Police Name Suspect in Trudy Appleby Case

It's one of the Quad Cities most well-known missing person's cases. 11 year-old Trudy Appleby went missing from in front of her Moline home on August 21, 1996.

For years, Moline police have believed she was abducted, but they have never named a suspect, until now.

According to local news reports, Moline police have released the name of a suspect they believed abducted Appleby.

Police say William “Ed” Smith, who died in 2014, was seen by a witness with Appleby in a white van on Campbell's Island.

Details can be found in the press release from Moline Police here.

As the 21st anniversary of Trudy's disappearance rolls around on Monday, here's hoping Police are that much closer to solving this case.