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Hiker is suspect in Ind. girls’ deaths
Associated Press

DELPHI, Ind. — A man photographed walking along an Indiana trail system around the time two teenage girls were dropped off by a relative is considered a suspect in their killings, State Police said Sunday.

The unidentified man previously had been wanted for questioning in the investigation of the killings of 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams.

‘‘He’s not just someone we want to talk to. We consider him a suspect in these murders,’’ Sergeant Tony Slocum said Sunday.

The girls’ bodies were found Tuesday about a quarter-mile from an abandoned railroad bridge that is part of a trail system where the teens had planned to go hiking during a day off school in Delphi, a community of about 3,000 people that is 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis.

Their deaths have been ruled a double-homicide, but authorities have not disclosed how the girls died.

Slocum said the fact that the man hasn’t contacted authorities in the days since two photos of him were released is just a tiny part of what led them to describe him as a suspect.

‘‘That doesn’t make him a suspect by not contacting us. It’s the totality of the evidence we’ve been developing so far that leads us to that,’’ he said.

Slocum is urging the public to call police with tips about the man. Police on Wednesday released two photos of the man walking Monday along the city of Delphi’s trail system around the time the girls were dropped off.

On Saturday, a large crowd filled Delphi Community High School for a memorial honoring the two girls. A line of mourners wrapped around the school as people waited to enter the building.

Private funeral services were held Sunday for the teens.

Associated Press