Investigators in Delphi double homicide made ‘aware’ of Colorado arrestee

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Indiana State Police has been made aware of a case in Colorado as part of its investigation into the Delphi double homicides.

A 31-year-old, Daniel Nations, was arrested Monday in Woodland Park, Colorado, by the police there and booked into Teller County Jail, said Jacqueline Kirby, media relations officer with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. Teller County is west of El Paso County.

Nations was arrested in Teller County on a charge of possession of a weapon by a previous offender, Kirby said. On Tuesday, he remained in the jail on $10,000 bond.

Kirby said the vehicle he was driving in Woodland Park matched the one described by people who had reported a man menacing them in the Mount Herman Road area and the town of Monument in El Paso County during the weekend of Sept. 15 and 16. Those areas are north of the El Paso County seat, Colorado Springs. El Paso County says Nations was threatening people with a hatchet.

Woodland Police Department said the red Chevrolet Prizm had expired Indiana license plates.

From Sept. 14 to 17, people in El Paso County were searching for Timothy Watkins, a 61-year-old. He was found shot to death Sept. 17 on an El Paso County trail. However, authorities have not said that Nations is a suspect in Watkins’s death.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Kim Riley said they were given the information on Nations on Wednesday, but have made no connection between Nations and the deaths of two Delphi teenagers.

“It’s still early,” he said. “We’re aware of him out there.”

Investigators in Indiana released this statement:

We are aware of the arrest of the person in Colorado and are investigating to see if he could be a suspect in the Delphi double murder investigation. Please keep in mind the Indiana State Police has received more than a thousand photos of persons alleged to be similar in appearance to the composite sketch of the Delphi person of interest. Each and every one of these tips are investigated for any potential connection to our case. We will give the same attention to the person arrested in Colorado, but right now there is nothing that definitively connects this person to our investigation. If that should change – with this tip, or any other tip – rest assured we would be sharing such news with all media sources.

Photo of Daniel Nations in 2011. (Provided Photo/South Carolina Public Sex Offender Registry)

Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, were reported missing on Feb. 13. German and Williams were dropped off near the Monon High Bridge Trail near Delphi to go hiking but when a family member came to pick them up they weren’t there.

Search volunteers discovered the girls’ bodies near the Delphi Historic Trail on Feb. 14.

In July, Indiana State Police released a sketch of a suspect in the case. The suspect has been described as standing from 5-feet-6 to 5-10 and weighing between 180-220 pounds with reddish brown hair.

Mike Patty, German’s grandfather, said he saw the information on Nation, but had not heard from investigators about any update in the case.

24-Hour News 8 has confirmed that Nations registered as a sex offender living in Greenwood, Indiana, in 2010. He had been convicted in 2007 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina.

Online court records indicate he agreed to plead guilty to domestic battery committed in the presence of a child in 2016 in Morgan County.

Also in 2016, he took a plea for public indecency in Bartholomew County.

Nations also has a warrant out for his arrest in Marion County on drug and vehicle-related charges.

A tip line has been set up for the Delphi double homicides: 844-459-5786.