Murder of Jaclyn Dowaliby

The couple had met in the late 1970s at a skating rink where Jaclyn's father worked when her mother was a teenager and her father in his early 20s; the two dated for seven years but had separated shortly before Jaclyn's birth.

Shortly thereafter, Jaclyn's father unsuccessfully attempted to gain custody of his daughter.

Jaclyn Dowaliby was born on May 17, 1981 in Chicago, Illinois, the first and only child born to James "Jimmy" and Cynthia Guess.

In approximately 1982, Jaclyn's mother became acquainted with David Dowaliby, whom she married when her daughter was two years old.

Six months after their wedding, David Dowaliby legally adopted Jaclyn, who viewed Dowaliby as her father and reportedly believed him to be so.

One year later, in 1984, her half-brother, David Jr., was born.

Jaclyn has been described as a happy, popular and content child who enjoyed playing with dolls.

The murder of Jaclyn Marie Dowaliby is an unsolved child murder which occurred in Midlothian, Illinois, on September 10, 1988, when a seven-year-old girl was abducted from her bedroom and murdered by an unknown individual or individuals.

Her strangled body was discovered four days later.

By 1988, the family resided in a one-story ranch-style home on 148th Street in a middle-class section of Midlothian, Illinois.

Her mother worked within the dietary department at Oak Forest Hospital and her stepfather a laborer at Rax Erecting Service.

On the afternoon of September 9, 1988, Cynthia took her two children to a local Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner while her husband visited a local bowling alley with some friends.

Shortly after returning home that evening, Jaclyn—then seven years old—dressed in her pajamas and kissed her mother goodnight before climbing into her bed with a Sears catalog, which she began reading.

At approximately 11 p.m., Jaclyn's mother checked on her daughter, only to observe her sound asleep in her bed; Cynthia switched off the light in her daughter's bedroom and went to sleep herself.

At 8 a.m. on September 10, David Dowaliby awoke.

According to statements to given police, he was surprised not to observe Jaclyn already awake and watching television cartoons in the living room.

Upon checking her basement bedroom, David noted the child was neither asleep or playing with toys upon her bedroom floor, although he did observe her bedroom window had been smashed.

A search of the house revealed no trace of Jaclyn, although the Dowalibys did note a door to their property was slightly ajar.

Shortly thereafter, David and Cynthia Dowaliby reported her as a missing child, possibly an abduction, and said that she "prayed for her return".

Police reportedly found a broken window, but it may have been a faked break-in as her adoptive father David Dowaliby later recalled the back door was left open.

Search parties were organized, but for four days Jaclyn was nowhere to be found.

On September 14, 1988, Jaclyn Dowaliby's body was found abandoned at a dump site, located approximately 6 mi away from her home.

Although an autopsy could not reveal precisely when she had been killed, Maggot infestation of her remains suggested she had been deceased for several days.

As Jaclyn's biological father is known to have once attempted to break into the Dowaliby household to kidnap his daughter following his failure to secure custody of his daughter, James Guess became a prime suspect in her murder; however, police discounted him as a suspect upon learning he had been imprisoned in Florida since May 23, 1988, having been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment upon two counts of sexual battery, one count of threatening another with a deadly weapon, and one count of attempted sexual battery.

Investigators' suspicions then turned toward Jaclyn's mother and stepfather.

Dowaliby's mother and stepfather were tried for her murder in 1990; her mother was acquitted, although her adoptive father, David Dowaliby, was convicted of her murder and sentenced to 45 years' imprisonment.

His conviction was later overturned.

The case remains unsolved.

In 1990, the Dowalibys were put on trial for Jaclyn's murder.

Cynthia was acquitted by Judge Richard Neville; however, on May 3, 1990, David was convicted on eyewitness testimony which placed him at the scene where her body was found.

In October 1991, an appellate court overturned his conviction, ruling that there was no more evidence against him than there had been against Cynthia.

On November 13, 1991, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that David Dowaliby—then aged 34—be released from prison upon a $400,000 bond.

Upon release, David Dowaliby informed the press the fact he had been released would take "a while" to "sink in".

Upon her husband's release, Cynthia (then aged 29) stated: "I can feel Jaclyn [is] with us right now ... it's been a real struggle, and I feel real good. I hope it ends soon."

No other individual has ever been arrested or convicted of Jaclyn's abduction murder.

Her murder remains unsolved.

The Dowaliby case was featured on NBC's Unsolved Mysteries on November 18, 1992.

It featured interviews with the Dowalibys, along with the investigators and defense attorneys involved in the case.

In 1996, a television film was released, entitled Gone in the Night.

It was based on Jaclyn Dowaliby's disappearance and murder, and starred Kevin Dillon and Shannen Doherty as David and Cynthia.