IL IL - Jaclyn Dowaliby, 7, Chicago, 10 Sept 1988

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This case has haunted me for years.
I do not believe the parents were involved at all.
I lean towards the Uncle who is now deceased or the perp who had also tried to abduct a child but the Mother woke up.

jmho
 
Am currently re-reading "gone in the night."
I have never been 100% convinced of the Dowaliby's innocence. The book and movie are geared toward their side, and that's the only side most ppl see.
Not 100% convinced of their guilt either.
Poor little beautiful girl........I wish we could find justice for her.
 
West said:
Just saw a re-run of this case on TV.

Very sad, Mom and Dad seemed more upset by Dad's trial/jail time than they did talking about Jaclyn being missing, almost added her name to sentences to make sure it sounded sincere. JMO.

Anyway, any idea if this case is still open? I know David can't be tried again (double jeopardy, see: OJ Simpson) and it seems like the uncle is a prime target. Despite his being dead, has anyone in LE gone back and tried to match him as a potential suspect to the facts in the case. It seems that this case should be somewhat solvable.
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BBM. I have the same question. Regardless of whether the uncle is deceased or not, why not process the evidence they have and see if the uncle can be tied via dna or not. The suspect in John Walsh's son Adams case was already deceased when tied to the case, bringing answers to the family and case closed. Imo, Jaclyn and her family deserve at least that much.
 
Bumping for Jaclyn...I so wish that there was more of a concerted effort going on to find her killer...
 
I remember hearing about Jaclyn and seeing the movie. I believe she was not killed or hurt by her mother or father. I feel like LE missed a lot focusing on the parents.

I pray someone will find justice for this angel.
 
detectivewannabe said:
It was Jacklyn's biological father's brother that had the mental illness and later died (according to the above poster) not David's (Jacklyn's step father). Hope this cleared some confusion.
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I just stumbled upon this tragic case while doing internet research on another case (JonBenet Ramsey).

How close to the Dowaliby home did Jaclyn's uncle live at that time?
And how likely is it that an abductor would think of taking the child's blanket with him?
 
I recently saw this case on Notorious and remember the Unsolved Mysteries episode as well...now I am ordering the book on Amazon! Anyway, at this (very early) point I am 50/50 on whether the parents were involved or not. What I want to know is:

-What was the Uncle's alibi?

-What have Cynthia and David been doing all these years to find Jaclyn's killer?

-Were the police interviews w/ David recorded, or do we just have to take the police's word for it that David gave these weird answers to interview questions?
 
I just watched the American Justice episode on the case.
The showed video of the rooms - it would have been extremely difficult for an intruder to snatch Jaclyn from her room: for the parents slept just aross the hall which is very narrow.
And didn't David Dowaliby say that he initially thought that "his mother" had left the front door open when she left in the morning?
Does this mean that Jaclyn's grandmother also had been present in the Dowaliby home, staying overnight?
But maybe DD spoke of the "the mother", referring to Jaclyn's mother (English is not my first language and I sometimes have difficulty understanding spoken English).
DD said that after getting up, he made breakfast for him and the little son. What about Jaclyn? When was the first time that he looked in Jaclyn's room to see if she had woken up?
 
kevmob77 said:
A very tough case to figure out. I lived in Elmhurst at the time and followed this case. Still do. At the time, David (the step-father) made some statements that didn't quite add up. Investigators did prove that the window where Jacqueline was taken was broken from the inside, not the outside. But I always remember him (David) insisting that that window was broken from the outside. This is a very important piece of evidence that has gone overlooked.
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Here it says that the forensic examination of the window finally established that it had been broken from the outside:
http://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/il/david-dowaliby.html
Patrick O'Brien, the head of the office's Felony Trial Division, was [in charge of the prosecution]. Based on Mann's purported identification of David and the assumption that the window had been broken from inside, O'Brien obtained grand jury indictments on November 22, 1988, charging David and Cynthia with murder and concealing a homicide. They were arrested immediately. The very next day, O'Brien received a forensic report incontrovertibly establishing that the force that had broken the Dowalibys' basement window had come from outside. Apparently, perhaps to minimize noise, whoever had broken the window had punctured it and then removed several large pieces of the glass, placing them on the ground.
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But I always remember him (David) insisting that that window was broken from the outside.
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But how could David possibly have known this? For the investigators initially (wrongly) concluded that the window had been broken from the inside because more glass was found outside than inside the room.
 
