Man Confesses to Morgan Violi’s 1996 Abduction and Murder

On July 24, 1996, at approximately 12:30 p.m., 7-year-old Morgan Jade Violi was playing with friends outside of her apartment block in Bowling Green, Kentucky, when a maroon van pulled up alongside them.
According to witnesses, the man in the maroon van attempted to grab another girl first but failed. He then grabbed Morgan and bundled her into the van before driving off.
The suspect was described as a white man in his 20s and was said to be driving a red or maroon Chevrolet van.

The vehicle was recovered two days later, abandoned at a truck stop located south of Nashville. Seven-year-old Morgan was nowhere to be seen.

One week passed, then a month, then two months.

Three months into the search, on 20 October 1996, the skeletal remains of a child were discovered in a ravine, in a wooded area of White House, Tennessee. A local woman taking a walk on her property made the discovery and contacted police.

A hair barrette and a yellow hair tie, the same Morgan had been wearing on the day she was taken, were found near the skeletal remains.

The Courier-Journal Newspaper reported at the time that although Morgan did not have existing dental records, the FBI said that visually the teeth "fit like a glove."

Although the results of the DNA testing took some time to confirm, the medical examiner felt confident that the remains were those of Morgan Violi -a conclusion that was later confirmed when the results came back.

Additionally, a fibre found in the victim's hair was tested by the FBI and corresponded with fibres from the seat fabric of the maroon vehicle.

 

Morgan’s funeral was held at Eastwood Baptist Church in Bowling Green and was attended by 500 people. Pink flowers lay on top of her small purple coffin, a combination of her favourite colours. Morgan’s classmates at Warren Elementary School were distraught at the news that they would never see her again.

 

Morgan's father, Glen Violi, said he was considered a suspect early in the investigation. He had been in a custody dispute with Stacey Violi, Morgan's mother, as part of their divorce proceedings at the time Morgan was kidnapped. Stacey Morgan had won custody of their daughter before she went missing.

Despite circulating the composite sketch of the suspect, no immediate arrest was made.

In November 1996, The Courier-Journal reported that a Jefferson District Judge set a $1 million bond for Tony Scott Redemann, 21, of Louisville as he resembled the composite sketch of Morgan Violi's killer. Redemann, who stood accused of attempted rape, denied any connection to the case. His lawyer added that Redemann had never been to Bowling Green and couldn’t locate it if he tried.

For nearly three decades, the case remained unsolved.

On February 26, 2026, a federal criminal complaint and arrest warrant were filed in U.S. District Court against Robert Scott Froberg.

A hair recovered from the abandoned maroon van was linked to Froberg through DNA testing. When the profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), it led detectives straight to him.

At the time of Morgan’s abduction, Froberg was serving a sentence for armed robbery at the Alabama Department of Corrections. Investigators later determined that he had escaped custody on April 3, 1996.

The Courier-Journal reported that Froberg stole a vehicle from an elderly woman after escaping and drove it to Pennsylvania, where he was discovered in a tree house by a local child. The child told his mother who in turn contacted police.

Froberg was arrested in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania and subsequently escaped again two months later, using a cable and a rain spout.

From there he made his way to Dayton, Ohio, where he reportedly stole the maroon vehicle around a week later from a street close to his parents’ home.

According to a press release from the United States Attorney's Office Western District of Kentucky, Froberg recently confessed to transporting Morgan to Tennessee where he killed her.

Froberg, now 62, who has been incarcerated in Alabama on charges of robbery and escape from prison for some time, was recently interviewed by detectives where he confessed to the kidnapping and murder of Morgan Violi.

According to U.S. Attorney Kyle Bumgarner, who spoke at a recent press conference held at the Bowling Green Police Department, Froberg said that he left Ohio and began making his way to the residence of a male nurse he had met in an Alabama prison.

He allegedly said that he wanted to buy drugs so pulled off I-65 in Bowling Green where he spotted a group of children playing outside of an apartment complex. He purportedly admitted to abducting Morgan Violi and putting her in the back of the van, getting back on I-65, and traveling to White House, Tennessee where he suffocated her to death with his own hands.

He claimed that he took the victim’s clothing because he feared DNA evidence would be left behind.

Bowling Green Police Chief Michael Delaney said of the case’s conclusion:

“To the Violi family, we wish this tragedy had never occurred and that Morgan was still with us today. While nothing can undo the pain that you’ve endured, we hope this development brings a measure of closure knowing the individual responsible for this senseless act will be held accountable.”