CARROLL COUNTY — Indiana State Police released a statement Monday about their investigation into the Delphi murders and the man behind a social media profile named “anthony_shots.”
Last week, ISP said the social media profile was used from 2016 to 2017 on social media applications, including but not limited to, Snapchat and Instagram.
ISP described the investigation into the deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German as “long, complex, and extremely complicated.”
Court documents of a 2020 arrest in Miami County show a man used the same username on social media.
The man is facing 30 charges, according to online court records. The charges include child exploitation, possession of child pornography, obstruction of justice, and synthetic identity deception.
Some information in the affidavit is redacted, including some of the information found on electronic devices examined by investigators. None of the unredacted information in the affidavit mentions any connection to the investigation in Delphi.
State police have not connected the man arrested in Miami County to the deaths of Abby and Libby.
Read the full statement below:
The Indiana State Police has received many media inquiries since our December 6th press release concerning “anthony_shots” and eventually the identification of (a man). Your questions are certainly relevant as they relate to a long, complex, and extremely complicated murder investigation.
During the last nearly five years, we have conducted dozens of secondary investigations based on information we received. One of those investigations included a Possession of Child Pornography case resulting in the arrest of (a man). The information we had, have, and continue to receive concerning (the man) has ebbed and flowed over these last few years. We understand there was a period of time that passed between 2017 and 2020 when (the man) was not arrested and incarcerated for Possession of Child Pornography. Once the Indiana State Police presented the criminal case to the Miami County Prosecutor in June of 2020, immediate action was taken by both the Indiana State Police and the Miami County Prosecutor’s Office, which ultimately resulted in (the man’s) arrest.
Like so many other pieces of this investigation, we will always review, learn from, and make any necessary adjustments. We do not believe that any person has done anything intentionally wrong, but we will continue to critically evaluate our efforts.
We know there is enormous interest in the “WHY” of everything we do, but we cannot and will not speculate. One day you will have the opportunity to see and know what we do, and we look forward to that day.
WRTV is not publicly identifying the man ISP said was allegedly behind the profile because no charges have been filed in connection with the investigation in Delphi.
Staff at WRTV in Indianapolis, Indiana, first reported this story.