SheRa said:
-What have Cynthia and David been doing all these years to find Jaclyn's killer?
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In American Justice, it says that the Dowalibys changed their last name and moved away. If parents were really looking for the killer, imo it would not make sense for them to change their last name.
I can't think of any criminal case where parents who were actively involved in the search for their child's killer did this with their family name changed.
 
WoW how earilly similar to the JBR case right down to the window and everything..
 
CanManEh said:
WoW how earilly similar to the JBR case right down to the window and everything..
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Indeed there are some similarities which stand out.
Like the broken window through which in all probability no perpetrator ever entered.
And as in the JB Ramsey case, where well-meaning people (two victim advocates, who should have known better!) wiped the fingerprin dust off the furniture in the Ramsey home, well-meaning neighbors of the Dowalibys, in their eagerness to lend a helping hand to the family in this time of distress, cleaned their home from top to bottom, and valuable evidence from a crime scene was possibly destroyed. They even sweeped up the glass from the broken window!

If the crime scene in both cases had been correctly preserved, no such cleaning actions could have taken place.
 
PattyCake said:
Hi. I pulled out my research skills and did some work. David doesn't have a deceased brother, so I'm confused about the above 'note' from a niece of the family. Reading further into the case, David was convicted on a variety of evidence only partially an eyewitness. No record of the eyewitness having any mental illness info / background or issues.

Having mentioned these points, I never believed David was responsible. I do believe Jaclyn's mother was. I also believe David is most likely not aware that Cynthia maybe at fault. All of this of course is my opinion & based on research and some court records.

The last point regarding the legitimacy of the above note which I question greatly... is that Cynthia never went into a trial so therefore could never be 'acquitted' of anything. That is public record. Certainly that 'error' of information would not be passed around in the family that she actually was tried & acquitted.

Unsure if Cynthia was ever married to David. She currently goes by a different last name. The court record info I have however, shows a Cynthia M Dowaliby. But her current name is different. Perhaps they're divorced? Guess that doesn't have any bearing on the case though. This case has always fascinated me but I believe LE knows some of the answers and is satisfied they've done as much as they could have for this poor little girl.
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the niece was talking about the natural fathers brother - David adopted her
 
