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DNA Match and Confession Lead to Federal Charge in 1996 Abduction and Killing of Kentucky Girl

A preserved hair from a stolen van yielded a CODIS hit to Robert Scott Froberg nearly 30 years later, prosecutors say.

Overview

  • U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner announced Feb. 27 that Robert Scott Froberg, 62, is charged with kidnapping resulting in death under federal law.
  • An FBI re-test extracted DNA from a hair recovered in the maroon Chevrolet van, returning a CODIS association to Froberg, who had not been a suspect.
  • According to an FBI affidavit, Froberg admitted in a Feb. 24 interview that he abducted 7-year-old Morgan Violi, strangled her, and left her body in White House, Tennessee.
  • Morgan was taken from the parking lot of her Bowling Green apartment complex on July 24, 1996; the stolen van was found two days later in Franklin, Tennessee, and her remains were discovered that fall.
  • A federal criminal complaint was filed Feb. 26 in the Western District of Kentucky, and Froberg—a two-time escapee recaptured in August 1996—faces life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.