Kentucky 1996 Morgan Violi Cold Case Solved - A Single Hair Slide Unmasked Her Killer After 30 Years

Seven-year-old Morgan Violi was abducted from the Colony Apartments in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on July 24, 1996. Witnesses saw her being forced into a maroon Chevrolet van, but the driver disappeared before investigators could identify him. The van was recovered two days later in Tennessee. Evidence collected from its floorboards remained preserved for nearly thirty years—until renewed forensic testing connected it to Robert Scott Froberg, an escaped prisoner whose movements crossed five states during the summer Morgan disappeared. Investigators eventually reconstructed the route from Pennsylvania to Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. In February 2026, Froberg admitted taking Morgan. On July 22, 2026, he pleaded guilty to kidnapping resulting in death and agreed to a federal life sentence, subject to the court accepting the plea agreement. This Radius of Crime documentary follows Morgan’s life, the daylight abduction, the interstate search, the fugitive investigators did not know they were looking for, and the evidence that survived long enough to reveal his name. Morgan Jade Violi was seven years old. Her family remembered her love of drawing, dancing, gymnastics and, above all, her smile. Subscribe to Radius of Crime for carefully researched, victim-centred cold-case documentaries where the victims are never treated as footnotes. Primary research sources include the United States Department of Justice, the FBI, the Bowling Green Police Department and contemporary Kentucky news reporting. #MorganVioli #ColdCase #TrueCrime