DELPHI, Ind. (WTHR) - The family of two friends murdered in Delphi are ready to speak in public.
Eyewitness News has learned the parents of Abby Williams and Libby German plan to speak to the media Thursday. It will be the first public comments by the family since the girls disappeared February 13. Their bodies were found in a wooded area near the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi a day later.
Meanwhile, the reward for information leading to the arrest of the girls' killer continues to grow. But the big dollars aren’t giving investigators the big break they need to make an arrest.
Researchers have found that too often cash isn’t enough to get people talking.
The reward hit $219,000 Monday. It is a lot of money and a lot of people can’t understand why that much cash hasn’t pried lose the information police need to find those responsible for the deaths of the teenagers.
Even more surprising, investigators said phone and emailed tips from the public have declined significantly since the reward topped $200,000
That promise of a big pay day, researchers call a "carrot on a stick," isn’t as powerful as many think.
"No," Spencer Headworth, assistant professor of sociology at Purdue University said. "Unfortunately, we can say not most of the time."
Headworth cited research showing rewards go unclaimed 90 percent of the time, in many instances because of fear.
"Fear of incrimination, if they were involved in the crime in some way. Fear of reprisals from the person or person responsible, or others associated with them," Headworth explained.
Libby German and Abby Williams disappeared while hiking outside of Delphi. They were found murdered in a secluded area far from the trail.
Investigators searched and researched the crime scene. They publicized a photo of a suspected killer and a recorded voice. They logged 11,000 tips and interviewed more than a thousand people.
Indiana State Police Sgt. John Perrine says investigators are looking for a needle in a haystack.
"We are still very optimistic. We are still working very hard. Investigators are following up on every lead that comes in. We are going to work until we find the person responsible," he said
Even though rewards are ineffective most of the time, Headworth concedes this double murder case is different. There is unquestioned support for the police and widespread outrage over the heinous crime.
"If there is a person or group of people out there with information, the factors that are leading them not to come forward must be quite powerful," he explained.
To counter that power, it wouldn’t be surprising if police change tactics, and use the power of people’s personal emotions, conscience, and the so far quiet outrage to pry lose the information they need.
