Sycamore murder saga

Jack McCullough leaves the jail facility in Sycamore after being freed by a judge, on April 15, 2016. The car was driven by his step daughter. A new trial was ordered for McCullough and as he was freed from custody on his own recognizance.

Jack McCullough turns to the gallery after the announcement that he is to be released from custody during a hearing at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore on April 15, 2016.

Janey O’Connor, center, stepdaughter of Jack McCullough, is embraced by her cousin Jenn Houton following the judge’s decision to release McCullough during a court hearing at the DeKalb County Courthouse on April 15, 2016.

Jack McCullough signals to supporters during a court hearing on April 15, 2016. It was announced during the hearing that McCullough is to be released from custody.

Jack McCullough adjusts his glasses during his court hearing at the DeKalb County Courthouse on April 15, 2016.

Jack McCullough, convicted in the 1957 killing of 7-year-old Maria Ridulph, appears in court at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore on April 15, 2016.

Jack McCullough, who was convicted in 2012 of the murder of Maria Ridulph in 1957, enters court in DeKalb County on March 29, 2016, for a hearing in the case.

Maria Ridulph, 7, is pictured with her family in an old newspaper belonging to Kathy Chapman, 61, a childhood friend who was with Maria moments before the girl’s kidnapping in Sycamore, Ill.

Kathy Chapman, left, childhood friend of Maria Ridulph, and Mary Hunt, half sister of Jack McCullough, speak with the media outside the DeKalb County courthouse in Sycamore, Ill., on Dec. 10, 2012. McCullough was sentenced to natural life in prison for the murder of Maria Ridulph in 1957.

Maria Ridulph, from left, is shown in 1957 with her childhood friend Kathy Chapman, now 61, center, behind Chapman’s childhood home only six months before Maria was kidnapped in Sycamore, Ill.

Pat Quinn, left, and Charles Ridulph, siblings of Maria Ridulph, speak with the media outside the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore, Ill., on Dec. 10, 2012. Jack McCullough was sentenced to natural life in prison after he was found guilty for Maria’s murder in 1957.

A newspaper from 1997 states that the case involving the murder of 7-year-old Maria Ridulph is closed. The newspaper belongs to Kathy Chapman, 61, a childhood friend who was with Maria moments before her kidnapping in Sycamore, Ill.

The body of Maria Ridulph was exhumed July 27, 2011, from Elmwood Cemetery in Sycamore, Ill. Ridulph was murdered on Dec. 3, 1957.

Jack McCullough’s handcuffs are removed by a sheriff’s deputy during a hearing at King County Superior Court in Seattle on July 20, 2011. McCullough, a former police officer accused in the 1957 murder of Maria Ridulph in Sycamore, Ill., agreed to return to the state to face charges.

A photo of sophomore student J. Tessier, third from left, in the Sycamore Leaves 1957 yearbook. Jack McCullough, known then as John Samuel Tessier, was charged and later convicted of the murder of Maria Ridulph.

Kathy Chapman, 61, shown at her St. Charles home in 2011, was with Maria Ridulph, 7, moments before Maria was kidnapped in 1957 in Sycamore, Ill.

Main Street in Sycamore, Ill., on July 6, 2011.

Former home of Jack McCullough in the 200 block of Center Cross Street in Sycamore, Ill., on July 6, 2011.

The final resting place of murder victim Maria Ridulph at Elmwood Cemetery in Sycamore, Ill., on July 6, 2011.

State police joined in a roadblock to find possible clues to the disappearance of Maria Ridulph on Route 64 in Sycamore, Ill., in December 1957.

Ernest Herrman, left, and Edward Sauber search a crawlspace beneath a home in Sycamore, Ill., for missing 7-year-old Maria Ridulph on Dec. 6, 1957.

The home of Maria Ridulph, 7, in Sycamore, Ill., on Dec. 4, 1957. Ridulph was reported missing the previous day.

Sycamore Mayor Harold Johnson, left, and Assistant State’s Attorney James Boyle view a page from the Chicago Tribune on Dec. 13, 1957, which detailed important facts in the disappearance of Maria Ridulph.

Water is pumped from a gravel pit during the search for missing 7-year-old Maria Ridulph on April 22, 1958, in Sycamore, Ill.

Chief William Hindenburg of Sycamore, Ill., searches for clues on April 27, 1958, at the scene where the body of Maria Ridulph, 7, was found in a thicket near Woodbine, in Jo Daviess County, Ill.

Plaque in honor of slaying victim Maria Ridulph, outside the Sycamore, Ill., police station on July 6, 2011.