Mike Patty says he is hopeful that a man recently charged with attempted murder of a 9-year-old girl is connected to the 2017 Delphi slayings. Investigators are reportedly looking into James Chadwell, whose social media posts may offer disturbing clues.
The grandfather of Libby German, one of the victims of the 2017 Delphi slayings, says he is “hopeful” that an Indiana man recently charged with attempted murder of a 9-year-old girl is also connected to the Delphi case.
“I know the investigative team is working on it. I've talked to them, and they're actively pursuing this,” Libby's grandfather Mike Patty told Inside Edition.
James Chadwell is accused of luring his 9-year-old neighbor into his home to pet his dogs on April 19. After the girl was reported missing, police say they found the girl in Chadwell's basement with her clothes off, chained and beaten with strangulation marks around her neck.
Chadwell, who has a checkered criminal past, was charged with attempted murder and kidnapping.
Now, investigators are reportedly looking into whether he is linked to the murders of 14-year-old Libby German and 13-year-old Abby Williams, who were last seen alive in 2017 walking along an abandoned railway line.
“I'm certainly hopeful,” Patty said. “I'm waiting for that call from law enforcement, you know?”
Chadwell is a laid-off welder from Lafayette — 20 miles from the city of Delphi, where the two girls were slain four years ago. The case made headlines after police released a grainy image they say was taken by Libby showing an unidentified man walking along Monon High Bridge. Law enforcement also released eery audio of the suspect saying, “Down the hill.”
Before his arrest, Chadwell often posted on his Facebook page. A photo appears to show him in a similar stance as the unidentified man on the bridge. In another video Inside Edition found, he drew a woman in the woods — a knife sits nearby.
But police caution against leaping to conclusions about Chadwell. Other potential persons of interest have been previously identified and later cleared.
“As bad as I want to get all worked up and be able to say, ‘Yeah, this is gonna be the one, we're just gonna have to wait,” Patty said.
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