The case of a 7-year-old Kentucky girl who vanished nearly three decades ago took a significant turn this week, as a 62-year-old convict now faces federal charges related to her tragic death.

On Thursday, Robert Scott Froberg was formally indicted in connection with the 1996 kidnapping of Morgan Violi, a heartbreaking event that U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner said had cast a long shadow over the community, NBC reports.

“The abduction and murder of Morgan profoundly altered her family’s life,” Bumgarner remarked. “They’ve been burdened with the pain of unanswered questions about who did it, how it happened, and why. For years, they’ve sought closure.”

The breakthrough in this cold case came from DNA evidence obtained from a stolen vehicle implicated in the crime.

Forensic specialists matched this DNA to Froberg, a development that was instrumental in bringing forth the charges, according to Bumgarner.

Morgan was last seen in the summer of 1996 at the Colony Apartments in Bowling Green, where she was playing outside with a friend who was 6 at the time.

According to a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, a witness observed the abduction and provided authorities with a description of a maroon Chevrolet van.

Violi’s remains were not discovered until three months later, found in a wooded area near a barn in Tennessee.

WDRB reported that during an interview conducted at a Montgomery, Alabama, prison, Froberg gave law enforcement the details of what happened.

Froberg claimed he had how he escaped from an Alabama prison during detail work in July 1996. He then traveled to Dayton, Ohio, where his parents resided, to steal a vehicle.

While at large, he stopped in Bowling Green to purchase drugs.

Court records show Froberg admitted that during the stop, he kidnapped Morgan and ultimately strangled the 7-year-old and abandoned her naked body in the woods in White House, Tennessee.

“Froberg admitted he ultimately caused Morgan’s death in that van,” Bumgarner said.

Froberg is currently being held at Kilby Infirmary, a prison hospital in Alabama, where he had already been serving time for robbery and escape. 

Given the nature of the federal charge, Froberg could face a maximum penalty of either life in prison or the death penalty, according to NBC.

[Feature Photo: Morgan Violi/Handout]