Maria Ridulph's Disappearance And Jack McCullough's Trial

After dinner on December 3, 1957, seven-year-old Ridulph and her friend Kathy Sigman played outside. A man approached them.The man walked up to them.He asked if they wanted piggyback rides. The girls said yes; Ridulph jumped on his back. Sigman went home for her mittens. When she returned, Ridulph and the man vanished.

Another version of the story shows Ridulph...Ridulph ran home.She went to get dolls after the man asked about them. While she was gone, the man touched Sigman inappropriately. After Ridulph returned, Sigman sought her mittens. Details differ; this might stem from Sigman's young age during the event.

Ridulph's disappearance brought the FBI in force. Investigators searched for months.Investigators stayed at her parents' house. Volunteers searched for any sign of her. They found her doll, which the FBI processed as evidence, but nothing else. Roadblocks formed; cars were searched; military planes and helicopters looked for her from above.Volunteers searched her parent's house for any trace. They found her doll; the FBI processed the doll as evidence. Roadblocks blocked access. Cars were searched. Military airplanes and helicopters arrived.Airplanes and helicopters looked for her from above.The community of Sycamore, IL (population 7,000), changed because people hoped to find Ridulph.

The small community of Sycamore, IL (population 7,000), was upended while searching for Ridulph.

In April 1958, five months after she disappeared, Ridulph's body was found.Frank Sitar and his wife found Ridulph's remains while hunting mushrooms on a friend's farm. They found her body along Route 20 in northwestern Illinois, near Galena, IL. Ridulph's shoes, coat, and pants were gone. She wore socks, a shirt, and an undershirt. Decomposition made the cause of death unclear.Frank Sitar and his wife found Ridulph's remains while hunting mushrooms on a friend's farm. She was dumped along Route 20 in northwestern Illinois, not far from Galena, IL. Ridulph's shoes, coat, and pants were missing; she wore socks, a shirt, and an undershirt. Decomposition made the cause of death unclear.

Experts reexamined the body when it was exhumed in 2011.Experts reexamined the body when it was exhumed in 2011.Experts concluded in 2011 she had been fatally stabbed in the throat.

About 11 days after Ridulph disappeared, one suspect officially joined the army and went to boot camp. He also changed his name.He changed his name from John Tessier to Jack McCullough, reportedly due to the negative attention the case brought him.He changed his name from John Tessier to Jack McCullough, reportedly because of the negative attention the case brought him.

Five days after Ridulph was kidnapped, law enforcement interviewed McCullough. They questioned him as a suspect in the Ridulph case and because several young girls claimed he sexually abused them. He denied the charges but admitted to 'sex play' with several girls.

Ridulph's kidnapping made national news. Many people wanted to find her.Many people wanted to find the little girl.The President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower, was interested in finding the little girl. Some sources say he and J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI Director, asked for case updates regularly.

Finding her alive mattered greatly.

William Henry Redmond became a main suspect in Ridulph's disappearance for a time. Redmond drove trucks and later worked as a carnie.Redmond traveled the Midwest.Redmond supposedly picked up young girls to murder and dispose of their bodies.Redmond supposedly picked up young girls to murder and dispose of their bodies.He confessed to a murder. His attorney threw out the confession in court. Redmond died a free man in 1992.

McCullough's mother, Eileen Tessier, told Janet that her brother killed Ridulph. In 1994, Eileen was dying of cancer. Janet stated Eileen did not name Ridulph, butshe described her as"the one that disappeared," before saying, "John did it."

McCullough did not attend his mother's funeral. Janet wrestled with the knowledge of his possible crime for years before contacting police in 2008.

Illinois police exhumed Ridulph's body in 2011.Illinois police exhumed Ridulph's body.They looked for extra clues. They hoped to get DNA evidence to compare with their main suspect, McCullough. Back in 1957, law enforcement could not compare DNA. Modern technology made this possible.

Since Ridulph's body sat outside before discovery, time caused them tocould notfind any more evidence.

Many cold cases stay unsolved. The ones that solve tend to be warmer. Ridulph's kidnapping and murder went unsolved for over 50 years before the trial in 2012. At that time, it seemed like the oldest cold case ever solved..

Kathy Sigman was the only witness to the kidnapping. Ridulph's brother, Chuck, said SigmanKathy Sigman knocked on the door.to the family's house when Ridulph vanished. Sigman asked if her friend had gone home. Chuck, then 11, went out and sought Ridulph. Then, he told his parents, who called the authorities. Local police interviewed Sigman and had her describe the man.

When the case reopened over 50 years later, police came to Sigman's door, asking her to name the man who took her friend all those years. She namedMcCullough from a yearbook photo.

In 2012, the 73-year-old McCullough was found guilty.McCullough was found guilty.of kidnapping and killing Ridulph. Kathy Sigman's ID helped the case against him. The case against him depended on his clear memory of Ridulph. Prosecutors felt his memories showed he was obsessed with her, which caused him to commit the crime. A woman from his past also spoke against him, claiming he raped her when she was 14.

Then there was theMcCullough had a train ticket.. McCullough claimed he was in Chicago during the kidnapping, getting a military physical. When his girlfriend faced questioning at his arrest, investigators found an unused train ticket with a military stamp at her house. The ticket was dated December 3, 1957, suggesting McCullough's alibi was not solid.

The jury agreed with the prosecution. The jury sentenced McCullough to life in prison.

McCullough always claimed innocence. The courts agreed in the end. On the day Maria Ridulph disappeared, McCullough was 40 miles away in Rockford, IL, meeting a military recruiter. After that meeting, He called.He called his stepfather from a payphone; he asked for a ride home.

Attorneys subpoenaed the phone records from that day, even though McCullough already had a conviction. These records, plus witnesses, proved he was in another city during the kidnapping. McCullough could not have committed the crime. McCullough was officially declaredHe was innocent.in April 2017.

In 2016, the authorities exonerated McCullough on the same day he was cleared of the crime.Authorities received an anonymous letter related to the Ridulph case.The letter relates to the Ridulph case. It went to Richard Schmack, the Illinois state attorney, and it named another possible suspect. That suspect's name remains unreleased.