Beyond that, she says, the details left several obvious questions unanswered. But the case that had shattered the Wilmington community was far from over. The sheriff's summary report portrays Melissa as expressing doubts about her husband's innocence. God Bless and stay safe. "He watched everybody search for his child the whole day," one woman, a ten-year resident of Wilmington, told the Chicago Sun-Times. Three-year-old Riley Fox of Wilmington, Illinois, was kidnapped from her home early in the morning on June 6, 2004, as her brother and father slept nearby. With a huge smile on her face, she headed straight to her daddy, who scooped her up into his arms. His little girl had seemed to hold a special place in his heart. Mar 2020 - Present3 years. "Within minutes he was sitting there saying he felt like they'd tricked him, they'd lied to him." Tickets to see Kevin James perform in Joliet at the Rialto Square Theatre go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. . I knew it wasn't true. A self-described small-town boy from Wilmington, Illinois, he was there to act as best man for his older brother, Chad. He began having nightmares in which he would see Kevin strapped to a gurney, about to receive a lethal injection. Why can't I see my husband!'" Eighteen of those children were stolen from the home. Pluth asks again. But after briefly talking to one lawyer, Kevin dismissed the idea. "They'd come back with their legs scratched up and bleeding," recalls Kevin. With bond set at $25 million, the family decided, on Zellner's advice, not to try to get Kevin out, but to put their money toward clearing his name. The Will County sheriff seems content to blame former Will County state's attorney Jeff Tomczak for any missteps. "I tagged around when we were in high school. Mass of Christian Burial 10:30 a.m. Interment private. The ceremony's original choreography called for Riley to turn right at the front of the aisle and join her mother's pew. According to the sheriff's summary, this is what he said: He came home at about 1:30 a.m., ate a snack, and then watched television, including an adult video. "It wasn't like there was any time to cook up a story," she says. "I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful sight," he says. Now, just a handful of minutes after giving his statement, he sat behind a Plexiglas window with a phone in his hand, shaking his head and crying as his older brother, Chad, and Kathleen Zellner watched helplessly and offered what comfort they could. Bewildered and frightened, Kevin and Melissa prayed that the sudden departure was less ominous than it looked. Some people still thought he was a murderer. Will County sheriff's detectives had taken charge, assuming jurisdiction because the crime scene was in a forest preserve. Even though the court paid Kevin and his wife $15.5 million (later reduced to $8.5 million) as compensation for the ordeal, Kevin said he could never recover his reputation in the town. 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. Carmel Cemetery in Morris at a later date. "If I finish the sheet, you are being charged with first-degree murder with 30 years to life. ", The people of Wilmington seemed to divide into two camps. Kevin says he was incredulous. He was cordial, they recall, but he also insisted that the two be separated. Delaware State Police have arrested 26-year-old Damiean Turner of East New Market, Maryland, for firearm and traffic-related offenses. . Par for the course. Zellner insists that there was exculpatory evidence-in the so-called rape kits with material taken from Riley. Great article. Zellner filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Foxes in November 2004, in U.S. District Court in Chicago, claiming a violation of due process, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, and defamation. When the FBI began its investigation in 2009, it was two years after a jury awarded Fox and his then-wife, Melissa Fox, $15.5 million for the Will County Sheriff's Office investigators' false. His voice trails off. Since the prelude to Kevin's confession was not videotaped-a law requiring interrogations be videotaped would not go into effect for several more months-the purported promise pits detectives' word against Kevin's. He has also, on matters unrelated to the case, been in error in at least 13 instances, according to the Fox suit. All told, Kevin was interrogated that night for more than 14 hours; only 20 minutes were taped. Unable to sleep at first, he watched some TV, snacked, then went to bed around 2:30, turning on a fan against the hot night in the un-air-conditioned house. [1] After Riley's father was initially accused and then cleared by DNA evidence, paroled convict Scott Eby confessed to the crime and was convicted. 66F. Will County detectives spent considerable time and effort establishing that other local owners of dark Ford Escapes were not in sight of the video camera that morning. He's a local resident. Winds light and variable.. ", Kevin's account of the interrogation continues: Swearengen burst into the room, out of breath and saying he had just talked to Tomczak. Kevin, after all, had been the last person known to have seen Riley alive. The collection of friends, family, reporters, and onlookers watched as Kevin Fox, red-eyed and shell-shocked, shuffled into the courtroom. Worse, when Bode finally got the DNA, the family was told testing would take two months, and that the chances of finding male saliva in Riley's DNA were slim because there was so little genetic material to test. The Tribune quickly threw its editorial support to Glasgow, saying on October 22nd that he didn't "carry the burden of doubts about the ethical conduct of his