Map: Sightings of alleged killer on the day Indiana girls went missing

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Liberty German and Abigail Williams

An affidavit supporting the arrest of an Indiana man in the murders of two teenage girls includes reports by several people who saw a man matching his description on the trail where the pair went missing.

Richard M. Allen, 50, of Delphi, was arrested in October 2022, more than five years after Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, were found dead in the woods near the town. Police have not revealed the cause of their deaths.

A key piece of physical evidence cited was an unspent .40-caliber ammunition round found lying next to the girls’ bodies. Forensic tests in October 2022 reportedly determined it had “been cycled through” a Sig Sauer pistol owned by Allen.

In addition, interviews with people on or near the trail on Feb. 13, 2017, established that a man matching Allen’s description had been seen there — but not in the 90 minutes after he apparently encountered Abby and Libby.

The map above shows locations mentioned in the affidavit, which was released to the public on Nov. 29, 2022.

1. Mears Farm. The trail to the Monon High Bridge can be reached from a pullout across from the farm. From there, it’s a hike of about 0.4 miles.
2. Monon High Bridge. The abandoned trestle over Deer Creek is a hiking destination.
3. Approximate area the girls’ bodies were found — about 0.2 miles northeast of the bridge.
4. Freedom Bridge. A pedestrian bridge over Highway 25, about 0.7 miles from the Monon High Bridge.
5. Old railroad bridge.
6. Hoosier Harvestore, an agricultural machine shop whose surveillance camera points toward the road called 300 North.
7. Old Child Protective Services building.

The affidavit describes the activities of several people who were on or near the Monon High Bridge Trail on the day the girls went missing. Except for Allen, their names are redacted from the document.

Abigail Williams and Liberty German

• Around 1:48 p.m.: They were dropped off by a family member across from Mears Farm (1). Video from the Harvestore (6) shows the car on the road at 1:49.
• 2:13 p.m.: Video from one girl’s phone shows they were at the Monon High Bridge (2) when they encountered a man in a dark jacket and jeans. On the video one of the girls is heard saying “gun.” Shortly afterward, the man is heard telling them, “Guys, down the hill.” Nobody saw the girls alive after this time.
• 3:15 p.m.: The girls failed to meet Libby’s dad for a ride home from the trailhead.
• Around 5:30: Family members reported them missing.
• Feb. 14: The bodies were found in the woods (3). Some of their clothes were found in Deer Creek.

Three girls

• Between 12:43 p.m. and about 1:40 p.m.: Three “juvenile females” were walking west from Monon High Bridge (2) to Freedom Bridge (4). When they were near the Freedom Bridge, they encountered a man coming the opposite direction, toward the Monon bridge. He had on baggy jeans and a blue or black jacket. Two of the girls said they greeted him and he did not respond. They said he was the only other person they saw on the trail.

Woman 1

• Around 1:45 p.m.: She said she was driving under the old railroad bridge (5) just west of the Freedom Bridge and saw four juvenile females on it.
• 1:46 p.m.: Her car was seen on video going east on the 300 North road past the Harvestore (6). A minute later, she parked across from Mears Farm; there were no other cars there, she said.
• Between 1:47 p.m. and 2:13 p.m.: She was on the Monon bridge trail. She reached the bridge around 2 p.m. and there saw a white adult male in blue jeans and a blue jacket. He was the only adult she saw on the trail. She then walked back to her car. When she was about 350 yards from the parking area, she came upon two girls going the opposite direction, toward the bridge; she believes they were Abby and Libby.
• 2:14 p.m.: Her car was seen westbound passing the Harvestore video camera. About one-third of a mile later she passed the old Child Protective Services building (7). She told investigators she noted a vehicle “parked in an odd manner” there, backed in near the building.

Man 1

• 2:10 p.m.: He was driving past the Child Protective Services building and saw a “purple PT Cruiser or small SUV-type vehicle” parked there, backed in on the south side of the building.

Man 2

• About 2:30 p.m.: He saw a “smaller, dark car,” possibly a Smart Car, parked at the CPS building. His description of its location was similar to that given by Man 1. The time was corroborated by a sighting of Man 2’s car on the Harvestore video.

Woman 2

• About 3:57 p.m.: She was driving east on 300 North and saw a man walking west along the road, away from the Monon bridge. He was wearing blue jeans and a blue jacket, and his clothes were smeared with what she thought to be mud and blood. She said “it appeared he had gotten into a fight.” The time was corroborated by a sighting of the woman’s car on the Harvestore video.

Richard Allen

• 1:27 p.m.: A car resembling one that Allen then owned — a black 2016 Ford Focus — is seen westbound on 300 North on the Harvestore video. The investigators described the car, a four-door hatchback, as “similar in nature” to a PT Cruiser, small SUV or Smart Car.

When interviewed by investigators in 2017 and 2022, Allen gave this account of his whereabouts:

From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. he was on the Monon High Bridge Trail. He parked at what he described as “the old Farm Bureau building” — investigators believe he meant the CPS building  — and walked about 250 yards to the Freedom Bridge. There he saw “three females,” but did not speak to them. He then walked the three-quarters of a mile to the Monon bridge, where he watched the fish. He said he also sat for a time on a bench near the trail. Other than the three girls near the Freedom Bridge, he said, he saw nobody. He said he was wearing blue jeans and a blue or black Carhartt jacket with a hood.

Other hikers

• People who were on the trail between 2:30 p.m. and 4:11 p.m. were interviewed. Nobody reported seeing a man of Allen’s description during that time.

Allen is a pharmacy technician who lives and works in Delphi, a city of about 3,000 people 50 miles northwest of Indianapolis. He is married and apparently childless, a neighbor told reporters.

Allen had no criminal record other than three traffic tickets,  TV station WXIN reported at the time of his arrest.

On Friday, Dec. 2, a judge issued an order granting the state’s motion for a gag order in the case, at least until a hearing next month.

Originally published at Bay Area News Group