MIAMI COUNTY, Ind. — 13News wants to make it clear that Kegan Kline has not been named a suspect in the Delphi murders.
Kegan Kline, who is being held in a child exploitation and child pornography case in Miami County, spoke to a HLN investigative producer from jail.
Barbara MacDonald asked Kline about the anthony_shots account that police are looking at in connection to the Delphi murders of Abby Williams and Libby German on Feb. 13, 2017. The girls' bodies were found the following day.
According to MacDonald, Kline admitted to creating the account to solicit nude images from underage girls, but said he was not trying to meet any of those girls in real life.
"I don't really know. I was just lonely. You know what I mean? Just talking to people. I don't know why I did it really," Kline said.
Kline said police told him that the anthony_shots account was the last to communicate with Libby German before her murder. When MacDonald asked Kline if he talked to German on Feb. 13, 2017, Kline said, "That's what they said. That's what the police told me."
RELATED: On 5th anniversary of Delphi murders, Kelsi German remembers her little sister Libby, Abby Williams
Kline said he is not sure if the search warrant police served him with in 2017 was connected to the Delphi murders or the child exploitation and child pornography case.
"I had no clue. I asked them, 'Hey, what is this about?'" Kline told MacDonald.
When asked if he had any recollection of talking to Libby, Kline responded, "No, not at all. I told them 100 times. I've done everything they've wanted me to, and it's like they're just harassing me."
MacDonald said that Kline told her he gave police a DNA sample and a hair follicle sample.
When asked if if he had anything to do with the murders of Abby and Libby, Kline responded, "Not at all." When asked again if he was involved in the killings, Kline answers, "No, 100% not."
Kline told MacDonald he doesn't remember communicating with Libby and does not believe he will be charged in connection with the Delphi killings.
On Feb. 10, 2022, Kline asked the court for a continuance in his child exploitation case. He is currently looking at a pretrial conference Feb. 24 and a trial date of May 9.
Child exploitation case
Kline was charged Aug. 29, 2020, with 30 counts, including child exploitation, possession of child pornography and obstruction of justice.
The charges stem from a search of his Peru, Indiana, home on Feb. 25, 2017, just 11 days after the bodies of Liberty German and Abigail Williams were discovered. The FBI, Indiana State Police and Peru Police Department took part in serving the search warrant, and the investigation was focused on Kline allegedly soliciting underage girls.
According to a probable cause affidavit out of Miami County, obtained by 13News, Kline created the anthony_shots account approximately six months prior to when investigators interviewed him in February 2017. He allegedly said he created the account to contact both girls he knew and girls he did not. Court documents show Kline saying he would talk to girls, even if they were under the age of 16, and that he found them on Instagram and then told them to message him on Snapchat.
Asked why he created the account, Kline told HLN, "I was just lonely, just talking to people. I don't know why I did it, really."
Kline allegedly claimed to have received photos from all of the girls he chatted with and had saved them.
According to court documents, while investigators talked to Kline shortly after he returned from Las Vegas. Investigators said he told them he was "f****ed and he should've left." Kline said he had planned to leave the area that day, after his dad fell asleep, according to the court documents.
In the probable cause affidavit, Kline said he received sexual photos and videos of the girls he was messaging.
Investigators seized six devices from Kline, including smartphones, a tablet and an iPod Touch as part of the 2017 search warrant on the child pornography case.
The iPod Touch was last used in May 2015 and contained sexually explicit images of children, according to court documents. Locations for some of the images came back to Hammond or Royal Center, Indiana.
One iPhone, last used in May 2015, contained sexual images of girls around the age of 14. The geo-location on the images came back to cities in Indiana, including Bunker Hill, Galveston, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Monterey and Royal Center.
A Samsung Galaxy phone, last used in June 2015, contained sexually explicit images of children between 12 and 17 years old.
Another iPhone investigators found contained sexual images of children between 12 and 17, adults involved in sexual acts with children between the ages of 3 and 11, and images of drugs and Kline with a black handgun. That phone was last used in November 2016.
The tablet was last used in March 2016 and showed conversations on Facebook Messenger and the user suggesting the conversations be moved to Kik Messenger or Snapchat, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Another Samsung Galaxy phone recovered was factory reset on Feb. 23, 2017 – nine days after the Delphi murders. A factory reset essentially wipes all user data from a device. Investigators were able to get information on the device after the reset. It included discussions about meeting people in Las Vegas and prostitution.
On Feb. 27, 2017, Kline contacted police, claiming he had located his iPhone 5. Investigators said they found images of females posing nude, but investigators could not determine their ages. Investigators also found much of the data from Facebook, Instagram, MeetMe, Snapchat and Twitter had been deleted. A review of the phone found that hours after police released him the day they searched his home, Feb. 25, he had uninstalled and deleted Snapchat and Instagram. The following day, MeetMe was uninstalled and deleted. The browser search history had also been deleted the morning of Feb. 27 before the phone was turned in to authorities.
anthony_shots account investigation
On. Dec. 6, ISP issued a press release seeking information into an online account with the username anthony_shots. While the release did not identify Kline or call him a person of interest at the time, it did say Delphi investigators were seeking more information about the account.
