Riley Fox Riley Fox (March 31, 2001 - June 6, 2004) was a 3-year-old girl from Wilmington, Illinois, who was murdered on June 6, 2004. "We felt like we were finally going to find out what had happened," Kevin says. He admitted placing her on the bank of the river, under the water. Law Offices of Kathleen T. Zellner, 1901 Butterfield Rd, Suite 650, Downers Grove, IL, 60515 (630) 955-1212 kathleen.zellner@gmail.com. Williams told Kevin that if he passed he would be cleared in his daughter's death, according to the lawsuit; if he failed, he would be charged with murder. "They made me sit in a room for 45 minutes," Melissa says, still furious at the memory. Despite the elimination of all charges against Kevin, some still wonder how a child could be abducted from under a father's nose. Meanwhile, the family launched a public-relations counteroffensive against the barrage of media coverage suggesting Kevin's guilt. We thought, This is the night. Local 630-955-1212 | Toll . They later portrayed his statement as an attempt to provide a possible alibi. (Hunter says today that even if he had been available, he would have refused to give the test on that occasion because Fox's interrogation had been so lengthy and confrontational.) Kevins then-wife, Melissa, was away in Chicago during that weekend, and on June 5, Kevin decided to attend a concert in Chicago. In one resolved in December 2001, she helped free three men who had falsely confessed to the 1986 murder and rape of a Rush University medical student named Lori Roscetti. What did he want to do on his first night out, he was asked. A faded water tower bearing the words "Wilmington Wildcats" overlooks Main Street, and a collection of modest ranch homes, ornamented with basketball courts and large American flags, lie sprinkled along the tree-lined streets. Dimitre Dimitrov, 64, allegedly killed his wife, MaryAnn Dimitrov, and himself at the Holly Tree Racquet Club in Wilmington last Tuesday evening. Zellner returned to her office facing the daunting prospect of going to trial with a client who had confessed. Chad Fox took the lead, assuming the role of family spokesman and coordinating other family interviews, including an unequivocal expression of support by Melissa. A statement by Kevin himself saying he had been tricked into confessing was posted on a Web site three days after the interrogation. Find a suspect, any suspect, and nail him/her. "Everything's going to be OK," she told him. "We didn't want to turn it into another JonBenet Ramsey case. Also unbeknownst to Kevin and Melissa, the police were pursuing another lead that might point toward Kevin. Tyler, the six-year-old spitting image of his dad, bore the ring; beside him toddled Tyler's three-year-old sister, Riley. He wore a red jump suit and was shackled at the legs and hands. But if Kevin was joking, the police apparently didn't get it. "I had never even met him before and he was just screaming in my face. Their lenses, the family later learned, were trained not on the ceremony, or the casket, but on the mourners, including Kevin Fox. . Then, on June 7th, came the answer. Kevin Fox and his family refused last year to pay $100,000 to Trisha Kiefer, the former girlfriend of Scott Eby, who was convicted of killing 3-year-old Riley Fox. "Isn't that your niece?" May 7, 2021 3-year-old Riley Fox was found inside a creek a little distance away from her home in Wilmington, Illinois. ABC News 20/20 features this murder in one of their episodes and takes the viewer through the harrowing ordeal Rileys family had to go through after losing their child. Greater Philadelphia. For the briefest of moments, "they were making me question myself. June 6, 2004: Kevin Fox of Wilmington reports his 3-year-old daughter, Riley, missing about 8 a.m. Hikers find her body about 3:30 p.m. in nearby creek after massive search. How do they sleep at night? Tyler shakes his head "no" several times. Once, he nods. "He kept saying, The DNA will clear me,'" Chad says. He spent eight months in prison before he was released and ultimately cleared through DNA evidence. By most accounts, Kevin Dale Fox was a devoutly religious man and a loving father. The Kevin Fox they knew was a wonderful father, devoted to his wife and son and daughter. "No." The tactics that produced Kevin Fox's statement, he says, are a case study in how to get someone to railroad himself. She had traded in the Ford Escape for a new car. A year after their marriage, they added a daughter to the family-an apple-cheeked princess with a pile of light brown hair. '", At this point, Melissa says, she knew something wasn't right. Elsewhere in the building, in a small, cramped room with a low ceiling and a one-way mirror about the size of a cereal box, Kevin sat in a corner, facing a group of detectives, including an intense man with strawberry-blond hair and a flushed complexion: Ed Hayes. Kevin Fox was born in 1968. Mark M. Strothmann, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmington, quoting Mark 10:14. For Tomczak it could also provide a diversion from a new headache that had suddenly surfaced. You don't need your father.'". Zellner insists that there was exculpatory evidence-in the so-called rape kits with material taken from Riley. As for sexual abuse, "I'm not a stupid person," Melissa says. Pluth asks again. ), The exam began at just before one in the morning and took a little over an hour. By the afternoon, more than 500 people were scouring the area, some on horseback, others on bicycles or all-terrain vehicles. "I swear to God I didn't do it." . The questions started out easy, but quickly became pointed. But early Sunday