Nine-year-old Nydra Anntionette Ross disappeared from her aunt and uncle’s home in Columbus, Ohio, on March 31, 1988, while visiting from Dayton. Her remains were found that fall in a Marion County creek bed; an autopsy determined she had been strangled to death.

Investigators focused on David Penton, who had spent the night at the house the evening before Nydra vanished. A large bloodstain in the carpeting of his van could not be explained by Penton; DNA methods then available could not conclusively link the blood to Nydra. After his arrest, fellow inmates later testified they had heard Penton confessing to raping and strangling the girl.

A Marion County grand jury indicted Penton on aggravated murder and kidnapping on May 11, 1990. His trial began April 4, 1991; on April 20 the jury found him guilty and on April 24 recommended a sentence of 30 years to life instead of death. If anyone knew Nydra or has information about her case, please share what you remember.