(LEX 18) — A man with a lengthy criminal history has been charged in connection with the 1996 kidnapping and death of a young girl in Bowling Green, Kentucky, nearly 30 years after the crime, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Feb. 26.
Court documents read that Robert Scott Froberg faces one count of kidnapping resulting in death under federal law. The charge stems from the abduction and killing of a child, whose body was found in the woods in White House, Tennessee, on Oct. 20, 1996.
According to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Renee S. Chouinard, Froberg admitted to kidnapping the child, strangling her, and disposing of her body after investigators confronted him with DNA evidence linking him to the crime.
Court documents state that Froberg stole a maroon Chevrolet van from behind a residence on Huffman Avenue in Dayton, Ohio, on July 23, 1996. The van bore Ohio license plate NM80UZ.
On July 24, 1996, Froberg exited I-65 in Bowling Green to obtain marijuana, according to the affidavit. He then went to the Colony Apartments, where he saw the child.
A witness, according to court documents, saw the kidnapping take place. She described the van as a burgundy Chevrolet van with a license plate containing the letters "MN." She described the suspect as a white male in his 20s with shoulder-length brown hair, thin build, tanned complexion, wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt. A police artist produced a sketch of the suspect based on her description.
According to the affidavit, Froberg admitted to snatching the child and throwing her into the stolen van. He told investigators she was crying and screaming as he sped out of Bowling Green. He said he lied to her, telling her he was taking her to her father in an attempt to calm her.
Froberg told investigators he exited I-65 at White House, Tennessee, and pulled over at a barn. He admitted to placing his hand over the child's mouth, then covering her mouth with a handkerchief and pulling on it with both hands until he strangled her, causing her death, according to court documents.
He then stripped off her clothes, fearing they contained DNA evidence, and disposed of them in a dumpster. He discarded her naked body in the woods near the barn, according to the affidavit.
Froberg then cleaned the van and abandoned it at a 76 truck stop in Williamson County, Tennessee, before traveling to Huntsville, Alabama. Law enforcement located the van at that truck stop on July 26, 1996, according to court documents.
The case went cold for decades until advances in forensic technology provided a new lead. The FBI extracted a DNA profile from a hair found in vacuum sweepings taken from the front and back floorboard of the maroon van. The hair had been preserved on glass microscope slides.
According to court documents, that DNA profile was searched through the Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS, a national database that stores DNA profiles for comparison purposes. CODIS returned a DNA association with Froberg.
Court documents detail a lengthy criminal history for Froberg prior to the 1996 kidnapping:
On or about Dec. 27, 1988, Froberg committed an armed robbery in Montgomery, Alabama, and was sentenced to a lengthy prison term. He was also found in possession of paperwork about how to hotwire cars.
On or about April 3, 1996, Froberg escaped from a prison work detail in Alabama. He fled Alabama in a stolen car and ended up in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, where he robbed an elderly woman and stole her 1986 Oldsmobile.
On or about May 20, 1996, Froberg was found hiding in a children's tree house in a residential area near Dayton, Ohio. A 7-year-old child encountered Froberg in the tree house and told his mother, who called police. Froberg fled but was apprehended a short distance away.
Froberg was taken to the Northumberland County Jail. On July 16, 1996 — just over a week before the kidnapping — he escaped from the jail by climbing a rain spout to the roof and using a cable to climb down, court documents read. He stole a prison employee's bicycle to complete his escape.
Following the CODIS match, the FBI and the Bowling Green Police Department began investigating Froberg. According to court documents, investigators learned that Froberg had an association with a now-deceased Alabama Department of Corrections nurse who lived in Huntsville, Alabama, and who had provided him money and other assistance while he was serving his sentence for armed robbery.
A Bowling Green Police Department detective and Special Agent Chouinard traveled to Montgomery, Alabama, to interview Froberg. With the assistance of the Alabama Department of Corrections, Froberg was transported to the FBI office in Montgomery on Feb. 24, according to court documents.
Froberg waived his Miranda rights and agreed to speak with investigators. During that interview, he admitted to the kidnapping and killing, the documents read.
The criminal complaint was filed Feb. 26, in the Western District of Kentucky. U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Brennenstuhl signed the complaint.