morning, Tyler woke up Kevin to tell him that Riley was missing. As Kevin and countless others in the sanctuary laughed with delight, he returned her to her mother, who shook her head with resignation and took the girl to the pew. Little did he know that a few hours later, he would be waking up to the worst nightmare of his life and that his beloved daughter would be taken away from him forever. associates & neighbors include Melissa Rossi, Curtis Fox, Kevin Fox, Chad Fox and Carly Fox. ", Today, Zellner says that what impressed her was Kevin's immediate denial of the crime. By midnight that night, Kevin says, the detectives had dropped all pretense of friendliness. Three years later, in 2000, with Kevin having found work as a union painter and Melissa as a waitress, the two were married. Date Posted: Sunday, February 26th, 2023. I can help this kid if he acts now," the detective quoted the state's attorney as saying. Melissa Fox is the mother of Riley fox and the then-wife of Kevin Fox. He claws his sweatshirt hood over his head. He was not a match, Bode reported. "Before people simply say, There's no way I would ever do that,' you have to put yourself in the position of someone like Kevin Fox," says Drizin, legal director of Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions. Respect! None was available. A Wilmington crime scene investigator arrived within minutes. "We need you to come to the police station," an officer told them. Kevin Fox, who could have faced the death penalty, was released with all charges dropped. You're put into a cramped room and subjected to an unusually long interrogation. "What kind of Cracker-Jack-box cops don't have the decency to tell the parents of a murdered little girl that their daughter is dead?" Case closed. , Inc. holds real estate brokerage licenses in multiple provinces. . They love to see innocent children tortured and defiled for their indigent minds because it elevates an idiot. After being photographed and fingerprinted, Kevin arrived at the Will County Adult Detention Center less than a mile from the sheriff's office, spent and sick with anxiety. But we feel closer to her when we go there. Christmas passed with Kevin still in jail, then New Year's, and Kevin's 28th birthday on January 4th. To those who didn't know Kevin Fox, the hearing seemed to offer a shocking solution to a terrible crime . Rather than providing a running narrative, she says, Kevin often simply answered "yes" or "no" to the detectives' questions. Who would admit to such horrible things if he hadn't really done them? Hayes made Kevin watch as he filled out an arrest sheet for first-degree murder. On February 26, 2023, at approximately 8:34 a.m., a trooper was dispatched [] Go home now on bond.". Melissa, meanwhile, was led into a conference room where, Swearengen told her, detective Guilfoyle would be along shortly to ask a few questions. Info: 773-581-9000. He turned to Lyons, incredulous that the detective hadn't told him earlier. AGE 40s Kevin J Fox Saint Jacob, IL View Full Report Used To Live In Relatives Rebekah grew up in the Midwest and received her Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Communications and Theater from North . As for Tyler, Kevin had no idea his son had made such a statement-it was the first he'd heard of it. All. While his wife was in Chicago, Kevin, then 27, and the kids spent Saturday afternoon making posters in anticipation of celebrating Melissa's walk at the finish line, where they planned to meet her the next morning. Later, however, he would reflect on the bittersweet nature of the day. More often than not, the detectives would instead question Kevin and Melissa. Wilmington, Illinois - June 6, 2004 On the weekend of June 6, 2004, Melissa Fox and a group of friends participated in the AVON Walk for Breast Cancer in Chicago, where she stayed for two nights. Yet before dawn Saturday, the former church deacon shot and killed each of his three young sons as they lay sleeping. Not only was he not being charged with involuntary manslaughter, as he believed he'd been promised, but he was now facing first-degree murder, a charge that carried the possibility of the death penalty. "What's happened?" You can tell me," she says. "When I reached out to Kevin and said, I believe you,' I think they got pissed." "Hurry back. . Kevin again refused. 77/48F. The complaint accuses them of conducting a sloppy investigation that, from the start, focused almost exclusively on Kevin Fox and ignored any evidence that might have cast doubt on his guilt. Parenting takes a level of intelligence and refuse to pass laws that require logical IQ before they become a parent. He had been moved to protective custody, but that didn't protect him from threats on his life and threats of being raped. Zellner is such a bad ass!!! But if he could get out on bond, he could straighten this mess out. Dawn's current home is located at Wilmington, IL. Dressed in a tuxedo-dapper but slightly self-conscious-Kevin Fox took his place at the wedding altar inside Holy Name Cathedral, awestruck by the majesty that surrounded him: the light slanting through the stained glass windows, the arches soaring up to gilt ceilings, the bas-relief of Abraham offering to sacrifice his child. Kevin says he was incredulous. . She wore a flamingo decorated T-shirt, dirtied now by mud and silt. ABC Desperate to find out what happened to her daughter, Melissa said she reached out to the detectives every day and that they assured her they were investigating the case thoroughly. After returning home with his children at around 1 am, Kevin put his kids in the living room and went to bed at 2:30 am. Experts on interrogation and false confessions say that's not uncommon. In addition, Corke serves as a recurring guest-anchor on FOX News @ Night (weeknights . "I can make a deal for him. $271,900. (Through his attorney, Gerald Haberkorn, Hayes denied any allegations of impropriety. 