If you’ve spent any time falling down the true crime rabbit hole, you’ve probably heard of Maria Ridulph. It was the "coldest case ever solved"—until it wasn't. At the center of that firestorm was a man named Jack McCullough. People still search for his name every single day, mostly asking one blunt question: Is Jack McCullough still alive? The short answer is yes. As of early 2026, Jack McCullough is alive.
But "alive" is a heavy word for a man who spent years behind bars for a 1957 murder he didn't commit. Now in his mid-80s, McCullough has largely vanished from the public eye. He isn't doing the talk show circuit anymore. He isn't writing a memoir. Honestly, he’s just living out his remaining years in the Pacific Northwest, trying to stay out of the headlines that once branded him a child killer.
The Man Who Wasn't There
To understand why people are still asking about his status, you have to look at the sheer insanity of his conviction. In 2012, McCullough was sentenced to life for the 1957 kidnapping and murder of seven-year-old Maria Ridulph.
It was a sensation.
The media loved it because it felt like justice from another era. But the "proof" was flimsy. We’re talking about a conviction based on 55-year-old memories and a deathbed "confession" from his mother that turned out to be the ramblings of a woman on heavy doses of morphine.
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Why the Case Collapsed
The reason Jack McCullough is a free man today—and why he's still alive to see 2026—is a phone record. A single, dusty collect call record from Illinois Bell.
- The Alibi: McCullough always said he was in Rockford, Illinois, on the night Maria vanished.
- The Distance: Rockford is 40 miles from Sycamore, where the abduction happened.
- The Evidence: A collect call was placed from a payphone in Rockford to McCullough's home at 6:57 p.m. that night.
Basically, it was physically impossible for him to be in two places at once. When a new prosecutor, Richard Schmack, actually looked at the files his predecessor ignored, he realized the state had imprisoned an innocent man. McCullough was released in April 2016. He was 76 then. Now, a decade later, he’s an old man who has outlived the case that nearly destroyed him.
Is Jack McCullough Still Alive and Where Is He?
After his exoneration and the subsequent "Certificate of Innocence" granted in 2017, McCullough didn't stick around Illinois. Can you blame him? He headed back to Washington state. He had lived there before his arrest, working as a security guard at a retirement community.
He's kept a low profile since winning a series of settlements. Reports indicate he received roughly $350,000 from the city of Sycamore and millions more in state compensation for wrongful imprisonment.
Health and Current Status
There have been occasional rumors about his health, which is expected given he was born in November 1939. He’s 86 years old now. People often mistake him for other famous "McCulloughs" in the news, or they assume he passed away because he stopped making public statements.
But he’s still around.
He lives quietly. He doesn't have a verified social media presence. Most of the information we get comes through his legal team or the occasional update from the National Registry of Exonerations. He’s essentially a ghost in the system he once fought so hard to escape.
Why We Can't Stop Talking About Him
The fascination with whether Jack McCullough is still alive stems from the "Oldest Cold Case" tag. For decades, the Maria Ridulph disappearance was a wound in the American psyche. It was one of the first cases to get national attention, even catching the eye of President Eisenhower.
When McCullough was "caught," it felt like a miracle. When he was "cleared," it felt like a betrayal.
Some people still think he did it. The Ridulph family, for instance, has remained vocal about their belief in his guilt despite the phone records. That tension—the gap between legal innocence and public suspicion—is what keeps his name in the Google search bars.
What You Should Know Right Now
If you are looking for the latest on Jack McCullough, here is the breakdown of the facts as they stand in 2026:
- Legal Standing: He is legally innocent. His conviction was vacated "with prejudice," meaning he can never be tried for Maria Ridulph's murder again.
- Financial Status: He settled multiple lawsuits against the police and the state, providing him with enough stability to live out his retirement.
- Location: He remains in the Washington state area, away from the Midwest.
- Legacy: His case is now taught in law schools as a primary example of "tunnel vision" in police investigations.
The real tragedy isn't just that McCullough lost years of his life. It’s that because the state focused so hard on him, the real killer of Maria Ridulph likely got away with it and died of old age long ago.
The case remains unsolved.
If you want to look deeper into the documents that freed him, you can actually find the full 4,500-page review conducted by Richard Schmack online. It’s a grueling read, but it’s the only way to see how the system failed so spectacularly. For now, Jack McCullough remains a living reminder that the "oldest" cases are often the most fragile.
Next Steps for You
- Verify Source Material: Check the National Registry of Exonerations for the specific timeline of his $4 million settlement.
- Research the "48 Hours" Episode: Watch "The Coldest Case" to see the original interviews before the conviction was overturned; it provides a jarring look at how the narrative was built.
- Monitor Local News: Keep an eye on DeKalb County legal updates, as civil litigation involving other parties in the case occasionally resurfaces.