An Indiana jury on Saturday heard dramatic and at time emotional testimony from three men involved in the 2017 search for two missing girls, including the man who found their bodies alongside a creek.
Jake Johns testified that his boss at a propane delivery company had asked if he and a coworker would join the search for Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, on February 14, the day after they didn’t come home from a jaunt to the Monon High Bridge, a popular hiking spot near Delphi, the Indianapolis Star reported.
Richard Allen, a former CVS employee, was arrested and charged with the murders in 2022, as CrimeOnline reported. The trial began on Friday with Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland previewing the case, saying both girls had their throats slashed. Libby’s body was naked, he said while Abby was wearing some of her friend’s clothing.
Prosecutors say Allen marched the girls down from the bridge with a gun and killed them. Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin argued that the case against Allen carries substantial reasonable doubt, and has suggested that a pagan group killed the girls. Special Judge Frances Gull denied Baldwin’s request to present that as an alternate theory to the murders, however, saying there was not sufficient evidence to bolster the claim.
Former Delphi Police Chief Steve Mullin opened Saturday’s testimony describing how he had worked his regular shift on Friday, February 13, only to hear that the girls were missing as he arrived home, the Star said. Searchers were out looking until 2 a.m. on Saturday, he said.
Johns and his colleague started at about 8:30 a.m., walking the south bank of Deer Creek, and reached the bridge about four hours later. Just after passing the bridge, Johns said, he spotted a flash of color — Libby German’s tie-dyed shirt, caught on branches by the creek. He said that he and his fellow searcher had seen shoe prints in the area, and that looking back toward the bridge, “you could see where the rocks and dirt had been disturbed, absolutely.”
A short while later, from the opposite bank of the creek, Johns said he heard a voice call out, “We just found the bodies.” That was Patrick Brown, a friend of Libby’s grandfather who had called out of work to join the search.
“At first, I thought they were mannequins,” Brown told the court before asking for a moment to gather himself.
“I turned around and I yelled out we had found them,” he said.
Brown said he never got within five feet of the girls’ bodies, facing away from them while he called Mullin to report the discovery. Then he waited for police officers to make their way to the scene.
Testimony will continue in the trial on Monday.
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[Featured image: Abby Williams, left, and Libby German, right/Family Handout]
