Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr. said his office will oppose parole.
For four days in the summer of 1995, police and volunteers searched for the little girl while Ritchie made anguished pleas for her return. The media attention was immense, particularly for the time, when the Internet was in its infancy and the “Nancy Grace Show” was unheard of.
The Dayton Daily News ranked Samantha’s disappearance the top news story of that year.
Viewers and readers were fascinated by the story, especially the squalor in which the Ritchie family lived on Dayton’s Herman Avenue.
Fascination turned to anger when the public learned that Ritchie had been charged with beating the girl to death, then dumping the body in a water-filled pit at an abandoned factory.
That public disapproval, as well as the nature of the crime, will likely count against Ritchie as the board considers her release, said Tom Hagel, professor at the University of Dayton School of Law.
“I’d be shocked if she got out the first time,” Hagel said.
About the Author