Best friends Libby and Abby were on a hiking trail in rural Delphi when they were killed in the middle of the day on Feb. 13, 2017.
The shocking slayings cast fear across the small Indiana town and garnered national intrigue.
This marks the first time a suspect has been named in the mysterious double murder. Police have still not released how the girls were killed.
Police still ask anyone with information to submit a tip at [email protected] or 765-822-3535.
The man charged with the girls' murders, Richard Allen, had his initial hearing and entered a not guilty plea, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said.
Allen was taken into custody on Oct. 26 and is being held at the White County Jail, officials said.
He's being held without bond and is set to return to court in January, McLeland said. Allen has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond. A trial date has been set for March 20, 2023.
When Indiana State Police announced Friday that they’d have an “update” on the case Monday, it sparked a frenzy in the true crime community.
Amateur sleuths and local residents who had been following the case intently for the past five years spent the weekend posting a slew of information and speculation about Allen. Many were incredulous that no one had identified him despite his resemblance to a police sketch and video of the suspect.
Video of the suspect had been key evidence that police and investigators pored over for years. The girls’ last known location alive was a bridge where Libby had shared two photos on Snapchat. Police would later reveal that Libby had also recorded video of the suspect walking toward the girls on the bridge. Days later, investigators released two grainy stills of the suspect from video captured by Libby, along with eerie audio of a man saying "down the hill."
People reported on Feb. 27, 2017, “After reviewing evidence, [Carroll County Sheriff Tobe] Leazenby says it appears the girls initially took pictures for fun but later became uncomfortable and recorded the video as a way of ensuring evidence.”
Five months later, in July 2017, police released a composite sketch of the suspect that would become ubiquitous — for years, it could be seen plastered in storefronts throughout Delphi, in news stories about the girls’ killings, and on tens of thousands of social media posts and online message boards like Reddit. It was described as "an artist's composite of the information" collected by investigators from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.
Additional audio was later shared with the victims’ families, police said, which included Libby and Abby chatting about "stuff girls talk about" — and in which they also mention the man.
They were dropped off at an abandoned rail bridge on Feb. 13, 2017 to walk around and hang out, according to police. But when it was time to be picked up from the area, they never showed.
Their bodies were found Feb. 14, 2017 in a wooded area near the Delphi Historic Trail, a half mile upstream from the bridge.
On Wednesday Oct. 26, detectives with the Delphi Double Homicide Task Force took Allen into custody and he was formally charged with two counts of murder on Friday, Indiana State Police said in a release. He is currently being held without bond at White County Jail.
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