Authorities Announce Break in 30-Year-Old Cold Case Tied to Murdered KY Girl Found In White House TN
WHITE HOUSE, TENNESSEE: (Smokey Barn News) – On Friday, authorities announced a breakthrough in a nearly 30-year-old cold case involving a White House, Tennessee, connection.
7-year-old Morgan Violi was abducted in July 1996 while playing outside in Bowling Green, KY. According to WSMV News 4, witnesses saw a man pull the girl into a burgundy van, which was located days later in Franklin, Tenn.
Her body was tragically found buried in White House three months later. On Friday, U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner stated that Robert Froberg, 62, has been charged with kidnapping resulting in death.
The charges were filed on Thursday, Bumgarner said in a joint press conference with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bowling Green Police Department.
Froberg, who allegedly escaped prison twice in 1996, confessed this week, according to News 4. He reportedly admitted to abducting Morgan in Bowling Green, driving south, and ultimately causing her death in White House. Authorities highlighted DNA evidence as crucial in identifying Froberg.
If convicted, he faces life in prison or the death penalty. As WSMV reports, Bumgarner emphasized this was about Morgan, a little girl who loved to sing, dance, and be with her family. This announcement puts Morgan’s family a step closer to closure.
For expanded details, our news partner WHSV News 4 has been following this story from the beginning. NEWS 4’s REPORT
The following is a release from the Unitd States Attorney’s Office…
Federal Charges Filed in a 30-Year-Old Cold Case Involving the Kidnapping and Murder of 7-Year-Old Morgan Violi
BOWLING GREEN, KY – A federal criminal complaint and arrest warrant were filed in U.S. District Court on February 26, 2026, charging Robert Scott Froberg, 61, with the 1996 abduction and death of 7-year-old Morgan Violi.
U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner of the Western District of Kentucky, FBI Special Supervisory Agent William Kurtz, Chief Michael Delaney of the Bowling Green Police Department and Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 8th Judicial Circuit Kori Beck Bumgarner made the announcement at a press conference held on February 27, 2026, at the Bowling Green Police Department.
According to the complaint, Morgan Violi was abducted July 24, 1996, while playing with her sisters and friends at the Colony Apartments in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Witnesses saw a white man grab Morgan, put her in a maroon Chevrolet van and drive away. Two days later, the van suspected to be involved in the abduction was found south of Nashville, Tennessee, and searched for evidence. Morgan’s body was found on October 20, 1996 — three months after her abduction — in the woods in White House, Tennessee. For years, Morgan’s kidnapping and murder went unsolved.
The complaint alleges that with recent advancements in forensic testing of DNA evidence, a hair found in the abandoned van was tested by the FBI laboratory and returned an association with Robert Scott Froberg, who was then serving a lengthy sentence in the Alabama Department of Corrections. With that lead, investigators determined that Froberg had escaped from jail in April 1996, traveled to Pennsylvania where he was arrested, and then escaped again. Froberg then traveled to Dayton, Ohio, and stole a maroon Chevrolet van approximately a half a mile from his parent’s house. Froberg traveled south, exiting I-65 in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he spotted Morgan playing in her apartment complex, snatched her and drove south.
According to the complaint, Froberg was recently interviewed by law enforcement and confessed to driving Morgan into Tennessee and strangling her, causing her death.
U.S. Attorney Bumgarner stated, “Morgan Violi’s family never gave up on her, and neither did the Bowling Green community or its law enforcement community. For years, this community has feared that Morgan’s abductor lived silently among us and that one of our kids could be next. Investigators in the FBI and the Bowling Green Police Department have worked tirelessly to bring justice for Morgan. They applied new technology, reexamined old evidence, and never stopped searching for the truth. Yesterday, we filed a criminal complaint charging Robert Scott Froberg with her kidnapping, resulting in her death.”
If convicted, the defendant faces only two potential sentences: life in prison or the death penalty. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
There is no parole in the federal system.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and Bowling Green Police Department.
United States Attorney Kyle Bumgarner and First Assistant United States Attorney Brian Butler are prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