Detectives said the account with the user name "anthony_shots" was used on Snapchat and Instagram, among other social media platforms, in 2016 and 2017. State police say the person behind the account used photos of a male model and "portrayed himself as being extremely wealthy and owning numerous sports cars."
Investigators said the person used the profile to communicate with underage girls to solicit nude images. They asked for anyone who might have had that account reach out to them, tried to meet them or asked for their address to call police.
Investigators would also like any individual that communicated with, met, or attempted to meet the anthony_shots profile to contact law enforcement utilizing the tip hotline listed above," Indiana State Police said in a news release. "Please provide as much information as you possibly can. For example, when you communicated with anthony_shots, how you communicated with the profile, what social media applications the account used, and if anthony_shots attempted to meet you or obtain your address. If you have saved images or conversations with the anthony_shots profile, please attach them to your email.
Police identified the male model that was used in the photos on the account and said that man is not a person of interest in the Delphi case.
Any saved images or conversations involving the "anthony_shots" account should be attached to an email, police said. Tips and information can be emailed to abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com.
ISP confirmed detectives were looking into Kline as part of the investigation into the deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German, but still did not call him a suspect or person of interest in the case.
State police released the following statement in December:
The Indiana State Police has received many media inquiries since our December 6th press release concerning "anthony_shots" and eventually the identification of Kegan Kline. 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 Kegan Kline. The information we had, have, and continue to receive concerning Kline has ebbed and flowed over these last few years. We understand there was a period of time that passed between 2017 and 2020 when Kline 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 Kline'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.
Delphi killings background
Abigail Williams and Liberty German went missing while walking on a trail near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi on Feb. 13, 2017. Their bodies were found nearby a day later.
On Feb. 15, 2017, police released cellphone images from German's phone showing a suspect in the case coming across the bridge towards the girls.
A week later, police released audio from German's phone, in which you hear a man say, "Down the hill."
On July 17, 2017, police released a first sketch of a suspect.
On April 22, 2019, Indiana State Police released an updated sketch.
Investigators also released additional audio of the suspected killer from German's phone. Listen to the extended audio clip of the suspect here:
All tips welcomed
Those with information about the case can email abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com with as much information as possible, including:
- Suspect's name
- Date of birth or approximate age
- Physical description, including height, weight, hair color, eye color
- Address or location, including city
- Vehicle information, including year, make, model, color
- Specific reason for the tip; Why could they be the suspect?
- Motivation for the crime
- Connection to Delphi, Indiana
Police say individuals don't need to have all of those pieces to send a tip, but do ask to include as many details as possible.
Victims' families remember
Five years after the Delphi murders, the families of Abby Williams and Libby German are still figuring out how to move forward.
13News spoke with Libby's older sister about the major life milestones shadowed by her absence.
“She was just such a light to so many people,” said Kelsi German of her sister. "She just wanted to be there and help everybody, and that’s how I’ve always wanted to live my life, knowing that she’s my role model now."
As she does every year at this time, Kelsi will spend the anniversary of the deaths with her family, remembering the girls over the weekend with a food drive.
“I think it can get very tiring to do nothing. If we were just sitting at home and not keeping busy, we would have lots of time to be in our own thoughts,” Kelsi said. “So actually going out and doing something for others just brings us a little bit of, you know, this is what we’re doing for them, and we don’t have to think about the bad stuff. We can think about all the good things that are coming out of the bad things that happened."
So far, what hasn't come is an arrest or even a named person of interest in the case, despite police sketches and audio and video of the killer that Libby captured on her cellphone before the unthinkable happened.
“She was so smart," Kelsi said. "I think that video and audio definitely keeps peoples’ attention. I think that helps us a lot. I think people see it, and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, this 14-year-old girl thought about taking a video of this, and we have this video, and we have this audio, and we don’t have answers. That’s crazy.'”
Kelsi said she remains patient, believing at some point the man who killed the girls will be found and charged.
“When I’m feeling frustrated, when I feel like no answers are coming and I’m feeling dejected, I say that. I say, ‘Today is the day. It’s coming and it’ll get here. We’re going to have answers’ and just reaffirm myself and say, ‘It’s hard, it’s frustrating, it’s been five years, but we’re going to have answers eventually. It’s coming.'”
For this 22-year-old, what’s on the horizon is college graduation in May, with a degree in forensics and psychology. She's getting married a month later. Both are major milestones, accompanied by the painful realization she's lived with for the past five years.
“Every time one of these major milestones happens, even just buying my wedding dress, you just remember that the person that’s supposed to be standing next to you isn’t there, and that’s really hard to realize in all of these moments,” she said.