A man who was on the run when a 7-year-old girl was kidnapped in Kentucky has been charged with killing her 30 years later, according to authorities.

Morgan Jade Violi was abducted while playing outside her apartment building in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on July 24, 1996, and her case remained unsolved for 30 years until recent advances in forensic science linked Robert Scott Froberg to her murder.

Froberg was already at alabama prison systemThursday was charged with kidnapping resulting in death, Kyle G. Bumgarner, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, said at a news conference Friday.

“Morgan’s kidnapping and murder changed her family’s lives forever,” Bumgarner said.

“The Morgan family Questions left unanswered. “

Morgan Jade Violi (left) and sketch of the suspect (right) (FBI)

He said her kidnapping also changed bowling green community.

“We remember when she was abducted, we remember the outpouring of support, but we also remember the fear,” said Bumgarner, of Bowling Green. “We remember being worried about kids innocently riding their bikes or playing basketball in the driveway.”

Witnesses of Violi’s abduction said she was taken away by a man in his 20s who drove a burgundy van and was found abandoned at a truck stop in Tennessee days later. The van was stolen in Ohio a few days ago.

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Bumgarner says forensic evidence What was taken from the van at the time was “key” to tracking Violi and linking Froberg to the crime decades later.

‘Fibers found in Morgan’s hair tested FBI Forensic Laboratory “She was found shortly after,” Bumgarner said, adding that she was found consistent with the van.

“Despite this, the suspect’s identity remained unknown for years,” he added.

A fiber found in the Burgundy wagon connects Violi to it. It would be decades before her suspects were linked to the crime. (FBI)

He said that because of recent advances in forensic testing, the FBI sent a strand of hair for testing this year and that a DNA profile extracted from the hair was linked to Froberg.

Froberg escaped from the Alabama prison system in April 1996 and later reportedly hid in a children’s treehouse in Pennsylvania talking to a 7-year-old boy.

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The boy told his parents, who called police. Froberg was arrested.

Then he fled a prison in pennsylvania The van had been stolen from Ohio a week earlier, less than a mile from where his parents lived.

Young Violi, from Bowling Green, Kentucky, was kidnapped in the stolen van. (FBI)

When faced with evidence this week at an Alabama jail, Froberg admitted taking Violi with him after stealing the van, Bumgarner said.

“Morgan kept fighting, she screamed, she resisted. Morgan was a fighter,” Bumgarner said.

Froberg also admitted that he stopped at wooded areas of tennesseeBumgarner said he climbed into the back of the van where Violi was and put his hand over her mouth, “ultimately causing her death.”

Froberg left the child’s body in the woods.

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he was arrested She was killed a month ago while escaping from the Alabama prison system, where he has remained ever since.

If convicted, he could face life in prison or the death penalty, Bumgarner said.

Bumgarner added that for years, the community had feared that Violi’s killer might be living “silently” among them and that “our children might be next.”

“They’ve been waiting for answers for too long.”

He said he hoped the news would bring comfort to the community and her family about his imprisonment.

“They’ve been waiting for answers for too long,” Bumgarner said her parents and her two sisters.

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He asked the community to “continue to surround Morgan’s family with love and prayers.”

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