Ritchie Chronology:
Monday, July 17, 1995:
10:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. Samantha Ritchie's mother, Therressa Jolynn Ritchie, later told police she put 4-year-old Samantha to bed in the family home at 809 E. Herman Ave. Ritchie says her brother, Scott Washabaugh, helped, and then went to sleep himself. Ritchie said she went to her grandmother's house, and to a drive-through for a container of Screwdriver, and was gone a half-hour to 45 minutes. Tuesday, July 18, 1995:
1:30 a.m.: Samantha comes to the home of Vicki Hammond, who lives in the other half of Ritchie's duplex. Hammond says she told the girl to go home. Allen Botts, a 16-year-old neighbor spending the night at the Hammond home, also says he saw the child. Ritchie told police she went to bed at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday and believed Samantha was in the bed beside her. (Weeks later, after Ritchie was arrested, police said evidence indicated Samantha was killed in her home sometime before 3 a.m.) 10 a.m.: Ritchie told police she woke, hearing her brother, Scott, fixing breakfast, reached over to wake Samantha up and realized the girl was not there. 11 a.m.: Dayton police are called, kicking off a massive search for Samantha. Wednesday, July 19:
Mid-morning: Police take in Ritchie, Washabaugh and Denton Ritchie, Samantha's father, for questioning. They are given polygraphs. All are released. Wednesday evening: Supporters decorate the neighborhood with pink ribbons in honor of Samantha. By this time, 20,000 fliers have been handed out. 9:30 p.m.: A candlelight vigil is held in the neighborhood. 11:20 p.m.: Jolynn Ritchie is taken to Miami Valley Hospital by ambulance after she becomes jumpy and agitated. Thursday, July 20:
Noon: A volunteer, mistakenly believing a body has been found, spreads the news to family and friends on East Herman Avenue. TV stations air the erroneous report. 2 p.m.: City sewer workers finish looking through drainpipes and firefighters complete search of the river area near the footprints - all to no avail. 5:30 p.m.: Samantha's neighbor, Joseph David Bailey, 32, is taken into police custody for questioning - but police say he's ``just a witness'' and release him. 10 p.m.: Homicide detectives enter the Ritchie home. Midnight: Detectives emerge from the home with two paper bags of items for analysis. Friday, July 21:
Mid-morning: Police bring several people to the Dayton Safety Building to interview about the case. Those questioned include Jolynn Ritchie, Vicki Hammond and Allen Botts, as well as some other neighbors. 5 p.m. Police make a plea to anyone who might have taken Samantha for her own good and then gotten scared by all the publicity to call the police hot line. Authorities also say the clothes Samantha was thought to have been wearing when she disappeared have been found in her home. Now, they believe she was wearing a pink nightgown. They say the original description was always the subject of uncertainty. Saturday (July 22) Afternoon: Police rope off the block of the Ritchie home on Herman Avenue to ``retrace their steps.'' Evening: Police officers comb area around GHR Foundry with cadaver-sniffing dogs. Night: Body of youngster found under 6 feet of water in a pit inside the foundry. Police said the body appeared to have been in the water several days. Thursday, Aug. 3:
Afternoon: Police are seen questioning family members. Night: Therressa Jolynn Ritchie and Ernest Vernell Brooks are arrested in the death of Samantha Ritchie. The arrests culminate a 12-day murder investigation started after police found the body of the North Dayton girl in a watery pit on July 22 at the abandoned GHR Foundry. 11:06 p.m.: Dayton Police Chief Ronnie Lowe announced that Jolynn Ritchie had been arrested. Friday, Aug. 4:
Jolynn Ritchie appears in a packed Dayton Municipal Court as charges are read against her: involuntary manslaughter, gross abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and inducing panic. Tuesday, Jan. 16, 1996:
Defense attorneys file for a change of venue. Monday, Jan. 29, 1996
Ritchie's trial