( CNN ) -- Investigators Wednesday exhumed the body of a 7-year-old Illinois girl slain more than five decades ago in hopes that modern science will bolster the case against the man now accused of killing her . The remains of Maria Ridulph , dead since 1957 , were exhumed for tests as the 71-year-old suspect in her killing was headed back to Illinois from Seattle , DeKalb County State 's Attorney Clay Campbell told reporters . `` Suffice to say science has advanced greatly , thankfully , since that time and we 're hoping that advancement in science can assist us in our investigation of this case , '' Campbell said . Ridulph disappeared while playing with a friend near her home in Sycamore , Illinois , about 60 miles west of Chicago . Her body was found five months later and 120 miles away . Jack Daniel McCullough , the man now facing murder charges in her death , was an early suspect in the disappearance but had an alibi : He told police that he was at a military recruiting station in Rockford , Illinois , about 20 miles away , the evening Ridulph was reported missing . McCullough told investigators he had been given a train ticket from Rockford to Chicago by the military , then returned home and went on a date with his girlfriend . But when police interviewed the woman again in 2010 and asked if she had any photos of McCullough , she discovered an unused train ticket from Rockford to Chicago that she said he had given her on the date of the crime . The discovery led to McCullough 's arrest in Seattle in early July . Campbell said Wednesday that McCullough was en route to Illinois from Washington state to face murder charges in Ridulph 's death . Maria 's brother , Charles Ridulph , appeared at a news conference with Campbell and said the family had agreed to the exhumation . `` Although the events were very difficult and very unsettling , we understand the necessity for these things , and we are in complete agreement and thankful for the way this case is being handled , '' he said .
Maria Ridulph 's remain were exhumed Wednesday , 54 years after her death . Score: 6 The man accused of killing the 7-year-old is being extradited from Seattle .