campaign.". . Kevin Fox in Illinois We found 15 records for Kevin Fox in undefined. Suspicion hung over her family as time went by. Who would admit to such horrible things if he hadn't really done them? . Kevin, 20, was overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events, and the two broke up for a short period. Among the questions the two men fielded were queries about whether politics influenced the timing of the interrogation. "But Scott said not to worry, that they just needed to ask us a few questions before they told us whatever they wanted to tell us.". Guilfoyle's report did not surface until May, seven months after Kevin had been arrested. The next day, an article and editorial in the local paper, The Free Press Advocate, excoriated Jacobson and NBC 5 and told the family's account: Melissa had traded in the car because she couldn't bear how it reminded her of trips around town with Riley. Par for the course. ." You're put into a cramped room and subjected to an unusually long interrogation. The delay enraged the family. It was one of the first times she had spent the night away from the kids, but for her, it was a worthy venture-a way to honor her late father. The person behind the mixup, the lawsuit alleges, was Ed Hayes. "But the awful truth is," he says, "I wanted to see more. More often than not, the detectives would instead question Kevin and Melissa. she quotes him as saying. (The DNA was subsequently retested at a different laboratory, and the results again excluded Kevin.). Rather than providing a running narrative, she says, Kevin often simply answered "yes" or "no" to the detectives' questions. MLS ID #11685368, PRO REAL ESTATE. The relationship evolved quickly and, just after Kevin started college at Illinois State University, Melissa, then 18, became pregnant with Tyler. For the first time publicly, Kevin and his wife, Melissa, talk about their ordeal, an account of pain, mystery, and undying faith, wrapped around an enduring tragedy. As for Tyler, Kevin had no idea his son had made such a statement-it was the first he'd heard of it. The estranged couple was in the middle of a . Everything about the men, even their appearance, seemed at odds. Instead, Guilfoyle later wrote up a summary of the interview. Tomczak did not return calls requesting an interview, but in court pleadings he has denied any wrongdoing, including any suggestion that Kevin Fox's arrest was related to his re-election campaign. He had suffered threats and the ridicule of guards, according to his lawsuit. "Your family doesn't love you," he shouted. deaddeath.com Kevin Fox Wilmington IL Obituary - Death | Kevin Fox Has Died - Passed Away Kevin Fox Death - Obituary - Funeral - Passed Away : Deaddeath learnt on May 07, 2021, that in Kevin Fox was pronounced dead, leaving friends and family in total devastations. As to the question of who would confess to a crime so heinous if they didn't do it, Steven Drizin, a leading authority on false confessions, says that is the least mysterious part of the story. Law Offices of Kathleen T. Zellner, 1901 Butterfield Rd, Suite 650, Downers Grove, IL, 60515 (630) 955-1212 kathleen.zellner@gmail.com. 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. He then went home, cried for a while, and went to sleep. but we firmly believe, and the sheriff firmly believes, that [the detectives] did a good job . Chad and Zellner viewed the change in office with a wary eye. She had been following the case in the media, and she urged Chad to get his brother to talk to her. What more can they possibly want to know? He knew he was innocent, he says. "He admitted duct-taping the child's mouth. What did he want to do on his first night out, he was asked. Until the night of Kevin's long interrogation several months later, authorities never told him and Melissa what Tyler allegedly had said. You can tell me," she says. Fewer than 20 new single family homes were built last year in the villages of Coal City and Diamond. Finally they were brought out into a waiting room, where Curt, Dawn, Chad, and Stacy had already gathered. Like their father before them, Kevin and his older brother, Chad, were born here, rode their bikes here, fished here and graduated from the town's only high school. The timing of the charges also seemed curious, coming just six days before a tight election for state's attorney between Tomczak, the incumbent, and a bitter rival, James Glasgow. In addition, the family has upped its reward to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of Riley's killer. At a press conference, Glasgow stopped short of directly criticizing Tomczak, but the implication was clear: he thought the case had been mishandled, particularly when it came to the long delay in DNA testing. The timing was less than ideal for the couple. Sensing his shyness, she took matters into her own hands. In the past, Dawn has also been known as Dawn R Fox. Under questioning by Will County detectives, Fox confessed to the crime, but was later exonerated through DNA evidence. Other family members were less comfortable. An Amber alert for Riley Fox had flashed on the scoreboard. "What did he do when he left? . It put stress on the couple, and soon, they separated with Melissa moving out with both children. 