OIL CITY, Pa. -- Elizabeth Roess is wild for Halloween, and so are her folks.

The 10-year-old revels in helping her mother and father deck out their white Victorian home, inside and out, with lanterns and candles, twinkle lights and garlands, plastic skeletons and pumpkins perched on every ledge and railing.

But in past years, Elizabeth often balked at trick-or-treating with relatives or school buddies in her hometown in Venango County because she disliked going door to door before the sun went down.

Even after learning that the abduction and murder of Shauna Howe, a Girl Scout not much older than herself, had prompted Oil City to do away with evening trick-or-treating, Elizabeth was determined to overturn the ban.

"It just wasn't as fun," the fifth-grader said yesterday. "Not as many people are home during the day [to pass out candy] and you can't see the decorations in the day as well. My sister and I have never gone out at night in our own community, and I wanted to stay here."

With the encouragement of her teachers at Seventh Street School and the help of her mother and grandmother, Elizabeth wrote an essay, obtained 175 signatures on a petition seeking to restore nighttime trick-or-treating and presented it to Oil City Council in August.

The result: Oil City's children tonight will troop door to door after the sun goes down for the first time in 16 years.

"I think it's great what she did. It's time for a change," said Elizabeth's father, Kevin Roess, 42, who said he will be close by when Elizabeth and her sister Paige, 3, set out tonight, garbed as a punk rocker and a ladybug.

Mr. Roess and his family live on the same street, just eight blocks away from the intersection where 11-year-old Shauna, costumed as a gymnast, was forced into a car on the night of Oct. 27, 1992, while she walked home from a Halloween-themed party.

His wife, Lisa, 31, lived nearby and knew Shauna's family. Both of them remember well the terror that gripped Oil City during the search for the missing girl and the horror that followed the discovery of her body three days later near a remote swimming hole. She'd been raped, then thrown from a bridge into a rock-filled creek.

Nearly 13 years would pass before DNA testing enabled investigators to bring three men to justice for kidnapping and killing Shauna, who would have turned 27 this year.

Eldred "Ted" Walker eventually confessed that he was the one who actually abducted Shauna, and then helped make a case against brothers James and Timothy O'Brien.

Mr. Walker, now 49, received a 20- to 40-year prison sentence for kidnapping and third-degree murder. James O'Brien, now 36, and Timothy O'Brien, now 42, are serving life sentences for murder.

Shauna's death and the long hunt for her killers became a national story, often revisited by newspapers and television producers who focus on cold cases.

It also ended nighttime trick-or-treating in this city of about 11,000 people. For many parents, the annual holiday was a sharp reminder of her abduction by men who snatched her at random and remained at large.

But after her killers were convicted or pleaded guilty in 2005, residents and city leaders began to consider a return to the old nighttime custom, said Manager Thomas D. Rockovich. Elizabeth's petition drive "pushed it along," prompting council's unanimous vote to grant her request, he said.

"No one will forget [Shauna], nor should they," said Police Chief Robert Wenner, who was a patrolman when she was killed. "But there are a whole bunch of people here who've never [gone trick-or-treating]. We want to bring back some of those memories and give families the opportunity to make some new ones."

To soothe lingering adult jitters and keep children safe on dark streets, Chief Wenner said seven officers will patrol tonight -- about twice as many as usual -- with assistance from firefighters, school security officers and crossing guards.

The city also has aired public service announcements on a local radio station, urging parents to accompany children and make sure they're outfitted with reflective costumes and flashlights.

"I feel protected, that I know my mom and dad will be around," said Elizabeth, whose successful campaign has drawn national attention and is attracting network television crews once again to Oil City. "People tell me they're happy and excited, and I'm glad."