Liberty German

**Liberty Rose Lynn "Libby" German** (December 27, 2002-February 13, 2017) was a middle school student who was murdered along with her friend while hiking along a trail.

## Early Life

Liberty was born on December 27, 2002 at 8:33 a.m. in Lafayette, Indiana to Derrick and Carrie German. She was a senior student at the Delphi Community Middle School in Delphi, Indiana who was known for taking part in school athletics such as baseball, soccer, swimming, and volleyball as well as for her arts and crafts. At the time of her death, she was living with her grandparents along with 2 sisters, Kelsi German and Glenna Myers. She had 2 other siblings, Alexis and Hayden Timmons, but they were not living together at the time.

## Death

On February 13, 2017, Liberty and her friend, 13-year-old Abigail Joyce "Abby" Williams, were hanging out at Liberty's home in Delphi as school was closed due to inclement weather. Once the weather had cleared early in the afternoon, the pair decided to go hiking along the Monon High Bridge Trail, one of the Delphi Historic Trails, in nearby Deer Creek Township. The pair were dropped off at the trailhead around 1:35 PM by Kelsi and began hiking. At 2:07 PM, Liberty would post 2 photos to Snapchat, one of the Monon High Bridge and one of Abby walking along the bridge. It would be the last photos taken before they were killed.

At 3:15 PM, Liberty's father thought it odd that they hadn't met him as planned once the hike was finished and both were reported missing at 5:30 PM after the family's own search efforts failed. Authorities had quickly searched the area and believed the pair had simply run away. At around noon on February 14, a hiker found the bodies of both Liberty and Abigail along the north bank of the Deer Creek near where their last photos were taken. Police have refused to give further details about a cause of death, but confirmed it was a double homicide.

## Aftermath

On February 15, the Indiana State Police released a photo of a possible suspect, who was seen walking along the trail around the time the pair had gone missing. A few days later, the unknown man would become a prime suspect in the case. On February 22, law enforcement would release a short clip of an audio recording taken from Liberty's phone just before they had been murdered in the hopes of someone identifying the voice of a man who could be heard telling the pair to walk down a hill. Police have refused to release any more of the recording so as to not compromise a trail for anyone arrested in connection with their deaths, but praised Libby for recording audio in order to catch their suspected killer. The cash reward in regards to information leading to an arrest was raised to $41,000 that day. On July 17, a composite sketch would be released giving an artist's depiction of the prime suspect of the case, which was created from eyewitness accounts of a hiker who was wearing the same clothing seen in the photo and was seen with the clothes being covered in mud or blood on the day of their disappearance.

No leads were made in the case for 2 years and an updated composite sketch was released on April 22, 2019 with investigators stating they were taking a new direction with the case and urged anyone who recognized the man from either the audio recording or the composite sketch to email a tip to their hotline. Police also stated they believed that a car abandoned in front of the Child Protective Services office on the day of the disappearance may have been connected to the case and that the killer was likely a local. On July 23, 2019, the police announced they had a possible suspect, 55-year-old Paul Etter, who had been in a police standoff in June 2019 for a kidnapping and sexual assault in Tippecanoe County, but he had committed suicide during the standoff.

The case would run cold again before another suspect, James Brian Chadwell II, was announced on April 27, 2021 as he had been arrested for a similar crime in which he lured a 9-year-old girl to his home before sexually assaulting her and locking her in his basement. In December of 2021, a red herring was investigated as a social media account with possible links to the case had been uncovered, although the man, a 27-year-old with a history of sex crimes, would later say he created the account and had intended to meet with the pair after their hike. The man was never considered a person of interest in the case.

An arrest would finally be made in the case on October 26, 2022 with 50-year-old Richard Allen being charged with 2 counts of murder on October 28. New details were released regarding the case, such as an unspent bullet found at the scene being linked to a .40 caliber revolver Allen owned and that the pair's clothes were found in a different area than their bodies. Police still have not yet given a cause of death regardless of the bullet found at the scene and a trial is expected for Richard in March 2023.

A visitation was held for Liberty at her middle school on February 18, 2017 and a private funeral was held for Liberty at the Delphi United Baptist Church on February 19, 2017 before being buried at the I.O.O.F Memorial Gardens in Pittsburg, Indiana. In August, the German and Williams families announced plans to build an arena as a memorial as well as the launch of the L & A Park Foundation. A site for the arena had been found in Delphi near where they had been dropped off by Kelsi and is open to the public. The L & A Park Foundation received a Legacy Grant from the National Basketball Association at the 2021 All-Stars Game in Atlanta, Georgia.