The mother of one of two teenage girls murdered on an Indiana hiking trail has criticized the police investigation as authorities continue the hunt for their killer three years on.
Liberty German, 14, and Abigail William, 13, vanished on February 13, 2017 after a relative dropped them off for a hike near an abandoned railroad bridge close to their hometown of Delphi.
They failed to show up at a pre-arranged pickup location and their bodies were found the next day following a widespread search in a wooded area about half-a-mile away.
Liberty’s mother, Carrie Timmons, has now spoken out about the police investigation in a new HLN podcast – Down The Hill: The Delphi Murders – that is being released ahead of the three-year anniversary of their deaths.
Liberty German, 14, and Abigail William, 13, vanished on February 13, 2017 after a relative dropped them off for a hike near an abandoned railroad bridge close to their hometown of Delphi
‘I feel like they haven’t done their jobs fully,’ Timmons said in the podcast about the authorities and their investigation.
When asked if she thought the investigation was botched, Timmons said: ‘I hate to say that but yeah.’
Liberty’s mother, Carrie Timmons, has now spoken out about the police investigation in a new HLN podcast – Down The Hill: The Delphi Murders – that is being released ahead of the three-year anniversary of their deaths
The murders shook Delphi, a small town of 2,877 people set amid farm fields, about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
When police first started searching for the girls after they were reported missing, dozens of locals also set out on their own to look for them.
Timmons believes now that the sheer volume of volunteers hindered the investigation.
‘(Police) taped it off but there were people everywhere. To me that screams tainted crime scene,’ she said.
Indiana Police Superintendent Doug Carter, however, says he doesn’t believe the crime scene was tainted.
He described the number of volunteers as ‘awesome’ and that while the end result ‘wasn’t good there was nothing compromised by what they did’.
Carter said the case was ‘100 percent solvable’.
Liberty’s mother also believes her daughter’s killer will be caught but says she hopes it happens before she dies.
Within days of the killings, authorities released these grainy photos of a suspect walking along the abandoned railroad bridge. In April last year, authorities also released an FBI artist’s composite sketch of the suspect
Liberty had posted photos of herself on Snapchat walking on the bridge on the same day she and Abigail vanished
The girls vanished after a relative dropped them off for a hike near the Monon High Bridge. Pictured above is a Snapchat photo Liberty posted before they failed to show up at a pre-arranged pickup location
Police have only disclosed few details in their three-year investigation into the slayings.
They have never publicly revealed how the teenagers were killed despite autopsies being carried out.
Within days of the killings, authorities released two grainy photos of a suspect walking along the abandoned railroad bridge the two girls had visited.
Liberty had posted photos of herself on Snapchat walking on the bridge on the day she and Abigail vanished.
Authorities also released an audio recording of a man believed to be the suspect saying ‘down the hill’.
The images and recordings came from Liberty’s cellphone and police hailed her as a hero for recording the potentially crucial evidence.
In April last year, authorities released the sketch and footage of the killer on the Monon High Bridge where the girls had been.
They also released updated audio of the killer speaking that was retrieved from Liberty’s cellphone.
In releasing the footage, investigators urged people to examine the way the man walked to see if it was someone they recognized.
Police, who are still searching for the man, said they believe the man is between the ages of 18 and 40 and either lives or lived in Delphi or works in the area.
Investigators on a multi-agency task force have gone through tens of thousands of leads looking for the man who forced the teenagers off the trail.
Liberty and Abigail were eighth graders at Delphi Community Middle School when they were killed.
Both girls played softball and were gearing up for spring practices before they died.