amf2807 said:
well not really sure where to start. I just happened to look up Jaclyn's name on google lastnight after watching phychic detectives on court tv. I was amazed and honestly freaked out on how many pages there were about her. I am a member of the family, and I guess I can try to answer some of the questions you all have had during the last couple years. She was from a small town called midlothian IL. She was 7 years old, and absolutely stunning. She was always so happy and full of life. We were only a couple years apart and grew up together. Jaclyn and I were very close I was an only child, she was all I had, we were cousins, but acted like sisters. The moments from the time we found out she was missing to the day we buried her will be burned into my memory forever. The years that followed werent much better, between media coverage and court issues, it was a very trying time for the whole family. Espically her parents, brother and infant sister. I will never forget the moment I answered the phone that morning and my aunt wanted to talk to my mom. I remember the sound of her voice and how terrified she sounded, I remember knowing something was wrong and sitting by my mom as she was told that she was missing. The next few moments I will regret probably for the rest of my life. My mom hung up the phone told me that Jaclyn was missing and I had to get ready quick we were going over there. I was only 9 years old and I remember laughing while I was looking for my shoes thinking to myself she was probably playing hide and seek. I still feel guilty for laughing to this day. I remember arriving there and there were cops all over, and walking in the house. It was the weirdest silence I have ever heard. It was at that moment that I realized there was no game of hide and seek, and that something was really wrong. There were so many people there yet you could have heard a pin drop. Every so often you could hear my aunt crying. I remember walking out of the house to the side where the broken basement window was and looking at the broken glass. There was a cop there picking up the pieces and stacking them to the side with his fingers. I remember thinking to myself "I wonder why he is touching that, wont he get cut?" Much of the next few days felt like an eternity, I passed out flyers we tied yellow ribbons around the trees, and my mom arranged that I stay with my father so I could get away from all of the media and stress. You couldnt turn on the tv without seeing her picture or hearing her story. Then that day came, I will never forget sitting in my grandmothers kitchen with my dad and his family. I remember the phone rang and my dad talked and hung up. He said we need to go to your aunts house, I remember feeling so briefly relieved and excited I couldnt wait to see Jaclyn. I of course asked all the obvious questions I remember his saying that he wasnt sure and that we would find out when we got there. I remember pulling up and my mom meeting us outside, I saw her face and I just knew something was wrong. She told me that shd had been found but that she was in heaven. I remember standing outside my aunts house on that lawn with my mom and dad hugging me while I wept. Later that night, I was in Jaclyns room hugging one of her dolls, and being told that I wasnt to go outside for anything, because it wasnt safe, and because there were news cameras all over. Over the next couple days I remember being so angry at the news people because I couldnt even go outside. The media was so bad that we were being literally shoved by the camera and media mob when we were leaving the church the day of the funeral. It was awful. Then of course was all the allegations about my aunt and uncle, and court trials. My family really was put through the ringer.

So I guess I should try to give answers to some of the posted questions.
As far as the "pot party theory" her parents passed the drug tests, which should say something. Also, I know it wasnt happening because I was supposed to spend the night at her house that night, but my mom had worked late and decided that she didnt feel like driving me at the last minute. I mean my bags were packed and I had just talked to Jaclyns mom.

Jaclyns biological father was in jail in florida at the time of the kidnapping. He was ruled out immediately because of that. His brother, the one with the mental disorder, was not in jail at the time. He had an alibi, but most of his witnesses later admitted to lying about it. He was documented stating very exact details of her room, and her body when it was found. Things that he would have had no way of knowing. However because of his mental illness, and the fact that the police were too distracted trying to cruicify my auny and uncle not much was looked into about him. He passed away a few years ago due to some form of cancer, prostate I think. At this point, even if he was the actual killer, it would be too late to do anything about it.

My aunt was accused of the murder but was aquitted, my uncle had to face trial and was convicted because there was the "nose witness" It was a dark parking lot, there was no moon that night, the man was quite some distance away, and had a record of mental illness. This man said he could see my uncles nose structure. To this day that still floors me, how could you possibly see anyones nose structure under those conditions. In addition, what kind of moron, would consider that credible evidence? I have a theory and this is a theory only, it was said that Jaclyns Uncle had a friend that lived in those apartments, who is to say the friend didnt put this guy(the nose witness) up to saying he saw something just to distract the police? Again this is just a theory...something to think about...but still a theory. My uncle's sentence was overturned and he was finally released once the state removed their heads from their rears and their noses from Daley's rear as well.

While I cant imagine how difficult it is to be an police officer, espically faced with something so horrible, these officers, states attorneys, people in office ect did my family and Jaclyn absolutely no justice. At the end of the day it was their lack of know how, lack of evidence and pressure to solve a case that failed Jaclyn and us all.

There is no closure or feeling of being at peace. How could there be a senseless tradjedy happened, and there will forever be a void in our lives. For so long I thought about her everyday, dwelled on it, blamed myself as time has went on those feelings have started to fade. I think about her all the time and I miss her like hell. It makes me sad that my husband never met her, that my children will never know her. That her own brother and sister have to be without the wisdom of an older sibling. I guess we are fortunate in some ways though, there are families out there that never find their loved ones, never know what happpened. Eventhough it surely wasnt the outcome any of us wanted, I thank God everyday that at least we know something. I do feel blessed for the time we did have together though short, it was better than nothing at all.

