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The Phone Call That Undid Justice: The Unsolved Maria Ridulph Murder, Solved—Then Unsolved Again

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The Maria Ridulph murder case remains one of the most compelling and confounding cold cases in American history, not just for its age, but for its dramatic reversal of fortune. As of December 23, 2025, the case stands in a state of frustrating ambiguity: it was once hailed as the nation's oldest solved cold case, only for that solution to be completely undone by a single, decades-old piece of evidence. This shocking narrative of conviction, exoneration, and renewed mystery has left the small town of Sycamore, Illinois, and the nation once again asking: who truly killed seven-year-old Maria Ridulph? The tragic events of 1957 set the stage for a half-century-long mystery that captivated and terrified the Midwest. The subsequent twist—the exoneration of the man convicted—has transformed the case into a landmark study of the fallibility of memory, the power of forensic evidence, and the enduring quest for justice. The details surrounding the disappearance and the eventual overturning of the conviction reveal a complex web of misplaced trust, flawed testimony, and the undeniable truth contained within an old phone company ledger.

The Life and Disappearance of Maria Ridulph and Key Case Figures

The story begins with a simple, idyllic scene shattered by unimaginable tragedy.

Maria Elizabeth Ridulph: A Brief Profile

Maria Elizabeth Ridulph was a sweet, brown-eyed girl born on March 12, 1950. She was the youngest of four children born to Michael and Frances Ridulph, who lived in a white frame house in Sycamore, Illinois.
  • Born: March 12, 1950
  • Disappearance Date: December 3, 1957
  • Age at Disappearance: 7 years old
  • Location of Abduction: Corner of Center Cross and Archie Place, Sycamore, Illinois
  • Parents: Michael and Frances Ridulph
  • Circumstances: Last seen playing near her home with a friend, Kathy Chapman, being approached by a man who called himself "Johnny."
  • Remains Found: April 1958, in a wooded area near Woodbine, Illinois.

Key Figures in the Investigation

The case revolves around several central figures whose lives became inextricably linked by the tragedy:
  • Kathy Chapman (now Kathy Sigman): Maria's childhood friend who was playing with her when she disappeared. She was the key eyewitness, though her memory of the event was decades old when the case was reopened.
  • Jack Daniel McCullough (formerly John Tessier): A 72-year-old former police officer and security guard from Washington state, who was a neighbor of the Ridulph family in 1957 and was known as "Johnny" at the time. He was convicted in 2012 but later exonerated.
  • Eileen Tessier: McCullough's half-sister, whose deathbed confession in 2010 provided the initial break in the cold case, claiming her mother had told her that John Tessier (McCullough) had killed Maria.
  • Richard Schmack: The DeKalb County State's Attorney who, after an independent review of the case, concluded that McCullough was wrongfully convicted and moved to vacate the conviction.

The Abduction and the 55-Year Cold Case

On the snowy evening of December 3, 1957, Maria and her friend were playing outside when a young man approached them, offering the girls piggyback rides and candy. The man, who introduced himself as "Johnny," was later identified by Kathy as John Tessier, a 19-year-old neighbor who worked for the Illinois Bell Telephone Company. Maria's friend briefly went inside to retrieve her mittens. When she returned, Maria and "Johnny" were gone, leaving behind only the girl’s sled. The disappearance launched one of the most intense manhunts in U.S. history, even drawing the attention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Five months later, in April 1958, Maria's remains were discovered by a couple in a remote, wooded area near Woodbine, Illinois, nearly 120 miles from Sycamore. The case went cold, haunting the community for decades and becoming known as the nation's oldest unresolved murder.

The Conviction: Solved After 55 Years

The case remained dormant until 2008, when Illinois State Police reopened the investigation. The critical turning point came in 2010 with the deathbed statement of Eileen Tessier, McCullough's half-sister. Her statement, combined with a photo identification by Maria’s childhood friend Kathy (now Kathy Sigman), led to the arrest of Jack Daniel McCullough in 2011. In 2012, McCullough was convicted in a bench trial of the kidnapping and murder of Maria Ridulph and sentenced to life in prison. The conviction was celebrated by many as a long-awaited victory for justice, finally bringing closure to the Ridulph family and the Sycamore community. The case was officially closed, hailed as a testament to the perseverance of cold case investigators.

The Shocking Reversal: The Phone Call Alibi and Exoneration

The closure was short-lived. In a stunning turn of events that began in 2015, the DeKalb County State’s Attorney, Richard Schmack, launched an independent review of the case. Schmack's investigation focused on a crucial piece of evidence that had been mishandled or overlooked during the original trial: Jack McCullough’s ironclad alibi.

The Undeniable Alibi

McCullough had long maintained that he was 40 miles away from Sycamore at the time of the abduction. The new review unearthed and verified records from the Illinois Bell Telephone Company—the very company McCullough worked for at the time. The records proved that McCullough made a collect call to his parents from a payphone in Rockford, Illinois, at 6:57 p.m. on the night of December 3, 1957. This phone call, which lasted about two minutes, was placed at a time that made it physically impossible for him to have been at the abduction site in Sycamore, which was 40 miles away, and then to have traveled to Rockford by the time the call was made.

A Certificate of Innocence

Based on the irrefutable phone records and other inconsistencies in the prosecution's case, Schmack concluded that the wrong man had been convicted. In April 2016, a judge vacated McCullough’s conviction, and he was released from prison after serving three years. McCullough was subsequently granted a Certificate of Innocence, officially clearing his name and transforming the nation’s oldest solved cold case into an unsolved mystery once more.

The Lingering Question: What is the Current Status of the Maria Ridulph Case?

The exoneration of Jack McCullough in 2016 returned the Maria Ridulph murder to its original status: unsolved. The DeKalb County State's Attorney's office officially dropped the charges against McCullough, acknowledging the compelling new evidence. The case now remains open, but the investigation has essentially returned to square one, nearly seven decades after the crime. The key issues that led to the wrongful conviction—the decades-old, potentially flawed eyewitness identification by Kathy Sigman and the reliance on a deathbed confession—have been highlighted as cautionary tales in criminal justice. The tragic cycle of hope and disappointment continues for the Ridulph family and the community of Sycamore. The powerful evidence of the telephone records proves what an initial investigation should have confirmed: Jack McCullough was not the killer. Yet, the true identity of the man who called himself "Johnny" and abducted Maria Ridulph remains an open, agonizing question, ensuring that the 1957 murder will continue to be studied by true crime enthusiasts and legal experts for years to come.
maria ridulph murder
maria ridulph murder

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