66F. Glasgow seemed like a fair man, but he had given no indication that he planned to drop charges against Kevin. Not fair! We hope he finds some comfort soon and would like to wish him all the happiness for the coming days. After three weeks, however, the lab still had not received Riley's DNA. I knew it wasn't true. "Rape kits"-samples of DNA collected from Riley's body-were sent to the Illinois State Police crime lab for analysis. Promising a suspect leniency to confess is forbidden under Illinois law, and the detectives have denied in court pleadings that they did so. "Let the little children come to me," said the Rev. Still, he says, "we had waited so long. The timing was less than ideal for the couple. The Foxes owned a dark blue Ford Escape. "People would walk by my cell and sit in front and look at me," he says. But when one of Zellner's assistants tried to do so with a 40-pound bag-the approximate weight of Riley at the time of the murder-the bag was blocked by debris. He joined the network in 2014. Her mouth had been covered with duct tape, and adhesive residue on her arms led authorities to surmise she had been bound. As a young boy, his family moved to New York and thence to Greensboro, NC, where he spent his formative years. View Source Share Save to Suggest Edits Memorial Photos Flowers Memorials Region North America USA Illinois "We know you killed your daughter," they said, according to the suit. His image hovers ghostlike in the frame. At the small brick and concrete station, just off Main Street, police put Kevin in one room and Melissa in another. Suspicion hung over her family as time went by. Back to Top. He left Tyler and Riley with Melissa's mother, Sandy Rossi. Chief Mickler currently resides in Wilmington with his wife, Rebecca, and their two sons. . (Lyons did not return calls seeking comment.). . From that moment, Melissa says, she never doubted Kevin. There he saw three pairs of feet poking out of the bottom of the bedcovers. . He looks away. Hundreds more turned out the next day for the funeral, many wearing pink ribbons and ties and butterfly pins. But Bode, insisting on following protocol, said they'd have to wait for the final report. Melissa recalls asking, still holding out hope that their daughter was alive. Even so, as time passed and word spread that Riley Fox was missing, a search was mounted. After Kevin graduated high school and entered college, Melissa got pregnant with their first child Tyler. The entire time, detective Edward Hayes, who would become the lead detective on the case, watches from the other side of a one-way mirror. 1983 and Illinois law, claiming that Will County detectives Edward Hayes, Michael Guilfoyle, Scott Swearengen, Brad Wachtl, John Ruettiger (who died before the trial), and several other parties who have since settled or been . "I was raised with the idea that authorities were good people and that they should be respected.". "It wasn't like there was any time to cook up a story," she says. A videotape captured the session, conducted by a forensic interviewer named Mary Jane Pluth, who works for the Will County Children's Advocacy Center. The ruling elite is now past retardation for many centuries. Previously, he was a national news correspondent based in Washington, D.C. for NBC News from 2004-2008. Fewer than 20 new single family homes were built last year in the villages of Coal City and Diamond. To his family, the event seemed staged, a dog-and-pony show orchestrated by Tomczak. Wilmington, IL Baskerville Funeral Home - Wilmington Friday, February 17, 2023 Add Photos Add a Memory MICHAEL R. JOHNSTONE Age 59 of Wilmington, formerly of West Chicago, Illinois, passed. Northwestern University School of Law's Center on Wrongful Convictions reports that 60 percent of the 42 wrongful murder convictions since 1970 in Illinois have rested in whole or in part on false confessions. To accommodate the expected crowds, Riley's viewing, five days after the murder, was held at the town's largest church, St. Rose Catholic. "We put all our faith in them. Melissa got the word when she called Kevin to arrange to meet the family at the finish line. Indeed, he had promised to press ahead with the death penalty. Best of 2022 Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Most Popular Video Games Most Popular Music Videos Most Popular Podcasts. According to a statement he later gave police, he picked the kids up and drove them home at around 1 a.m. Then, too tired to make up their beds, he laid them down in the living room-Riley on the couch and Tyler on a chair with a footstool. "If you saw one, generally the other was right behind," Curt Fox says. People wonder: who would do it? Zellner also re-examined the bathroom door that had supposedly hit Riley. Melissa, who was also told that Kevin had failed, demanded to see the results. But the case that had shattered the Wilmington community was far from over. In preparation for the possible interrogation, the detectives contacted several polygraph experts, including Fred Hunter, a Hinsdale-based examiner with more than 30,000 tests under his belt. Meanwhile, the mystery of what happened to Riley Fox remains. 31 Largemouth Ln, Wilmington, IL 60481. . Melissa knew by their faces that the news was grim. He also holds a journalism master's and . 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