My truest and deepest feelings of sorrow go out to those families of a missing person, or that have lost a loved one. I pray that your questions be answered quickly and gently, that your loved ones return to you unharmed, that your sorrows are eased and finally that whoever is handling your investigations has at least half a brain and knows what they are doing!

I think my message is long enough, if there are any more questions I will be checking back often. I will answer what I can, I will not disclose any current personal information about my aunt uncle or Jaclyns siblings so please do not ask. Thank you all very much for not letting her memory die. The judicial system surely did.
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I just saw the movie "gone in the night" Its been years since your post, but thankyou for sharing your insights during that time. I hope that the evidence has been kept and now with DNA testing etc, they may be able to find out who did this. Sadly trial by public and media can be awful, have seen it happen in Australia with the Lindy Chamberlain case.
 
The TV movie, like most of them, has a decided slant as does the book. I have never been 100% convinced that the parents are innocent and I am still not.

It would not be the first time that a gulty person become a cause celebre and ends up with an acquittal in spite of their guilt. Sam Sheppard and Julie Rae Harper come to mind. Time passes, people forget the actual crime and end up buying into all the publicity.

Jeffrey MacDonald has been trying to pull the same feat off for years now and virtually every show he gets featured on makes it sound like he was wrongly convicted in spite of a mountain of forensic and circumstantial evidence. But the fact remains that an innocent man, or woman, convicted makes for a much better story than "we got the right person the first time around." Then people unfamiliar with the actual evidence sees a 60 minute program or a TV movie, slanted toward the better story, and decides to jump on the bandwagon.

Yes, there are similarities to the Ramsey Case, but a couple of important differences. This home was, literally, a fraction of the size of the Ramsey home. Someone breaking in to a home this size and stealing away a child in the night that is sleeping so close to her parents is pretty odd. Although in this case the parents could have been "chemically" impaired. Still. Which would lead to the second difference. While there is clearly no history of the Ramsey's being less than involved and attentive parents, the same cannot be said of the Dowaliby's. Some of the neighbors felt they were careless and reckless. Which doesn't, in itself, prove guilt. I'm just saying.
 
http://abc7chicago.com/news/jaclyn-dowaliby-cold-case-reexamined-28-years-later/1338090/

The Dowaliby case files are rarely touched at Midlothian Police Headquarters, though her murder is officially unsolved. Police say there hasn't been a new lead in years but oddly, even with an open murder on the books, Chief Harold Kaufman declined to be interviewed for this report.

"I don't know why the police are not pursuing this case," said Ralph Meczyk, David Dowaliby's former attorney.

"It suggests to me that they think they had it right and that there's nobody and nothing out there that is going to change that conclusion," ABC7 Legal Analyst Gil Soffer said...

David and Cynthia Dowaliby now live 40 miles away from where the murder happened, now using a different last name. On numerous occasions in April, the I-team asked both of them to discuss the unsolved murder of their daughter, with an eye toward generating possible new leads from the public. They didn't respond.
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I've always wondered about this case. Love that additional attention is finally being brought about!


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I've been watching Unsolved Mysteries on Amazon Video and saw this case. Wondered if it had been solved by now. I Googled Jaclyn's name and found this article with some stunning info about evidence.. I'm inclined to believe it based on the source but surprised no one seems to be discussing these details.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-02-17/news/8903060244_1_david-dowaliby-grand-jury-body

"Police found a bloodstained pillow in the bedroom of Jaclyn Dowaliby and head hairs similar to the slain girl`s in the trunk of her parents` car"

"David Dowaliby Jr., said he saw his mother on past occasions hit his sister about the shoulders with a broom, belt or rope"

"O`Brien also said pubic hairs were found on the bedspread that covered Jaclyn`s body and on underwear found near the body"

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