Unsolved Mysteries Rewind 90: The Tragic Murder of Jaclyn Dowaliby
From Unsolved Mysteries Rewind by Unsolved Mysteries Rewind
April 28, 2026 · Episode 90
About this episode
The episode discusses the tragic abduction and murder of 7-year-old Jaclyn Dowaliby and the subsequent wrongful conviction of her father.
On this episode of Unsolved Mysteries Rewind, Mark welcomed Diana to discuss the heartbreaking 1988 abduction and murder of 7-year-old Jaclyn Dowaliby from her Midlothian, Illinois home. What began as a missing child case quickly spiraled into a controversial prosecution of her parents, ending in David Dowaliby’s wrongful conviction and later exoneration. They break down the flawed eyewitness testimony, the collapsed evidence, and why this case remains officially unsolved nearly 38 years later. A tragic story of a bubbly little girl, a rush to judgment, and a family forever changed. Settle in, grab your favorite drink, and enjoy this deep dive with Mark and Diana. You won’t want to miss it. Thank you to Mat Graham from Artificial Fear for allowing us to use his amazing cover of the Unsolved Mysteries Theme Song! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQNyGGSIl_ZbEDq-teZDWQ And thank you to Ryan Hughes from Planet H for lending us his spot-on “Stack Voice” and working with us to have such a cool intro and outro! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrlNAFRMlWQN1rhWboZh2g
People in this episode
Host: Mark
Guest: Diana
Topics covered
- murder
- abduction
- wrongful conviction
- eyewitness testimony
- unsolved case
- family tragedy
Keywords
- Jaclyn Dowaliby
- David Dowaliby
- wrongful conviction
- unsolved mysteries
- eyewitness testimony
- abduction
- Midlothian
- 1988
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Artificial Fear, Planet H
Places: Midlothian, Illinois
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