Man indicted in 1996 kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Bowling Green girl

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A man was indicted in a nearly 30-year-old missing child cold case out of Bowling Green, Kentucky.

According to court documents, 62-year-old Robert Froberg admitted to strangling and killing seven-year-old Morgan Violi and leaving her naked body in the woods in White House, Tennessee in 1996.

This week, investigators traveled to a Montgomery, Alabama prison where Froberg is serving time on unrelated charges to interview him about Violi.

During the interview, Froberg described how he had escaped from custody in Pennsylvania in July 1996, went to Dayton, Ohio where his parents lived, and stole a van. He told investigators he got off Interstate 65 in Bowling Green to buy marijuana, stopping at an apartment complex where he kidnapped Violi, who lived there with her family.

"Today is not about Froberg. Today is about Morgan Violi. Today is about a 7-year-old daughter and sister that remained in our hearts for nearly 30 years," said U.S. Attorney Kyle Bumgarner at a news conference Friday.

Investigators said DNA evidence that was found in the van at the time of the crime was tested and was used to help solve the case 30 years later.

Froberg was indicted on kidnapping resulting in death in federal court Thursday. He is currently incarcerated at Kilby Infirmary, a prison hospital, in Alabama on unrelated charges.