Model whose pic was stolen by ‘catfish’ being probed over ‘Delphi Snapchat murders’ of teen girls is now a COP

A MODEL whose pictures were stolen by a catfish social media account recently linked to the 2017 Delphi ‘Snapchat murders’ is a father-of-two who now works as a police officer, The Sun can exclusively reveal.

The 29-year-old, whose name is being withheld by The Sun, is a patrol officer for the Ketchikan Police Department in Alaska.

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Multiple attempts to reach the officer went unanswered on Tuesday.

The former fashion model unwittingly found himself at the center of an update in the 2017 murders of Abby Williams, 13, and her best friend Libby German, 14, on Monday following a press release from Indiana State Police.

In the release, the department said it was seeking information about a bogus social media account, called anthony_shots, that detectives believed may be tied to the case.

The profile was active between 2016 and 2017 across a number of social media platforms, including Instagram and Snapchat, police said.

The bogus account used images of the male model-turned-cop and portrayed himself as being extremely wealthy and owning multiple sports cars.

Some of the posts used by the catfish account were lifted directly from the model’s Instagram page, showing him posing shirtless in the mirror.

Other posts uploaded to Snapchat showed the bogus account appearing to order thousands of dollars worth of clothes at luxury brands like Gucci, and driving behind the wheel of Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

CATFISH WARNING

In a news release, the Indiana State Police said the creator of the profile used their contrived opulence while communicating with underage girls to “solicit nude images, obtain their addresses, and attempt to meet them.”

The identity of the male model is known by the police. They said he is not considered a person of interest in the case.

His images were reportedly used without his knowledge or consent.

It’s unclear if Indiana State Police have been in touch with him directly.

However, the model was seemingly aware that his images had previously been the subject of catfishing.

In a post uploaded to Instagram 111 weeks ago, the man wrote: “PSA: if you think you have added me on Facebook you don’t. I don’t accept people I don’t know.

“Secondly, I am not any other dating sites, Snapchat, Kik, any other social media service besides Twitter and Instagram.

“If you think you have been talking to me through DM’s you aren’t. You are talking to a fake. Thanks.”

In an earlier post, shared in March 2018, he wrote: “Lately Iv [sic] been receiving 100s of DM’s asking if I’m talking to people on Tinder, Badoo, Snapchat, Facebook, and my answer is simply no.

“At this point,” he later added, “if you get catfished, you probably deserve it. Do your research and BE SMART.

“These are my ONLY social media accounts. I am not on ANY dating websites.”

CULPRIT UNMASKED

Police have not yet revealed why they believe the anthony_shots account to be linked to the murders of Abby and Liberty.

However, the creator of the account was identified in various media reports as 27-year-old Kegan Anthony Kline on Tuesday.

Klein, who is currently in police custody, was charged in August 2020 with 30 felonies, including child exploitation, possession of child pornography, obstruction of justice, and synthetic identity deception.

Police documents from the time, which are heavily redacted, do not make any mention of the Delphi case but do link him to the anthony_shots social media account.

The charges stem from a search of his Peru, Indiana home on February 25, 2017 – just 11 days after the bodies of Liberty and Abby were found.

Kline reportedly admitted to police that he’d use the bogus accounts to talk to underage girls, contacting both people he knew and didn’t know.

He told police he would find girls on Instagram and then ask them to talk to him on Snapchat.

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According to Kline, he exchanged messages with more than a dozen underage girls and received pictures from them. Kline said he had about 100 pictures from underage girls that were sexual in nature, in addition to about 20 sexually explicit videos.

Investigators seized six devices from Kline, including smartphones, a tablet and an iPod touch as part of the 2017 raid. Many of them contained images of “child sex abuse material”, records show.

“There were CSAM (child sex abuse material) filed that depicted female children approximately 12 to 17 years of age, posing nude and/or partially nude; and/or performing a sex act on themselves.

“There were files located which depicted children between the approximate ages of 3 and 11 engaged in a sex act with an adult,” on his iPhone 4, according to court documents.

Investigators also found a discussion of sharing links with child porn files on Dropbox with another party who is not identified in court documents.

According to online court records, Kline is back in court for a pretrial conference on December 16. Online jail records list him as currently being in custody in Miami County.

‘THANKFUL’

Reacting to the development in the case, Abby’s grandfather Eric Erksin told The Sun that he was “thankful” for the potential breakthrough in the probe.

“I’m thankful for that [news release] because it proves that law enforcement are still working,” he said.

“That’s all we can ask. And as difficult as it all is, we just have to leave them to it and let them do their jobs.”

Anyone who tried to meet with or communicated with the anthony_shots profile has been told to contact state police immediately.

Police did not elaborate as to specifically why police believe the account may be tied to the murders of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German back in February 2017.

It’s currently unclear whether police believe the two girls met with the creator of the account.

UNSOLVED KILLINGS

Abigail and Liberty vanished while walking along the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi on Feb. 13, 2017.

Their bodies were found the following day near a river. Police have never disclosed how the girls were killed.

Within days of the killings, investigators released two grainy photos of a suspect walking on the abandoned railroad bridge the girls had visited.

They also released an audio recording of a man believed to be the suspect saying “down the hill.”

Then, in April 2019, a video was released which shows the man suspected of killing the teens walking on the abandoned railroad bridge the girls had visited.

Relatively few updates have been shared by investigators in the years since.

Police announced at the end of September that they were moving to a new center to investigate the case.

Erksin previously his frustration over the unsolved case to The Sun back in October.

He said not knowing what happened to his granddaughter and her best friend “can consume you.”

“The police share very little information regarding the case and its details and as family members, we do find that frustrating.

“But we also understand that it has to be that way to maintain the integrity of the case.

“It’s been a while since they released any information.”

Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to send tips to this email address: [email protected]

Information sent by email is kept confidential and is only shared with investigators. The telephone Tip Line is (844) 459-5786. Tips are also accepted by the Indiana State Police at (800) 382-7537, or by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department at (765) 564-2413.

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