Indiana detectives reveal fake male model Instagram account - set up by jailed pedophile - was used to CATFISH the two 14-year-old Delphi girls murdered in 2017 - in bombshell development
Indiana police have revealed that Delphi murder victims Liberty German and Abigail Williams may have been communicating with someone behind a fake catfish Instagram and Snapchat page that a suspected pedophile set up in the months before they were found dead.
Liberty and Abigail, both 14, were found dead in Delphi, Indiana, near a bridge and railway tracks after going for a walk together on February 13, 2017.
On Monday, police who are investigating the murders announced that they were searching for whoever had made the profile anthony_shots, a fake account using images of an innocent male model to lure young girls. The catfish pretended to be rich and posted photos of luxury cars and designer clothing and cash as well as shirtless photos that he claimed were of him.
The same Instagram and Snapchat persona is named in an affidavit for Kegan Anthony Kline, a 27-year-old who was arrested in Peru, Indiana, less than 40 miles from where the girls disappeared, on February 23, 2017 - ten days after the girls are believed to have been killed.
Kline remains in the Miami County Jail in Indiana, awaiting his next court date in December on charges of child exploitation and child porn that are unrelated to the Delphi killings.
It's unclear what drove cops to his home on February 25, 2017, but they had a search warrant for child porn charges. Once in custody, he admitted to police in 2017 that he made the anthony_shots account to talk to girls he knew and didn't know, and that some of them were under 16. He said girls would send him explicit photos and that he masturbated to them.
He has not been charged in the Delphi case, and it's unclear why Indiana State Police released details of the anthony_shots profile on Monday without tying it to Kline, who had admitted to setting it up years ago. His public defender has denied that he was involved in the Delphi case.
Sgt. Jeremy Piers refused to comment on whether or not he had ever been questioned over the Delphi murders when questioned by DailyMail.com on Thursday. All he would say is that they had received 'other tips' since issuing Monday's press release with the photos.
The real man in the catfish pictures is Vincent Kowlaski, a married, Alaska police officer and father, who says he is horrified to have his face connected to the gruesome killings.
He told DailyMail.com on Thursday: 'I was unaware that the Indiana state police were going to use my photos prior to them releasing all that information. I had to learn about the whole case overnight and am appalled to know what happened to those poor girls.
'Instagram and cat fishing has been a problem for me since the start, these social media platforms do nothing to stop that type of thing from happening unfortunately.'
Indiana police on Monday said they were searching for whoever was behind this Instagram account. Named anthony_shots, it featured photos of an innocent male model (above) to catfish young girls. The real man is Vincent Kowlaski, a cop and part-time model who lives in Alaska and says he is cooperating with police and is horrified to be connected to the case
Kegan Kline, 27, (left) is the real person behind anthony_shots, according to cops. He was arrested in 2017, ten days after the girls vanished, on separate child porn and child exploitation charges, but he has never before been linked to the Delphi murders - until now. He is shown in a mugshot from last year when he was formally charged. Right, a photo of the prime suspect that Liberty took on her phone moments before her murder in February 2017
Liberty German (left) and Abigail Williams (right) vanished in February 2017 after going for a walk. Their bodies were found afterwards but their murders have always been unsolved
He said he was stunned that the Indiana police did not contact him before issuing the press release.
It's unclear what prompted police to search Kline's home on February 25, 2017, but a Samsung phone found inside the house that day had undergone a factory reset, wiping all of the data about who he had been talking to.
Other phones contained pictures of him, including one with a gun.
This is the first time he has been linked to the Delphi murders and he has not been charged in the girls' deaths.
Until now, the only suspect has been James Chadwell II, who has been charged with the murder of a different girl near Delphi, but has never been charged with Liberty or Abigail's deaths.
In May this year, Liberty's sister said she did not believe Chadwell was the killer.
One of the only leads police have worked from is a photo of the suspected killer that Libby took on her phone before she died.
These are extracts from the 2017 arrest affidavit for Kegan Kline, when he was arrested for speaking to underage girls in 2017. It was ten days after the girls' murders but it's unclear if that is what he was being questioned over
Kline's home that was searched ten days after the girls' bodies were found is just 40 miles from where they were discovered. Police are refusing to say what prompted the search on his home in 2017 or if he was ever questioned over the Delphi murders
This is the home in Peru, Indiana, where Kline was living with his father in 2017 when police searched it and found explicit photos of underage girls
The model in the pictures has been identified as cop Vincent Kowlaski. The photos shown are all old, taken in 2016 or 2017, when the girls vanished. Kowlaski says he is horrified to be connected and will help police in any way he can
Another photo that was taken from the anthony_shots profile. The catfish pretended to be wealthy to lure young girls and solicit photos from them
It showed him walking towards the pair. Libby also made a recording of him saying 'down the hill'.
Cops recovered the audio after they found the pair's bodies in 2017.
It's unclear why police have only now, more than four years after the deaths, linked the pair to the anthony_shots Instagram and Snapchat account.
The girls' cause of death have never been revealed by police. Both of the girls were active on social media before their deaths.
The fake account featured photos of the male model, posing shirtless and tattooed in a bathroom, and screenshots of online shopping carts from designer websites like Gucci, racking up thousands of dollars.
In a bulletin on Monday, Indiana State Police said: 'While investigating the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German, detectives with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and the Indiana State Police have uncovered an online profile named anthony_shots.
'This profile was being used from 2016 to 2017 on social media applications, including but not limited to, Snapchat and Instagram.
This is the final Snapchat that Liberty posted, of Abigail, (right) on the train tracks, before they went missing. The girls bodies were found but police have never revealed how they died
'The fictitious anthony_shots profile used images of a known male model and portrayed himself as being extremely wealthy and owning numerous sports cars.
'The creator of the fictitious profile used this information while communicating with juvenile females to solicit nude images, obtain their addresses, and attempt to meet them.'
They confirmed that they knew who the model was, had been in contact with him and ruled him to be innocent, but that they were searching for someone else who had set it all up.
'The male that is in the photos is not a person of interest in the investigation.
'Detectives are seeking information about the person who created the anthony_shots profile,' the release said.
Indiana State Police have not commented on the Kline connection, nor have they revealed whether or not he has ever been named as a suspect.
A different investigator took over Kline's 2017 case in April last year.
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