Delphi's Only Witness Came Forward in 2017. His Tip Sat in a Desk Until 2022.

Oct 12, 10:00 PM
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Three days after Abby Williams, thirteen, and Libby German, fourteen, were found dead on a creek bank in Delphi, Indiana, a man did something investigators say almost never happens. He walked up to a conservation officer in a grocery store parking lot and told him he had been on the trail that afternoon. His name was Richard Allen. The officer, Dan Dulin, wrote it down.

Someone marked the form cleared. One word in red ink. Nobody has ever identified who wrote it. Prosecutor Nick McLeland said at trial he does not know to this day. Sheriff Tony Liggett testified that Allen "got lost in the cracks."

That tip sat in a desk drawer for five years while the investigation processed more than forty-two thousand leads with federal backing.

While Allen's name collected dust, the investigation released a composite sketch in 2017 that went on every billboard in the state. For two years, the public searched for that face. In April 2019, state police released an entirely different sketch and said the first one was never their person of interest.

The FBI served a search warrant on the property owner where the girls were found — the agent swearing under oath there was probable cause this man committed the murders. The warrant was sealed and shelved. No charges followed.

The Delphi police station's recording system erased every early interview with persons of interest. The then-chief later said it was "somehow engaged in a permanent record mode" that caused the device to overwrite itself.

It took a retired Child Protective Services worker named Kathy Shank — volunteering without pay — to open the drawer and find the form in 2022. The break in the case was never buried. It was in a box the whole time.

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This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

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