Break In Delphi Murders? Man Arrested In Colorado May Be Linked To Indiana Teens' Deaths

EL PASO COUNTY, CO — A registered sex offender from Indianapolis who was arrested this week in Colorado could be linked to the February slayings of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, in Delphi, Indiana. Indiana State Police confirmed to ABC News that authorities are investigating the possibility that Daniel Nations, 31, could be connected to the killings.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office said it arrested Nations in a "menacing" incident in which Nations allegedly threatened several people with a hatchet on a Colorado hiking trail.

The alleged hatchet incident happened near a trail where a man was murdered two weeks ago, according to ABC. The sheriff's department said mountain biker Timothy Watkins went missing in the area on Sept. 14. An extensive search turned up only his bicycle and a shoe before his body was found the morning of Sept. 17. Police said he was shot to death.

Indiana State Police released a statement confirming they are investigating the possibility that Nations was involved in the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Indianapolis Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts and LIKE Indianapolis Patch on Facebook).

State police say they've received more than a thousand tips in response to grainy photos of the Delphi suspect. In addition to the photos and a recently released sketch, authorities also released a brief audio clip captured by Libby German's cell phone of a man saying "down the hill."

Police have not released details of the girls' killings or their causes of death. The teens went missing Feb. 13 and their bodies were found a day later in a wooded area near a hiking trail in Delphi.

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Libby German (left), 14, and Abby Williams, 13./Credit: Indiana State Police