How America's coldest criminal case - the mystery of missing seven-year-old 'pretty Maria' - was solved 55 years later thanks to deathbed confession by her murderer's mother.
Charles Lachman, INSIDE EDITION’s executive producer, published his latest book, “Footsteps in the Snow,” which is receiving international attention from media outlets including the Daily Mail, Dr. Phil, and Lifetime.
It was on the first Tuesday in December, 1957, that little Maria Ridulph disappeared after taking a piggy back ride from a stranger.
Her disappearance from a small town in the rich farmlands of Illinois shocked America: it seemed she had vanished into thin air in the safest corner of the United States.
Her family hoped that the killer would be brought to justice quickly but in the end they had to wait - an astonishing 55 years for justice.
The coldest case in US history was finally closed in 2012 when Maria's killer was convicted using a deathbed confession by his mother that had re-opened the investigation.
For more information on the story go to Footstepsinthesnowbook.com.
