By Josh Sigler
It’s been over a year and a half since the now infamous Delphi murders of Libby German and Abby Williams.
And for folks like Mike Patty, grandfather of German, the grief is still as strong as it was the day the murders occurred on Feb. 13, 2017, especially with the gut-wrenching feeling of knowing that the killer is still at large.
“Time heals a lot of wounds, but we’re not at that stage yet,” Patty said. “With the fact that we don’t have this guy caught yet – that is the pain that I live every day. I don’t get to take a break from it. Nor do I want to until this guy is caught. Opportunities like this just enable us to get the word out there again and keep it out there, because the fact of the matter is there’s still a guy walking around out there that’s responsible for the murders of two girls from Delphi.”
With the help of businesses like Brandt’s Harley Davidson, the memory of the girls and their story will live on.
Patty organized a benefit to raise funds for a new park in Delphi in honor of German and Williams. The park will be nestled in at State Road 218 and Hoosier Heartland 25, a 21-acre complex that will encompass a park, green space, an amphitheater, three ball diamonds and walking trails.
“Just things for people to come out and enjoy,” Patty said.
Patty had built a relationship with the employees at Brandt’s since buying his motorcycle there in 2012.
Brandt’s employees had heard about the tragedy, and immediately began thinking of exactly how to help.
As the conversation progressed, Brandt’s figured giving a motorcycle away would be the best opportunity to raise money for the cause.
“Any type of situation like this that affects the community is so serious, Vince Persico of Brandt’s said. “But, having these be two beautiful girls who had all of their lives ahead of them, we as parents – it’s just a tragedy to think there could be this kind of loss. So, for us to be able to be involved in that, and to help raise money and try to figure out how to get this tragedy behind us and get some closure was super important to us.”
The motorcycle toured the state as a raffle item, making stops in Delphi, Indianapolis, and various locations throughout Tippecanoe County, White County and Carroll County.
Delphi native Chris Christensen would up winning the raffle, buying the winning ticket at the Old Settlers’ Festival in Delphi.
“Win or lose, a lot of people were willing to donate money for the cause,” Christensen said. “People took tickets to work and sold them there. There were a lot of people in the community involved with raising money for this park.
“It’s great,” Christensen continued. “It’s a great idea going on in Delphi. It’s a great tribute to the girls. It’s a great showing of strength for Delphi and the community itself, to rally around this ball park and do something for the kids out of something horrible. Something good can come, and it’s good that the people in the town have risen up and stand out and want to do something for this cause, and to promote our children’s well-being.”
Patty was humbled by Brandt’s donation, and all of the other people and businesses that were willing to give to the cause.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “The outpouring of support from the community and people like Brandt’s and all the other contributors and businesses that have given – it’s very touching, very heartwarming. We can’t do it without them.”
During the early onsite of the idea for the project, there were donations coming in to the families from people around the community as well as the state.
“We were like ‘we don’t want the money, it’s not for us,’” Patty said. “Let’s put it back towards the community. It started off with just maybe we’d buy some bleachers or a scoreboard for the local softball, but we (realized) we had a little bit more money than that. Let’s see if we can build a park.”
The park will have ball parks incorporated into it because the girls loved playing, and were gearing up for a new season at the time of their deaths.
“Libby played baseball and softball since she was four years old and enjoyed the sport,” Patty said. “That was the sport that they were getting ready to start. In fact, they were out practicing the day before (the murders). Abby was signed up to be part of the team in ’17. It’s a good way to give back to the community. The kids in the community could really use this. We need something like this for the kids, a nice quality field for them to play on.”