1:07. What about DNA testing? Kevin is a producer and writer, known for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), The Negotiator (1998) and Lie to Me (2009). For the briefest of moments, "they were making me question myself. By the end he has answered "no" approximately 178 times. In a case that saw numerous twists and even a false arrest, justice was finally delivered when the perpetrator was caught and made to pay for his crimes. Once, he nods. Then, on June 7th, came the answer. . Kaupas acknowledged that the detectives had had no substantial new evidence when they called in Kevin. I made you drive me around when you got your license. Did he know his car had been spotted passing the Mobil station at four in the morning? They first tested where Kevin said he had left the body-according to his confession, he had placed it in the water at the base of the Kahler Bridge, slipping once as he made his way down the muddy embankment. Then, after calling his estranged wife to tell her about the shootings, he turned his gun on himself and . ", And yet, "I'm sitting there thinking there's videotape of the car," she says. Some expressed bitter feelings of betrayal to reporters. Hundreds more turned out the next day for the funeral, many wearing pink ribbons and ties and butterfly pins. The ex-husband of Melissa Fox and father to Riley and Tyler, Kevin Fox was a well-respected and much-loved member of the community. But Zellner, who has viewed a copy of the videotape, says it's too fuzzy to make out a license plate or even to positively identify any vehicle. Some questioned why a reward had never been offered. Even so, as time passed and word spread that Riley Fox was missing, a search was mounted. By most accounts, Kevin Dale Fox was a devoutly religious man and a loving father. The boy weeps. Still, Pluth pursues her questioning. His little chest heaves and his thin shoulders shake. Weather forecast Wilmington, North Carolina . Chief Mickler currently resides in Wilmington with his wife, Rebecca, and their two sons. The state's attorney, a heavyset man named Jeffery Tomczak, swept into the room, shaking hands and nodding toward a line of police officers who stood stone-faced and imposing near a cadre of assistant prosecutors arrayed around the prosecution table. Later, when speaking about his experience after getting out of jail, he said, I still had people coming up to me and saying I was a child killer, child molester and threatening to shoot me and my dog. Melissa added to this by saying that people ceased to trust them, and children werent allowed to have sleepovers at their house. Indeed, by late October of 2004 Kevin was the prime suspect. "I finally kicked the door really hard," she says. Until now, the Foxes have remained silent about their ordeal. They later portrayed his statement as an attempt to provide a possible alibi. But it slowly dawned on him that the whole thing-the supposed sympathy of the detectives, the "friendship" of "Scott," the seemingly cordial questioning-had been a ruse. Glasgow was trim with a blow-dried pompadour of silver. 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. An autopsy would later reveal that the girl had been sexually abused and probably died from drowning. Rebekah grew up in the Midwest and received her Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Communications and Theater from North . The lab had found a man's saliva-just enough to extract a full DNA profile. Meanwhile, the members of Kevin's family hold firm to their unwavering belief in the man who they say became, like his murdered daughter, a victim. The media played a role in this suspicion. Meanwhile, several statements by Tomczak, which later proved unfounded, cast another shadow over Kevin. Kevin says he told the detectives that he didn't call 911 because he didn't want to panic prematurely. . But the sense of betrayal he felt at the hands of the detectives, especially when he learned that he would not, indeed, be "bonded out" to go home and straighten things out, was crushing. In the weeks that followed, Melissa and Kevin found the investigators to be supportive, even friendly. Melissa, who was also told that Kevin had failed, demanded to see the results. . The Fox family has also pushed for the passage of "Riley's Law," a measure that would expedite DNA testing after child murders. (Pluth did not return calls or an e-mail message.). Virtually none of the principals involved in the case has gone untouched. View Kevin Fox results in Arkansas (AR) including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Whats even sadder is that the detectives and all parties involved were not interested in finding the real monster who would take such a beautiful innocent child away from their family. Subscribe for free today! Thus, he contacted the police on the non-emergency phone line (an action that would later raise suspicion against him). By her account, Swearengen said that he suspected that Kevin had bumped Riley's head, perhaps while opening the bathroom door, and had panicked when it appeared she was dead. On Feb. 9, the Wilmington City Council held a special meeting at Wilmington High School. Fox Born: July 26, 1947 in Joliet, IL Died: April 8, 2021 in New Lenox, IL Age 73 of Wilmington, formerly of Joliet, passed away Thursday, April 8, 2021 at Silver Cross. The only way to dissuade them, he says they told him, would be to take a polygraph test. "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?" The Las Vegas trip was to attend a friend's wedding and had been planned and paid for months before Riley's death. "But she was right.". In hindsight, the couple believe that either the police "were just completely overwhelmed by the fact that there was a murder in Wilmington and they had no idea what to do," Melissa says, "-or they were watching to see how we would react." All. Read More Business Details. Melissa first saw Kevin at a high-school volleyball game. We wanted to know if they had found out what had happened. To accommodate the expected crowds, Riley's viewing, five days after the murder, was held at the town's largest church, St. Rose Catholic. 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