my mental health but I hope they solve this case, and I'm so sorry for everyone involved.
I usually find true crime pretty unappealing but I live 20 miles southwest of Delphi and of course most everyone here has heard about it. Thank you for using your platform to let other people know about it in a sensitive way, especially people who might not have otherwise heard about it. I think the more people who know, the better.
Thanks: I try to moderate my own true crime ghoulishness but also it’s so unsolved and SOMEONE will see/hear the evidence and make the call. It’s unlikely to be one of us, but one of us could show a friend and you never know. You just don’t.
I'm shockingly not familiar with this case - listening to the pod now and will come on back inevitably with thoughts. :(
Wow, I really went down a hole reading everything I could find about this. Awful, awful, awful. I agree that the person is from the area or at least familiar with it... it also really strikes me as a crime of opportunity in the sense that the killer was not targeting Abby and Libby specifically (though it sounds like he came prepared with a weapon to do some harm to someone). I really wonder how he managed to get them both off the bridge and herd or chase them to the spot where he killed them. :(
What a sad and terrible thing to happen.
I'd never heard of this case but will be reading about it. Thanks.
I get this one mixed up with the Evansdale murders, which I had thought was solved but I guess not. Awful.
The Evansdale Murders happened the week my eldest child was born. As we live in Des Moines, you couldn’t turn on the TV without hearing about it - all while I have a newborn girl. That one has really stuck with me.
I'm over in Omaha and there was a lot of coverage her too. It seemed and still seems so impossible.
Holy wow. I had not heard about this; it is super sad.
Me too. What a tragedy.
Oh, this is so awful and so sad. Is there a transcript of the podcast or a long form article available that sums up what we know/can speculate? I find it kind of hard to listen to true crime podcasts but find it easier to digest the information when written, for some reason.
A family member of mine was murdered by a stranger shortly before I was born (a spree killer; they found the guy, he was convicted and he died in prison) and for those who knew my family member, the trauma persists to this day. My heart is broken for these girls’ families.
The podcast’s website has a pretty exhaustive case file which may be easier for you to process.
Welp, now I'm sucked in. You mentioned Abby sticking with Libby, but I dont see a reference to that (and I havent started in on the podcast yet, just read the timeline). What is the story with that?
In any case w more than one victim, there’s the “run in opposite directions” option, and Libby’s sister Kelsi has said that law enforcement implied to her that Libby was more immediately physically targeted and Abby stayed and they fought together. We have gotten little snippets from family members who have just a little more info than was released to the general public.
Ok, I did the thing and kept reading and answered my own question which I'll share here (in case others are wondering the same). One of the girls lost her shoe during the pursuit and its assumed the other went back to help. And now I'm crying. Babies, poor sweet babies.
I'm very sad. This case struck my heart in a way I can't explain. I think it was just that they were having fun, uploading pics, being little girls ,being happy, but they were on a countdown to death. That just strikes me to the bone that just in a matter of minutes not hours minutes after posting the pics that the monster was on the bridge coming after them!😫
I'm obsessed with this case now, thanks. It's heartbreaking. Those poor, poor girls. Their poor families.
As far as the case... very unusual. Broad daylight, active area, traveling in groups, etc. And the FBI is involved! I believe the killer planned some aspects of this and I believe they lived/lives in Indiana for many years. Personally, I don't think they were planning to kill that day but lost control when an opportunity presented itself. Bizarre to do this in BROAD DAYLIGHT with *two* victims. Seems the killer wasn't too careful with evidence. I can't get over this. I hope, I hope so deeply that the killer is apprehended. I want closure and justice for Abby, Libby, their families and friends.
I had never heard about this, but it is so sad. And terrible! I'm curious about the photo- did they just capture him in the background? Was he already chasing them? What made them take that shot?
the unreleased audio had the girls talking about the creepy guy they saw on their way in and that they could not get back across the bridge without encountering him, also he was 40 feet away from them when Libby filmed him
Hypothetically speaking, if a family member went missing, how quickly would you call in the Redditors to start searching? I mean, cops first of course, but then how long?
I am friends with the world’s greatest investigative murder journalist, Pamela Colloff, and if this happens I will get her to find them for you.
I think it would also heavily depend on the response from LE and also how much things looked absolutely baffling.
I just published an arrticle about this case that some may find interesting. It has an astrological slant
https://ancientw.substack.com/p/the-delphi-murders-a-quest-for-justice?r=1npzse
It doesn't matter if you like these families or not Abby and Libby deserve justice. This is for people making negative comments about the families.
I have a question, does libby & abbys parents know exactly how they were killed? Im sure the parents have the right to know.So heart breaking I cant stop thinking about this bc its scary knowing they have a video & DNA w/all modern technology we have in the USA.Im so disappointed and feel unsafe.Hope they catch this devil.
Thanks for the podcast recommendation. I'll be bingeing it at work today.
True Crime Garage have also done a couple deep dive episodes on this case- they’re pretty obsessed with it, too. It’s so awful and sad.