Only a few months after being charged in the 1996 death of seven-year-old Morgan Violi, a Dayton, Ohio man has pled guilty to murder and kidnapping.
Sixty-one-year-old Robert Scott Froberg of Ohio was charged in March following 30 years of investigation, where Violi’s death remained unsolved. Violi was abducted on July 24, 1996 while playing with her friends and sisters at the Colony Apartments in Bowling Green.
According to U.S. Attorney Kyle Bumgarner, witnesses saw a white male suspect grab Morgan, put her in a maroon van and drive away. The van was located two days later in Nashville, but Morgan’s body wasn’t found for another three months in White House, Tennessee.Â
Using advancements in forensic testing, Froberg was arrested in March of 2026. Now, earlier in July, Froberg pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping resulting in death. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 2 in United States District Court in Bowling Green. If the court accepts the terms of the plea agreement, Froberg will receive a life sentence.
There is no parole in the federal system.