DELPHI, Ind. – For the second time since family members of Abby Williams and Libby German came up with the idea for a community park to honor the two Delphi eighth-graders murdered in 2017, the state is ready to chip in for a portion of a $1 million project that has been pieced together largely through the in-kind donations of those moved by the unsolved crime.

Indiana’s CreatINg Places program – a state-backed crowdfunding approach through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority – will put $50,000 toward an amphitheater and walking trail at the 20-acre Abby and Libby Memorial Park at the corner of the Hoosier Heartland Highway and Indiana 218, just northeast of Delphi.

That contribution depends on the L&A Park Foundation, a nonprofit group created by the girls’ families, raising $50,000 through a crowdfunding effort by Aug. 14. The campaign includes assorted perks for different levels of giving, including having personalized paving stones added to the park.

“This is big for us,” said Eric Erskin, Abby Williams’ grandpa and with the L&A Park Foundation. “We’ve been doing what we can with whatever we can get. People have really stepped up as they can, and we really appreciate it all. … It’s all slow, but it’s starting to come together.”

As of noon Monday, two days into the crowdfunding challenge, the effort had raised $3,435 of its $50,000 goal.

“The tragedy involving Abby and Libby has deeply impacted Delphi, our state and nation,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, who serves as board chair for the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. “We are pleased at the opportunity to work with the L&A Park Foundation to create a park that will forever honor the memory of these two special young ladies.”

The concept of the park – designed to eventually include three ball fields, a playground, walking trails and the amphitheater – started in the weeks after Abby and Libby were killed.

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Abby and Libby, friends from Delphi Community Middle School, were dropped off at the Freedom Bridge, the entry point to the popular Monon High Bridge Trail, to spend a warm winter day off school. When the girls didn’t return to meet their ride home, the search lasted into the next morning, until their bodies were found about a half-mile from the abandoned Monon High Bridge rail trestle.

More than two years later, no one has been arrested in the case.

The case drew hundreds of federal, state and local investigators to Delphi, and donations rolled in to the families as the homicides captured national attention. Initially, that money was going to go for new bleachers or a scoreboard for a softball field where the girls played. The concept got bigger as more donations came in, set aside in a nonprofit organization and overseen by the Community Foundation of Carroll County.

The families have committed to a frugal approach to developing what Mike Patty, Libby’s grandpa, estimated would cost roughly $1 million to get done.

They’ve persuaded more than a dozen companies to do design work, grading and driveway construction – all gratis or at reduced rates – as much as possible, as they comb for grants and other hands-on, in-kind help. The L&A Park Foundation had $229,000 in available funds from assorted fundraisers, as of earlier this spring. The foundation figured it had received more than $155,000 in in-kind help, at that point, too. Erskin said he didn’t have an updated number as of Monday.

Erskin said he’s found that grant opportunities often depend on a group’s track record of getting things done.

“Which makes sense,” Erskin said. “We’re still getting started, really, so we don’t have enough to show for some people. And we understand that.”

Erskin said that’s what makes the state’s CreatINg Places offer significant. He said the combined $100,000 would do more than cover concrete work and materials for the amphitheater, three picnic shelters and a walking path around the park.

“This should give us a chance to show we’re serious about getting things done,” Erskin said.

The park foundation already received 19.4 acres of the property from the state after a personal plea to Gov. Eric Holcomb in the summer of 2017. Valued at $31,200 in a county property value database, the land was leftover right of way from the Hoosier Heartland Highway project.

And in another tie to Abby and Libby, Carroll County Wabash & Erie Canal Inc. used the CreatINg Places crowdfunding method to raise more than $140,000 to add lighting, security cameras and public Wi-Fi on the community’s trail system, including the Monon High Bridge Trail, in late 2017. The state’s contribution that time also was $50,000.

Erskin said the park continues to be the sort of project the families need, as the murder case remains unsolved.

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In April, weeks after families and the community had gone through the second anniversary of the girls’ deaths, Indiana State Police Supt. Doug Carter unveiled new clues in the case. That included a new sketch of a subject Carter said was different than the face shown in sketches police distributed in 2017 and that Delphi businesses had plastered in their courthouse square windows.

“That was kind of a curveball,” Erskin said. “But we have faith. Law enforcement tells us they’re working this thing every day. Supt. Doug Carter says we’re one tip away from this being resolved. You know, they’re very tight-lipped as far as information with the families, to maintain the integrity of the case. And we support that. But it is kind of trying.”

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Erskin said he fields questions all the time about the new evidence, including the apparent change in direction in the case investigators suggested in April.

“They don’t tell us why they moved from the first sketch to the second sketch,” Erskin said. “I don’t even try to go down that road. I just don’t know. To maintain sanity, you have to pick what you’re going to focus on. There’s nothing on that side I can control. So, what can I do, as a grandpa?”

That, Erskin said, is to push for a legacy through the park.

“That’s something I can do,” Erskin said. “That’s something we can all do.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO: To contribute to the crowdfunding effort for the Libby and Abby Memorial Park near Delphi, backed by $50,000 in matching money from the state’s CreatINg Places program, go to Patronicity.com/AbbyandLibbyPark.

► Delphi also will host a third annual Celebration of Life for Abby and Libby, including a motorcycle ride, concerts and auctions at Berto Field, the Delphi Community High School football stadium, 501 Armory Road. For details, go to abbyandlibbymemorialpark.org/events.

THE DELPHI MURDERS: WHAT WE KNOW

► WHAT HAPPENED: Abby Williams and Libby German were hiking on the Monon High Bridge trail, a popular trail near Delphi, on Feb. 13, 2017. When they didn’t arrive to meet their ride at the trailhead that afternoon, police and community volunteers searched the trail and the surrounding woods. The girls were found on Feb. 14, about a half-mile up Deer Creek from the abandoned Monon High Bridge rail trestle.

► THE SUSPECT: In April, Indiana State Police released a new composite photo of the suspect, putting his age in his mid-20s to mid-30s. Images and video on Libby German’s cellphone show a man walking across Monon High Bridge that day, wearing blue jeans, a blue jacket and a hat. Police also released a recording, taken from Libby’s phone, of a man saying, “Guys, down the hill.”

Police also said in April that they were looking for information about a car parking in an abandoned CPS building parking lot, at 6931 W. 300 North in Delphi, between noon and 5 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2017. Police did not give details about make, model, color or other features of the car. The building has since been demolished.

► TIPS: Anyone with information about the case may call the Delphi Homicide Investigation Tip Line at 844-459-5786; the Indiana State Police at 800-382-7537; the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department at 765-564-2413; or by email to Abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com.

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.