''Gone in the Night'' is a 1996 American television film about the Jaclyn Dowaliby murder case, with

Shannen Doherty Shannen Doherty (, born April 12, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jenny Wilder in ''Little House on the Prairie'' (1982–1983); Maggie Malene in ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun'' (1985); Kris Witherspoon in '' Our Hous ...

and

Kevin Dillon Kevin Brady Dillon (born August 19, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Johnny "Drama" Chase on the HBO comedy series '' Entourage'', Bunny in the war film ''Platoon'', and John Densmore in the musical biopic ''The Doo ...

as Cynthia and David Dowaliby.

The Dowaliby Case

On September 10, 1988, 7 year-old Jaclyn Dowaliby was kidnapped from her home in the middle of the night. Two years later in 1990, Cynthia and Jaclyn's adoptive father David Dowaliby went on trial for the murder of their daughter. Cynthia was acquitted by the judge on grounds of insufficient evidence, but David was tried and convicted of his daughter's death and sentenced to a total of 45 years in prison. His conviction came partly because the jury was shown photographs of a closet door, with fist holes in it. It was later proven that this damage happened before David even moved into the house. In 1991, David's conviction was overturned when the

Illinois Appellate Court The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois Circuit Courts. Three Illinois Appellate Court judges hear each case and the concurrence of two is necessary to render a decision. The ...

reversed the conviction outright, holding that the evidence against him had been no more probative than that against his wife. The murder of Jaclyn remains unsolved.

Cast

as Cynthia "Cindi" Dowaliby *

as David Dowaliby *

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' an ...

as Detective John Waters *

Dixie Carter Dixie Virginia Carter (May 25, 1939 – April 10, 2010) was an American actress. She starred as Julia Sugarbaker on the sitcom ''Designing Women'' (1986–1993) and as Randi King on the drama series ''Family Law (American TV series), Family La ...

as Ann Dowaliby *James Anthony as Detective Foley *Jeanne Averill as Debbie Sanborn *

Michael Brandon Michael Brandon (born Michael Feldman; April 20, 1945) is an American actor. He is known for his role as James Dempsey in the British drama series ''Dempsey and Makepeace'' (1985–1986). His theatre credits include the original Broadway (theat ...

as David Protess * Billy Burke as Rob Kinney *Kevin Brief as Terry Summers *Devon Arielle Cahill as Jaclyn Dowaliby *Walter Coppage as Hugh Gordon *Trina Creighton as Kristi Carter *

Ellen Dubin Ellen Dubin is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her part in the television mini-series ''Lexx'', playing the role of Giggerota. From 2004 to 2006, Dubin starred in the TV series ''The Collector'' as Jeri Slate. She was nominated for a ...

as Mary Ann Brown *Brett Murray as Davey Dowaliby *Sarah Phipps a nurse extra

External links

* 1996 television films 1996 films 1996 crime drama films American crime drama films CBS network films Drama films based on actual events Films about murder Crime films based on actual events Films directed by Bill L. Norton American drama television films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{crime-drama-film-stub