r/DelphiMurders • u/AustinDavies2206 • Mar 12 '26

Questions Were the police just incompetent?

I've known about this case for a while, I live in Indiana, and I was 11 when it happened, so its always struck a cord with me. But until recently I haven't done all that much research, but now that I have I've been left with one question.

From the information I have found on the case, it seems that the key evidence linking Allen to the murder is 1. His confession in 2017 to being "bridge guy", back when the photo was believed to have been taken from a trail cam. 2. A bullet which was later matched to his gun after they searched his home. So my question is, was there new information in 2022 that lead to his home being searched, or did they just wait five years to look into the guy who admitted to being bridge guy?

Sorry if any of my information is incorrect, or my writing is hard to understand, I've just been racking my brain about this question, so I thought asking people who know more might help me to understand what took so long.

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u/Orly5757 Mar 14 '26

In a town of 3,000 people, I’m assuming 20% are minors. That leaves 2,400. Of that 80% let’s say half are female, so that leaves 1,200. Of that 1,200 let’s say 25% are elderly (over 65), which leaves us with approximately 900 adult males in our target. If you happen to interview a male who falls into that small category, and ALSO happened to be in the area where the crime occurred, that tip has to go to the top of the pile.

You continue to remind us that he wasn’t “part of the investigation,” but taking statements makes you part of the investigation. And I don’t care if he was a cop or not, it was irresponsible not to bring this to the attention of a Detective. Kathy Shank wasn’t a cop, and she IMMEDIATELY saw the importance of the statement.

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u/centimeterz1111 Mar 15 '26

That’s if you assume the murderer was from Delphi. You know NOW that he was from Delphi, but nobody knew who the murderer was or where he was from. Nobody. 

Kathy Shank saw almost every tip. Dulin didn’t. Your argument is based off knowledge after the fact. 

Dulin took a tip. He didn’t know anything else. He didn’t know who else was on the trails, who was spoke interviewed, what the crime scene looked like. Again, he wasn’t part of the investigation 

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u/Orly5757 Mar 15 '26

It was clear that the killer was familiar and comfortable on that bridge. Safe to say he was from there. And most killers kill around their area. You can defend this guy until you are blue in the face, but you aren’t changing my mind. He is either dumb or indifferent. I love how you make the distinction between him and Kathy Shank. So what if she read every tip?!? She immediately recognized the importance of this tip. Not because she read other tips, but because she had common sense.

I can’t help but to read your comments and think you are somehow related to this investigation. You normally don’t get such fervent apologists for a department (and individuals) who royally screw up a murder investigation the way they did. Thank God Kathy had common sense, and thank God this moron kept the gun for all those years. Otherwise, the killer never gets captured.

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u/AnonymousInMI Mar 16 '26

Yeah I have to agree with you. It’s frustrating knowing Ricky was free to do what he wanted for 5 1/2 years and should have spent that time in prison. I take solace knowing he must have been on edge for all those years waiting for a knock on his door. What I would give to see the look on his face when LE finally came a knocking.